Alois Havrilla was born June 7, 1891 in Presov, Hungary. When his family imigrated to the United States he did not speak English, but he worked hard to perfect it.

Havrilla's radio career began with him as a baritone singer. In 1921, he recorded, Tancuj, Tancuj, a well-known Slovak folk song. He then worked as an announcer on the Palmolive Hour on NBC from 1927 to 1931, later he worked as an announcer on several other radio programs, including The Jack Benny Program from 1934-1935.

In 1935, he received an award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the prestigious Medal for Good Diction and was named as the country's best radio announcer.

Havrilla also worked as a narrator for Universal, Paramount Pictorial and Pathe Motion Picture Studios, and a number of New York-area radio stations as a news commentator, announcer, narrator, and host of musical programs. He died at age 61 on Dec. 7, 1952 in Englewood, NJ.

 

Dec. 14, 1952 - Sunday Herald Obituary 
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=FmclAAAAIBAJ&sjid=IQAGAAAAIBAJ&pg=5376%2C6931883