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Fernand Gravey
Actor
Born December 25, 1905Died November 2, 1970 (64 years)
Fernand Gravey (25 December 1905 in Ixelles (Belgium) – 2 November 1970 in Paris, France), also known as Fernand Gravet in the United States, was the son of actors Georges Mertens and Fernande Depernay, who appeared in silent films produced by pioneer Belge Cinéma Film (a subsidiary of Pathé).
Gravey started performing at age five under his father's direction.
Before World War I, he received an education in Britain and could speak both French and English fluently, something which became useful in his movie roles. During the war, Gravey served in the British Merchant Marine Corp.
In 1936, he married the French actress Jane Renouardt, who was 15 years his senior. They remained together until his death on 2 November 1970 of a heart-attack. Jane died on 3 February 1972. They had no children.
Gravey performed in four films in 1913 and 1914 (as Fernand Mertens), but his first film of importance was L'Amour Chante, released in 1930. In 1933, he made Bitter Sweet, his first English language movie, which became more famous in its 1940 incarnation with Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy.
In 1937, after several more French and British movies, Gravey went to Hollywood, where the spelling of his last name was altered to Gravet, and he became the focus of a rather extensive Hollywood publicity campaign (instructing moviegoers to pronounce his name properly: "Rhymes with Gravy"). Unfortunately for Gravey, he was offered only standard parts, the type of Gallic-lover roles that Louis Jourdan played in the 1950s and 1960s.
The first two films he made in Hollywood were for Warner Brothers: The King and the Chorus Girl (1937), with Joan Blondell and Jane Wyman, and Fools for Scandal (1938), with Carole Lombard and Ralph Bellamy. Gravey then signed with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and was cast as Johann Strauss in the expensive biopic The Great Waltz, with Luise Rainer and Miliza Korjus.
MGM next planned to star Gravey in a film version of Rafael Sabatini's adventure novel Scaramouche, but instead he returned to France just before the Nazi occupation began. Although he had agreed to appear in German-approved French films, Gravey was an underminer of the invaders as a member of the French Secret Army and the Foreign Legion.
At the end of the war, Gravey was considered a war hero, and continued to be featured in French productions such as La Ronde (with Danielle Darrieux), and Royal Affairs in Versailles (1954). Among his last English language performances were How to Steal a Million (1966), Guns for San Sebastian (1968) and The Madwoman of Chaillot (1969), in which he played the police inspector.
Source: Article "Fernand Gravey" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.
Gravey started performing at age five under his father's direction.
Before World War I, he received an education in Britain and could speak both French and English fluently, something which became useful in his movie roles. During the war, Gravey served in the British Merchant Marine Corp.
In 1936, he married the French actress Jane Renouardt, who was 15 years his senior. They remained together until his death on 2 November 1970 of a heart-attack. Jane died on 3 February 1972. They had no children.
Gravey performed in four films in 1913 and 1914 (as Fernand Mertens), but his first film of importance was L'Amour Chante, released in 1930. In 1933, he made Bitter Sweet, his first English language movie, which became more famous in its 1940 incarnation with Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy.
In 1937, after several more French and British movies, Gravey went to Hollywood, where the spelling of his last name was altered to Gravet, and he became the focus of a rather extensive Hollywood publicity campaign (instructing moviegoers to pronounce his name properly: "Rhymes with Gravy"). Unfortunately for Gravey, he was offered only standard parts, the type of Gallic-lover roles that Louis Jourdan played in the 1950s and 1960s.
The first two films he made in Hollywood were for Warner Brothers: The King and the Chorus Girl (1937), with Joan Blondell and Jane Wyman, and Fools for Scandal (1938), with Carole Lombard and Ralph Bellamy. Gravey then signed with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and was cast as Johann Strauss in the expensive biopic The Great Waltz, with Luise Rainer and Miliza Korjus.
MGM next planned to star Gravey in a film version of Rafael Sabatini's adventure novel Scaramouche, but instead he returned to France just before the Nazi occupation began. Although he had agreed to appear in German-approved French films, Gravey was an underminer of the invaders as a member of the French Secret Army and the Foreign Legion.
At the end of the war, Gravey was considered a war hero, and continued to be featured in French productions such as La Ronde (with Danielle Darrieux), and Royal Affairs in Versailles (1954). Among his last English language performances were How to Steal a Million (1966), Guns for San Sebastian (1968) and The Madwoman of Chaillot (1969), in which he played the police inspector.
Source: Article "Fernand Gravey" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.
Known For
Filmography
| 2007 | Louis de Funès intime · as Bertrand Du Guesclin |
| 1976 | That's Entertainment, Part II · as (archive Footage) |
| 1971 | The House in the Woods (TV Series) · as Les Marquis |
| 1970 | Promise at Dawn · as Jean-Michel Serusier |
| 1970 | Give Her the Moon · as Le Capitaine Ragot |
| 1969 | The Madwoman of Chaillot · as Police Sergeant |
| 1968 | Guns for San Sebastian · as Governor |
| 1966 | How to Steal a Million · as Grammont |
| 1965 | The Woman from Beirut · as Dr. Castello |
| 1962 | Hitch-Hike · as L'homme À La Cadillac |
| 1958 | Toto in Paris · as Il Dottor Duclos |
| 1958 | School for Coquettes · as Stanislas De La Ferronière |
| 1958 | Le temps des oeufs durs · as Raoul Grandvivier |
| 1957 | La garçonne · as Georges Sauvage |
| 1956 | Mitsou · as Pierre Duroy-Lelong |
| 1956 | Slightly Ahead · as Olivier Parker, Le Faux Entraîneur Hippique, Escroc |
| 1954 | Royal Affairs in Versailles · as Molière |
| 1953 | Too Young for Love · as Padre Di Andrea, Presidente Del Tribunale |
| 1952 | My Husband Is Marvelous · as Claude Chatel |
| 1951 | My Wife Is Formidable · as Raymond Corbier, Sculpteur Et Mari De Sylvia |
| 1950 | Gunman in the Streets · as Commissioner Dufresne |
| 1950 | Le traqué · as Commissioner Dufresne |
| 1950 | La Ronde · as Charles Breitkopf, Son Mari |
| 1949 | Du Guesclin · as Bertrand Du Guesclin |
| 1945 | Paméla · as Paul Barras |
| 1944 | La Rabouilleuse · as Colonel Philippe Brideau |
| 1943 | Domino · as Domino |
| 1943 | Captain Fracasse · as Baron De Cigognac |
| 1942 | Fantastic Night · as Denis |
| 1941 | Foolish Husbands · as Gérard Barbier |
| 1939 | Four Flights to Love · as Pierre Leblan |
| 1939 | The Last Turning · as Frank |
| 1938 | The Great Waltz · as Johann 'schani' Strauss Ii |
| 1938 | Fools for Scandal · as Rene |
| 1937 | The Lie of Nina Petrovna · as Lieutenant Franz Korff |
| 1937 | The King and the Chorus Girl · as Alfred Bruger Vii |
| 1936 | Mr. Flow · as Antonin Rose |
| 1935 | Fanfare of Love · as Jean Rameau / Jeanette, Piano Des " Tulipes Hollandaises " |
| 1935 | Variétés · as Pierre |
| 1934 | Si j'étais le patron · as Henri Janvier |
| 1934 | Runaway Queen · as Carl |
| 1933 | Bitter Sweet · as Carl Linden |
| 1913 | Saïda a enlevé Manneken-Pis · as Fernand Mertens |