Hector Boyardee

Hector Boiardi
Ettore Boiardi as shown in a 1953 television commercial
Born	(1897-10-22)October 22, 1897 Piacenza, Italy
Died	June 21, 1985(1985-06-21) (aged 87) Parma, Ohio, U.S.
Resting place	All Souls Cemetery, Chardon, Ohio, U.S.
Residence	Parma, Ohio
Nationality	Italian
Occupation	Chef
Known for	Chef Boyardee foods
Net worth	$60 million
Spouse(s)	Helen J. Boiardi (1921–1985); (his death)
Children	Mario Boiardi

Hector Boyardee (born Ettore Boiardi) (October 22, 1897 – June 21, 1985) was an Italian-born chef, famous for his brand of food products, named Chef Boyardee.

Boiardi was born in Piacenza, Italy in 1897, to Giuseppe and Maria Maffi Boiardi. On May 9, 1914, at the age of 16, he arrived at Ellis Island aboard La Lorraine, a ship of French registration.

Ettore followed his brother Paolo to the kitchen of the Plaza Hotel in New York City, working his way up to head chef. While working at The Greenbrier hotel in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, he directed the catering for the reception of President Woodrow Wilson's 1915 wedding. He also supervised the preparation of the homecoming meal served by Woodrow Wilson at the White House for 2,000 returning World War I soldiers. His entrepreneurial skill became polished and well known when he opened his first restaurant, Il Giardino d'Italia, whose name translates as "The Garden of Italy", at East 9th Street and Woodland Avenue in Cleveland, in 1926. The patrons of Il Giardino d'Italia frequently asked for samples and recipes of his spaghetti sauce, so he filled cleaned milk bottles.

Boiardi met Maurice and Eva Weiner in 1927. Patrons of his restaurant and owners of a local self-service grocery store chain, the Weiners helped the brothers engineer a process for canning the food at scale and procuring distribution across the United States through the Weiner's Grocery wholesale partners. Boiardi's product was soon being stocked in markets everywhere – the company had to open a factory in 1928 to meet the demands of national distribution. Touting the low cost of spaghetti products as a good choice to serve to the entire family, Boiardi introduced his product to the public in 1929. In 1938, production was moved to Milton, Pennsylvania, where they could grow enough tomatoes and mushrooms. Proud of his Italian heritage, Boiardi sold his products under the brand name "Chef Boy-Ar-Dee" so that his American customers could pronounce his name properly.