From Movie Stars to Malverne: Vito Ilardi Turns 90

Barbara Streisand, Dustin Hoffman, Elizabeth Taylor, Robert Redford, James Caan….the list of stars that Malvernite Vito Ilardi has worked with goes on and on.

Instead of an 8-by-10 sheet of paper, his resume fills up a large poster board, which he keeps on hand in the living room of his Malverne home. Sometimes he uses it to jog his memory when the name of an actor is on the tip of his tongue as he tells his riveting stories of his days working on movie sets.

But most of the time, the former sound technician who turns 90 years old this Columbus Day, doesn’t need any help recanting his interesting tales from the decades he spent working alongside the biggest names in Hollywood.

“Richard Gere! I knew it would come to me,” Ilardi exclaims as he recalls the name of the actor in a film that was surprisingly missing from his list -  Power, filmed in 1986.

He’s given lectures at local colleges and at the Malverne Historical Society’s Restoration Home, where a display hangs on the wall in the archives room in his honor. (He’s also a long-time member of the society, the American Legion and a former chaplain of the V.F.W.).

Ilardi is also happy to share his tales with friends, neighbors or anyone he sees holding a camera around town. When he talks his stories come to life with dialogue, animation and sound effects like little movies of their own.

 “I’ll give you something to laugh at,” he says as he begins to describe a scene he was shooting in a hallway of a Manhattan hospital for the film “The Young Doctors.” He lets out a chuckle as he gets to the part where his fingers slam into a dolly, which then accidentally hits the star, Fredric Marc, in the groin.

 “I went “Oooooo!’ he says clutching his fingers, reenacting the scene. “Then Fred went ‘Oooooo!’ and yelled out, “Vito are you alright?”

With only a few exceptions, he says most of the actors he worked with were all great people, adding, “As big as they are, they are human.”

Michael Jackson for instance, who he worked with on The Wiz, was “so quiet and shy,” he says, as he shows off some of the stills he shot during a rehearsal one day.

Photography is what sparked Ilardi’s interest in film and still remains a passion of his. Growing up in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, he purchased his first camera in 1935 when he was only 15 and became the family photographer, shooting everything from birthdays to weddings. Even while serving in the U.S. Army during World War II, he used to sneak over and help the men filming the soldiers for record-keeping purposes. Shortly after he left the Persian Gulf and was released from the military, he saw an article in a newspaper about the Motion Picture School and used part of his G.I. Bill to pay for the course.

He completed it in two years, taking night classes while continuing to work as a longshoreman with his father. “My wife was left home alone as a new bride four nights a week,” he added.

After learning every aspect of film, he used the rest of his G.I. Bill to study at the School for Radio and Television in Manhattan. His first break came while he was watching his son in a stroller while his wife was shopping on Fulton Street. An old schoolmate spotted him and asked if he wanted to work on a commercial he was shooting.

“I said, ‘Chuck ofcourse!” Ilardi recalls.

Ilardi’s knowledge of the film industry, his work ethic and positive personality made an impression and soon he became one of the most sought-after sound men in the business. He almost landed a small part in a movie too, he explains, as he shows off a shot of himself holding a cigar, dressed as a gangster. He had been playing around with some props from the wardrobe department on set one day, when his look inspired the film’s director to write in a part for him. Unfortunately, the scene was lost on the cutting room floor.

He also formed friendships on set with actors like Ted Ross, who played the Lion in The Wiz, making copies of the photos he captured of them during rehearsals. And over the years he's received a number of autographed photos from actors, including a stunning image of an actress that reads “To Vito.”  “That’s Katharine Hepburn,” he says.

Still, his heart belonged to only one woman, his wife, Ann.

Whenever Ilardi had to outfit a leading lady with a wireless microphone, usually strapping the battery pack to their inner thigh where it couldn’t be seen, he would always tell them first,  “I am a happily married man,” he says.

After his wife’s passing in 1993, the retired Ilardi knew he needed to find a way to pass the time. Both of his children had moved out.

“I didn’t know what to do with myself…I was all alone in this big house,” he says.

He decided to go to a meeting at Village Hall, where he noticed former Police Chief Glen Jacobsen working behind a camera, filming the meeting for the Malverne T.V. channel.

“Do you need a hand?” he asked. That night Ilardi worked the sound board like the pro that he is.

“Man you really know how to slide those fingers.” Jacobsen said.

“It’s a thing you never forget,” Ilardi told him. Since then he has installed all the microphones on the village dais, worked the sound at every meeting and became the official photographer for the village and historical society. All of the images in the village’s 75 anniversary calendar were shot by him.

 “Although I can’t see or hear too good now, I still use the point and shoot,” he says. “I’ll keep doing it as long as my eyes are open.”

He then jokes that he reads the obituaries every week just see if his name made the list.

It’s his sense of humor and passion for his work that keeps Ilardi going. It’s what has always made him shine among even the biggest stars and build friendships on the movie sets and the streets of Malverne.

"I have made so many friends…beautiful, wonderful friends," he said Wednesday as he accepted a citation from the village board in honor of his service and his 90th birthday. "I will never forget you all. I could mention you all but I would go on all night.”