CLOSE Friend to Howard Stern, Ralph Cirella, suffered many health problems before his death as Howard touched on in a heart-breaking tribute.
The longtime friend of Howard, who worked as his stylist and frequent contributor to his popular radio show, died suddenly on Tuesday morning during a routine procedure.
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Ralph’s “heart gave out” while he was being treated for a “rare lymphoma.”
Howard spoke on his radio show alongside Robin Quivers and remembered his friend.
He began: “I don’t know where to begin with this horrible story and how sad I am, but my dear dear friend Ralph, who calls into the show all the time, Ralph who has been at my side for so many years, has died.
“It’s going to be difficult for me to get through this obituary but I have just been so sad and so angry.”
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He continued: “I think this is the toughest part about loving someone when you lose them. Lord knows I loved Ralph.”
Howard reminisced on his “40 years” of friendship with his stylist friend and their shared laughter.
Ralph and Howard shared a supposed secret language, where Ralph would call him and pretend to be famous actor George Takei.
Howard said: “I loved to have Ralph around me because we would giggle.
SECRET LANGUAGE?
“There were days where we would call each other on the phone and spend hours talking as George Takei.”
He continued: “Ralph is the reason why I start the show with ‘Hey now.’ Ralph was in love with The Larry Sanders show.”
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The radio star played Ralph’s first call-in on the show from when he was in high school from 1985, where he asked Howard to play a song and passed the phone over to his mother.
Ralph then grabbed the phone from his mother in jest and exchanged jokes with Howard on air.
Howard then showed a clip of Ralph appearing on the Letterman show.
He joked: “History could’ve been very different. If he had paired up to Letterman, Letterman would’ve looked like me.”
Howard joked: “Letterman knew not to become friends with Ralph, I became friends with him.”
MATCH-MAKER
The star even revealed that Ralph was the reason Howard met his wife, Beth.
“He really had to convince me to come out and I went and I had the best night of my life, I met the person I love the most in this world, Beth,” admitted Howard.
Howard finished: “He loved me,” said Stern. “Ralph was a trustworthy, dear friend who made me laugh every time I was with him.”
Stern said he spoke with Cirella the night before his death, saying he was hopeful his friend would survive his cancer treatment.
The segment was finished: “Let’s just say rest in peace Ralphy boy. I can’t believe we’re saying this but this guy was my man and he’s like the brother I never had.”
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