Fernand Gravey
Born
December 25, 1905
Died
November 2, 1970 (64 years old)
Known For
Acting
Place of Birth
Ixelles, Brabant, Belgium
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.
Known For

That's Entertainment, Part II
(archive footage)
1976

The House in the Woods
Les marquis · (7 episodes)
1971

The Hideout
Labrize
1971
Pas moral pour deux sous
Daniel Wilde
1971

Promise at Dawn
Jean-Michel Serusier
1970

Give Her the Moon
Captain Ragot
1970

The Madwoman of Chaillot
Police sergeant
1969

Guns for San Sebastian
Governor
1968

How to Steal a Million
Grammont
1966

The Woman from Beirut
Dr. Castello
1965

Harry's Girls
Andre Giraud · (1 episode)
1963

The Crumblers Are Doing Well
François Legrand
1961

Discorama
Self · (1 episode)
1959

Toto in Paris
Il dottor Duclos
1958

School for Coquettes
Stanislas de La Ferronière
1958

Hardboiled Egg Time
Raoul Grandvivier
1958

La Garçonne
Georges Sauvage
1957

Mitsou
Pierre Duroy-Lelong
1956

Slightly Ahead
Olivier Parker, le faux entraîneur hippique, escroc
1956

Cinépanorama
Self · (1 episode)
1956

Thirteen at the Table
Antoine Villardier
1955

Royal Affairs in Versailles
Molière
1954

The Age of Indiscretion
Padre di Andrea, presidente del tribunale
1953

My Husband Is Marvelous
Claude Chatel
1953

The Happiest of Men
Armand Dupuis-Martin
1952

My Wife Is Formidable
Raymond Corbier, sculpteur et mari de Sylvia
1951

Gunman in the Streets
Commissioner Dufresne
1950

Le Traqué
Commissioner Dufresne
1950

La Ronde
Charles Breitkopf, son mari
1950

Mademoiselle Josette, ma femme
André Ternay
1950

Du Guesclin
Bertrand du Guesclin
1949

Captain Blomet
Blomet
1947

Once Is Enough
Jacques Reval
1946

Paméla
Paul Barras
1945

La Rabouilleuse
Colonel Philippe Brideau
1944

Domino
Dominique
1943

Captain Fracasse
Baron de Cigognac
1943

Fantastic Night
Denis
1942

Threesome Romance
Charles
1942

Foolish Husbands
Gérard Barbier
1941

Four Flights to Love
Pierre Leblan
1939

The Last Turning
Frank Maurice
1939

Breakdowns of 1938
Rene (archive footage) (uncredited)
1938

The Great Waltz
Johann 'Schani' Strauss II
1938

Hollywood Goes to Town
Self
1938

Fools for Scandal
Rene
1938

Screen Snapshots Series 17, No. 6
Self
1938

The Lie of Nina Petrovna
Lieutenant Franz Korff
1937

The King and the Chorus Girl
Alfred Bruger VII
1937

Mister Flow
Antonin Rose
1936

Symphonie D'Amour
Charles Panard
1936

Seven Men, One Woman
Viscount Brémontier
1936

Fanfare of Love
Jean Rameau / Jeanette, piano des " Tulipes Hollandaises "
1935

Touche-à-tout
Georges Martin aka 'Touche-à-Tout'
1935

Varieté
Pierre
1935

Monsieur Sans-Gêne
Fernand Martin
1935

Antonia
Captain Douglas Parker
1935

Si j'étais le patron
Henri Janvier
1934
C'était un musicien
Jean
1934

The Queen's Affair
Carl
1934

Court Waltzes
Franz
1933

The Premature Father
Édouard Puma & Fred
1933

Bitter Sweet
Carl Linden
1933

Early to Bed
Carl
1933

The Improvised Son
Fernand Brassart
1932

Passionately
Robert Perceval
1932

A Star Vanishes
Self
1932

Ladies Hairdresser
Mario
1932

You Will Be a Duchess
Marquis André de la Cour
1932

Un homme en habit
André de Lussanges
1931

Let's Get Married
Francis Latour
1931

Love Songs
Armand Petitjean
1930
Loyalty
Jonge Jefke / Young Jefke
1914

Monsieur Beulemeester, Civic Guard
Le petit Paul
1913

Saïda Makes Off with the Manneken Pis
Fernand Mertens
1913