Ettore Boiardi

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

Early life Ettore Boiardi was born in Borgonovo Val Tidone, near Piacenza, Italy, in 1897, to Giuseppe Boiardi and Maria Maffi. At the age of 11, he was working as an apprentice chef at local restaurant (Italian for White Cross), although his duties were confined to non-cooking odd jobs such as potato peeling and dealing with the trash. He later learned more restaurant skills as an immigrant in Paris and London.

On May 9, 1914, at age 16, he arrived at Ellis Island aboard La Lorraine, a French ship. He then followed his brother Paolo to the kitchen of the Plaza Hotel in New York City, working his way up to head chef. He supervised the preparation of the homecoming meal served by Woodrow Wilson at the White House for 2,000 returning World War I soldiers. During this time Boiardi also earned work at The Greenbrier, in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.

In 1917, Boiardi moved to Cleveland and worked at first at The Union Club, then became the head chef at the Hotel Winton,

In 1928, Boiardi met Maurice and Eva Weiner, who were patrons of his restaurant and owners of a local self-service grocery store chain. The Weiners helped the Boiardi brothers develop a process for canning the food at scale. They also procured distribution across the United States through their grocery's wholesale partners. Boiardi's spaghetti sauce was soon being stocked in markets nationwide. In 1928, the company opened a factory to meet the demands of national distribution.

After spaghetti sauce, their next product was a complete spaghetti meal, including a canister of grated Parmesan cheese, a box of dry spaghetti, and a jar of sauce, held together in cellophane wrap. 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 1928. including his own salesforce.

For producing rations supplying Allied troops during World War II, he was awarded a Gold Star order of excellence from the United States War Department.

After struggling with cash flow, compounded by internal family struggles over the ownership and direction of the company in managing rapid internal growth and to preserve the employees jobs, he and his brother Mario made the hard decision to sell controlling interest in his firm in 1946 a year after the war ended to American Home Foods for nearly $6 million (equivalent to $102,467,692.31 in 2026 adjusted for inflation),

Boiardi appeared in many print advertisements and television commercials for his brand in the 1940s to the 1970s. His last appearance in a television commercial promoting the brand aired in 1979. Boiardi continued developing new Italian food products for the American market until his death in 1985.

Death Boiardi died of natural causes on June 21, 1985, at age 87 in a nursing home in the Cleveland suburb of Parma, Ohio, survived by his wife Helen J. (; 1995) and son Mario (d. 2007). He had five grandchildren. He is buried at All Souls Cemetery in Chardon Township, Ohio.

In 2025, Brynwood Partners acquired Chef Boyardee. The firm continues to use his likeness on Chef Boyardee-brand products, which are still made in Milton, Pennsylvania.