Ettore Boiardi

Chef Boy-Ar-Dee was a real person. Ettore Boiardi founded the food company in 1929 after he became famous in Cleveland for his spaghetti. From Wikipedia:

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

Boiardi followed his brother to kitchen of the Plaza Hotel in New York City, working his way up to head chef. In 1915, he supervised the catering for the reception of President Woodrow Wilson's second wedding[1] at the Greenbrier, in West Virginia. His entrepreneurial skill became fine-tuned when he opened his first restaurant, Il Giardino d'Italia, whose name translated as “The Garden of Italy,” at East 9th Street and Woodland Avenue in Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio,[2] in 1926. The patrons of Il Giardino d'Italia frequently asked for samples and recipes of his spaghetti sauce, which he often gave to customers in old milk bottles.

(via a comment at Gotham Schools)