Fernand Gravey
Fernand Gravey, also known as Fernand Gravet in the United States, was a Belgian-born French actor.
Early life
Gravey was the son of actors Georges Mertens and Fernande Depernay, who appeared in silent films produced by pioneer Belge Cinéma Film.
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 Navy.
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.
Film career
Gravey performed in four films in 1913 and 1914, 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. Unfortunately for Gravey, he was offered only standard parts, the 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, with Joan Blondell and Jane Wyman, and Fools for Scandal, 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, and Royal Affairs in Versailles. Among his last English language performances were How to Steal a Million, Guns for San Sebastian, and The Madwoman of Chaillot, in which he played the police inspector.
Selected filmography
Loyalty - Jonge Jefke / Young JefkeLove Songs - Armand PetitjeanChérie - BurtonLet's Get Married - Francis LatourThe Man in Evening Clothes - André de LussangesYou Will Be a Duchess - Marquis André de la CourCoiffeur pour dames - MarioPassionately - Robert PercevalThe Improvised Son - Fernand BrassartI by Day, You by Night - AlbertA Star Disappears - HimselfBitter Sweet - Carl LindenThe Premature Father - Édouard Puma & FredEarly to Bed - CarlCourt Waltzes - FranzC'était un musicien - JeanThe Queen's Affair - CarlNight in May - Le baron NeuhausIf I Were Boss - Henri JanvierAntonia - Le capitaine Douglas ParkerMonsieur Sans-Gêne - Fernand MartinVariétés - PierreTouche-à-Tout - Georges Martin dit Touche-à-ToutFanfare of Love - JeanSeven Men, One Woman - BrémontierThe Great Refrain - Charles Panard - un compositeur de talentCompliments of Mister Flow - Antonin RoseThe King and the Chorus Girl - Alfred Bruger VIIThe Lie of Nina Petrovna - Lieutenant Franz KorffFools for Scandal - Rene VilardellThe Great Waltz - Johann StraussLe Dernier Tournant - Frank MauriceParadise Lost - Le peintre Pierre LeblancFoolish Husbands - Gérard BarbierRomance for Three - CharlesLa nuit fantastique - DenisCaptain Fracasse - Le baron de Cigognac / Il barone di SigognacDomino - DominiqueLa Rabouilleuse - Colonel Philippe BrideauPamela - Paul BarrasOnce Is Enough - Jacques RevalCaptain Blomet - BlometDu Guesclin - Bertrand du GuesclinLa Ronde - Charles Breitkopf, Emma's HusbandMademoiselle Josette, [My Woman (1950 film)|Mademoiselle Josette, My Woman] - André TernayGunman in the Streets - Commissioner DufresneThe Hunted - Commissioner My Wife Is Formidable - Raymond CorbierThe Happiest of Men - Armand Dupuis-MartinMy Husband Is Marvelous - Claude ChatelToo Young for Love - Padre di Andrea, presidente del tribunaleRoyal Affairs in Versailles - MolièreThirteen at the Table - Antoine VillardierShort Head - Olivier ParkerMitsou ou Comment l'esprit vient aux filles - Pierre Duroy-LelongLa garçonne - Georges SauvageLe Temps des œufs durs - Raoul GandvivierSchool for Coquettes - Stanislas de La FerronièreToto in Paris - Il dottor DuclosLes croulants se portent bien - François LegrandGirl on the Road - L'homme à la cadillacLa Dama de Beirut - Dr. CastelloHow to Steal a Million - GrammontGuns for San Sebastian - GovernorThe [Madwoman of Chaillot (film)|The Madwoman of Chaillot] - Police SergeantLes Caprices de Marie - Le capitaine RagotPromise at Dawn - Jean-Michel SerusierL'Explosion - Labrize