Mario Perillo (August 15, 1926 – February 28, 2003)
[Mario P. Perillo , 1926–2003 , Obituary](_blank)
/ref> was an American businessman and Chairman of Perillo Tours, Inc. He expanded his father's business into the largest US operator of tours to Italy. He was perhaps best known to the public for his television commercials during the 1980s and 1990s, earning him the nickname "Mr. Italy".
Perillo was born in 1926 and owned (but never resided in) the historic Achenbach House
The Achenbach House remains are located in Saddle River, Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. The house was built in 1757 by Johan George Achenbach and was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 18, 1979. The house was ...
in Saddle River, New Jersey
Saddle River is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. It is a suburb of New York City, located just over northwest of Manhattan. The town is known for its natural fields, farmland, forests, and rivers, and has a bucolic atmo ...
which was adjacent to his longtime residence on Apple Ridge Road. His son Steve Perillo lived in the house until it was almost completely destroyed by fire in 2004.[Fisher, Janon]
"Bergen County House on Historic Register Is Fire Victim"
''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', March 20, 2004. Accessed February 4, 2012. "In the 1960s, the private house, known as the Achenbach House, was the home of the actor and producer Larry Blyden and his wife, the actress and dancer Carol Haney, who believed the house was haunted. Later it was owned by Mario Perillo of Perillo Tours, well known for his television commercials selling package tours to Italy; after his death, the house passed to Mr. Perillo's son Stephen, the current owner."
Mario Perillo died in 2003, aged 76.
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Perillo, Mario
1927 births
2003 deaths
20th-century American businesspeople
People from Saddle River, New Jersey
People from New Jersey
American people of Italian descent