Kilroy Was Here: The Story of Boxer and Stuntman Billy "Kilroy" Ramoth

This article first appeared in the February 2008 edition of the Clifton Merchant Magazine.

Most 80-year-old men have a scrapbook lying around their house somewhere, documenting accomplishments of a lifetime.  Some, more successful men, may have two books.  Billy "Kilroy" Ramoth has four.

During an interview on a mild January afternoon at his Toms River, N.J., home, the octogenarian leans over the dining room table, flipping through the volumes that illustrate his life. 

There are clips of his boxing triumphs in the ‘40s over the likes of Sal Belloise, Gene Boland and Rocky Castellani. 

Pictures of his days as a Clifton cop and movie stuntman in the ‘50s, brushing shoulders with Marlon Brando and Paul Newman.  And even a 1966 letter from a First Lady thanking him for his beautiful poetry.

As he readies to narrate his legendary tales, Kilroy ignores the offer to sit—he’s always been more comfortable on his feet.

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