[3] Havrilla spoke no English when he arrived, and that condition continued as he attended a Bridgeport school in which classes were taught in his native language.
[4] He began to learn English at age seven,[5] as John Baker, who was choir director at Bridgeport Trinity Church, taught him singing and speech.
[2] A 1923 Carnegie Hall concert, in which he was soloist with Percy Grainger, attracted the attention of Graham McNamee and Elliot Shaw.
[11] Havrilla's voice was heard from 1928 to 1946 as narrator and commentator for travelogues from RKO and for films from Paramount Pictorial, Pathe Newsreel, and Universal Pictures.
[3] Films that he narrated included This Is America (1933)[12] and This Is China (1937).`[13] Havrilla also performed on Broadway in Hassan (1924), Louie the 14th (1925), and Princess Flavia (1925).
[1] In 1935, Havrilla received the radio diction medal, "given on the basis of pronunciation, articulation, tone quality, accent and cultural effect", from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.