Halicki was born in Dunkirk, New York, on October 18, 1940, the son of John Halicki and his second wife, Angeline Blazejewicz, both Polish Americans. His middle name was listed as Bernard in his birth announcement.23 Oct 1940, Page 8 - Dunkirk Evening Observer at Newspapers.com His father, originally from Austria, was an auto mechanic and automobile salesman, and opened his own automobile repair shop, Halicki Garage, in 1919, which remains both in operation and a family-run business as of October 2020.The Daily Telegraph Third Book of Obituaries: Entertainers, ed. Hugh Massingberd, Pan Books, 1998 (Macmillan, 1997), p. 90 Halicki was one of thirteen children, some of whom were half-siblings from his father's first marriage to Caroline Turek; his brothers were Rudolph, Frank, Bud, Ron, Edward, Joseph, and John and his sisters were Angeline, Allegra, Helen, Caroline, and Tara.
