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Chef Boyardee in an early television commercial.

Hector Boiardi (October 22, 1897 - June 21, 1985), better known as "Chef Boyardee," was an Italian-born chef who became famous for his eponymous franchise of food products. He was a short order cook in Cleveland, Ohio where he first canned his spaghetti.

Boiardi was born in Piacenza, Italy. Ettore (Hector) Boiardi, at age 16, arrived at Ellis Island on 9 May 1914 aboard the La Lorraine out of Havre. His cooking skill became notable when he opened his first restaurant, Il Giardino d'Italia, in Cleveland, Ohio in 1926. Patrons asked for multiple servings of his spaghetti sauce, which he would give to the customers in old milk bottles. Demand grew, so much so, in fact, that he had to employ the use of a tiny factory in 1928, to keep up with orders. It was at this time that he set his sights on selling his product nationally, first priding his spaghetti products on being inexpensive and thus a good meal choice to serve to the entire family. The factory was moved to Milton, Pennsylvania in 1938, where Boiardi had close control of all of the ingredients placed into his products. He even grew mushrooms in the basement of the factory to be used in his creations. Boiardi was quite proud of his Italian heritage. He sold his products under the brand name Chef Boy-Ar-Dee, allowing his American customers to pronounce his name properly (in Italian the stress is on the second syllable rather than the third, as generally pronounced in the United States).

Later, he sold his brand to American Home Foods (later International Home Foods) for around 6 million US dollars so he could spend more time with his family. He then helped them make new Italian food products for the American market until his death. ConAgra acquired International Home Foods in 2000 and continues to use his likeness on Chef Boyardee brand products.

In the last two decades, rumors have abounded that Chef Boyardee was not a real person, but merely a fictional icon created to sell foodstuffs like Aunt Jemima. This stems from the fact that he was less active toward his death; he appeared in many of his company's television commercials for his brand in the 1950s and 1960s.

Boiardi died in Parma, Ohio, on June 21, 1985 at the age of 87. At the time of his death, Chef Boy-ar-dee products brought in US$500 million per year.

• Website with a complete listing of Chef Boyardee Products (official site)

• Cleveland People: Chef Boyardee (Cleveland Museum of Art)

• Gallery of Chef Boyardee Advertisements