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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.
(archive footage)
6.8
1976
Les marquis · (7 episodes)
6.3
1971
Labrize
2.0
1971
Jean-Michel Serusier
5.3
1970
Le capitaine Ragot
5.4
1970
Police sergeant
7.1
1969
Governor
7.0
1968
Grammont
7.5
1966
Dr. Castello
4.5
1965
Andre Giraud · (1 episode)
5.0
1963
François Legrand
2.0
1961
Self · (1 episode)
0.0
1959
Il dottor Duclos
6.2
1958
Stanislas de La Ferronière
1.5
1958
Raoul Grandvivier
5.0
1958
Georges Sauvage
1.0
1957
Pierre Duroy-Lelong
3.0
1956
Olivier Parker, le faux entraîneur hippique, escroc
6.1
1956
Self · (1 episode)
8.0
1956
Antoine Villardier
4.5
1955
Molière
6.8
1954
Padre di Andrea, presidente del tribunale
7.0
1953
Claude Chatel
3.5
1953
Armand Dupuis-Martin
0.0
1952
Raymond Corbier, sculpteur et mari de Sylvia
4.7
1951
Commissioner Dufresne
6.4
1950
Commissioner Dufresne
0.0
1950
Charles Breitkopf, son mari
7.3
1950
André Ternay
0.0
1950
Bertrand du Guesclin
5.1
1949
Blomet
0.0
1947
Jacques Reval
1.0
1946
Paul Barras
5.7
1945
Colonel Philippe Brideau
7.0
1944
Domino
5.2
1943
Baron de Cigognac
6.4
1943
Denis
5.9
1942
Charles
5.5
1942
Gérard Barbier
6.0
1941
Pierre Leblan
6.2
1939
Frank
6.4
1939
Rene (archive footage) (uncredited)
5.0
1938
Johann 'Schani' Strauss II
5.6
1938
Self
7.0
1938
Rene
6.2
1938
Lieutenant Franz Korff
5.6
1937
Alfred Bruger VII
5.5
1937
Antonin Rose
6.5
1936
Charles Panard
0.0
1936
Viscount Brémontier
5.7
1936
Jean Rameau / Jeanette, piano des " Tulipes Hollandaises "
7.0
1935
Georges Martin aka 'Touche-à-Tout'
0.0
1935
Pierre
6.0
1935
Fernand Martin
0.0
1935
Captain Douglas Parker
0.0
1935
Henri Janvier
6.7
1934
Jean
0.0
1934
Carl
0.0
1934
Franz
0.0
1933
Édouard Puma & Fred
0.0
1933
Carl Linden
7.0
1933
Carl
0.0
1933
Fernand Brassart
0.0
1932
Robert Perceval
0.0
1932
Self
0.0
1932
Mario
0.0
1932
Marquis André de la Cour
0.0
1932
André de Lussanges
0.0
1931
Francis Latour
0.0
1931
Armand Petitjean
5.0
1930
Jonge Jefke / Young Jefke
6.5
1914
Le petit Paul
6.0
1913
Fernand Mertens
5.3
1913