Al Rosenberg, a former writer and performer with “The Howard Stern Show,” has died.
Rosenberg, 78, was a longtime resident of East Windsor.
The “Stern Show” recently remembered Rosenberg, who joined the radio show during its run on WNBC in the ’80s.
Later, he served as a Democratic deputy mayor and councilman in East Windsor, and as a board member of the nonprofit NJ Rise, which has a food pantry in Hightstown.
The onetime Army man and municipal bond salesman also worked with Stern rival Don Imus on WNBC’s “Imus in the Morning,” which is how he met Stern.
“Al was just a decent guy, and he would talk to me and say, ‘Hey, I love your show,’” Stern said on his June 28 show. “I needed a few pats on the back from anybody who worked there at that time because you didn’t get many.”
Eventually, Rosenberg, who had a falling out with Imus, joined Stern on the air.
“He would sit in on our show and all of a sudden he’d do a voice in the background and yell something out and it was pretty funny,” Stern said. “I was like, ‘Hmm, this feels good.’”
Rosenberg remembered his time on the show in a 2022 interview on the YouTube show “Here’s the Pitch.”
“I sat there in awe over this guy’s mind and where it went,” he said of Stern. “It was just scary. It was frightening was what it was.”
“He had a vision, he had a dream for himself.”
Rosenberg was there for Stern’s infamous interview with Gilda Radner and the first time Stern hosted a naked woman in the studio (they used newspaper to cover the glass windows).
On the show, co-host Robin Quivers also recalled working with Rosenberg.
“He moved right in — it was a smooth transition,” she said. “He was a sweetheart.”
Longtime “Stern Show” personality Fred Norris echoed Stern’s comments about Rosenberg being a rare friend to the show in the early days at WNBC.
“We were in a den of sh-- and Al was the only (one) who came up to us and spoke to us like we were human beings,” Norris said on the show. “He showed us respect, he showed us love, and I swear to God … I never heard him say a bad word about anybody — the guy didn’t have a mean bone in his body.”
Rosenberg, who lived in East Windsor for more than 50 years, went on to play characters including Elizabeth Taylor and Ed McMahon on Stern’s early ’90s late-night TV show on Secaucus’ WWOR-TV, which was known as “The Channel 9 Show.”
Rosenberg recalled how Stern helped to give him a breast exam on the show. He also remembered how “The Howard Stern Show” — the real name of the variety series — would often beat “Saturday Night Live” in the ratings during the half-hour that the shows overlapped.
Gary “Baba Booey” Dell’Abate, executive producer at “Stern Show,” remembered Rosenberg’s tenure on the radio show.
“He was the sweetest guy,” he said. “Every Friday, Al would buy a pizza … he would put his arm around me, and he would go, ‘Don’t worry kid, I got you covered today’ … because he knew I was broke.”
Rosenberg also wrote for Stern’s pay-per-view specials. After he left the radio show, Jackie Martling joined “Stern Show” as writer in 1986.
In the mid-’90s, Rosenberg starred in the FX morning show “Breakfast Time.”
He co-hosted the show as the voice of a puppet named Bob alongside Tom Bergeron and Laurie Gelman (formerly Hibberd) in the early days of the cable network, from 1994 to 1996.
Rosenberg, who was retired, enjoyed volunteering locally with NJ Rise.
“Al was a fun, compassionate person,” Leslie Koppel, executive director of the nonprofit, said in a Facebook post, remembering him as a “big hugger” who gladly gave money and time. “He was devoted to helping those who were struggling and did so with generosity and open arms.”
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Amy Kuperinsky may be reached at akuperinsky@njadvancemedia.com and followed at @AmyKup on Twitter.