Fernand Gravey
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- December 25, 1905
- Died
- November 2, 1970
- Birthplace
- 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.
Filmography
That's Entertainment, Part II 1976
as (archive footage)
The Hideout 1971
as Labrize
- Pas moral pour deux sous
Pas moral pour deux sous 1971
as Daniel Wilde
Promise at Dawn 1970
as Jean-Michel Serusier
Give Her the Moon 1970
as Captain Ragot
The Madwoman of Chaillot 1969
as Police sergeant
Guns for San Sebastian 1967
as Governor
How to Steal a Million 1966
as Grammont
The Woman from Beirut 1965
as Dr. Castello
The Crumblers Are Doing Well 1961
as François Legrand
Toto in Paris 1958
as Il dottor Duclos
School for Coquettes 1958
as Stanislas de La Ferronière
Hardboiled Egg Time 1958
as Raoul Grandvivier
La Garçonne 1957
as Georges Sauvage
Mitsou 1956
as Pierre Duroy-Lelong
Slightly Ahead 1956
as Olivier Parker, le faux entraîneur hippique, escroc
Thirteen at the Table 1955
as Antoine Villardier
Royal Affairs in Versailles 1953
as Molière
The Age of Indiscretion 1953
as Padre di Andrea, presidente del tribunale
My Husband Is Marvelous 1953
as Claude Chatel
The Happiest of Men 1952
as Armand Dupuis-Martin
My Wife Is Formidable 1951
as Raymond Corbier, sculpteur et mari de Sylvia
Gunman in the Streets 1950
as Commissioner Dufresne
Le Traqué 1950
as Commissioner Dufresne
La Ronde 1950
as Charles Breitkopf, son mari
Mademoiselle Josette, ma femme 1950
as André Ternay
Du Guesclin 1949
as Bertrand du Guesclin
Captain Blomet 1947
as Blomet
Once Is Enough 1946
as Jacques Reval
Paméla 1945
as Paul Barras
La Rabouilleuse 1944
as Colonel Philippe Brideau
Domino 1943
as Dominique
Captain Fracasse 1943
as Baron de Cigognac
Fantastic Night 1942
as Denis
Threesome Romance 1942
as Charles
Foolish Husbands 1941
as Gérard Barbier
Four Flights to Love 1939
as Pierre Leblan
The Last Turning 1939
as Frank Maurice
Breakdowns of 1938 1938
as Rene (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Great Waltz 1938
as Johann 'Schani' Strauss II
Hollywood Goes to Town 1938
as Self
Fools for Scandal 1938
as Rene
Screen Snapshots Series 17, No. 6 1938
as Self
The Lie of Nina Petrovna 1937
as Lieutenant Franz Korff
The King and the Chorus Girl 1937
as Alfred Bruger VII
Mister Flow 1936
as Antonin Rose
Symphonie D'Amour 1936
as Charles Panard
Seven Men, One Woman 1936
as Viscount Brémontier
Fanfare of Love 1935
as Jean Rameau / Jeanette, piano des " Tulipes Hollandaises "
Touche-à-tout 1935
as Georges Martin aka 'Touche-à-Tout'
Varieté 1935
as Pierre
Monsieur Sans-Gêne 1935
as Fernand Martin
Antonia 1935
as Captain Douglas Parker
Si j'étais le patron 1934
as Henri Janvier
- C'était un musicien
C'était un musicien 1934
as Jean
The Queen's Affair 1934
as Carl
Court Waltzes 1933
as Franz
The Premature Father 1933
as Édouard Puma & Fred
Bitter Sweet 1933
as Carl Linden
- Early to Bed
Early to Bed 1933
as Carl
The Improvised Son 1932
as Fernand Brassart
Passionately 1932
as Robert Perceval
A Star Vanishes 1932
as Self
Ladies Hairdresser 1932
as Mario
You Will Be a Duchess 1932
as Marquis André de la Cour
Un homme en habit 1931
as André de Lussanges
Let's Get Married 1931
as Francis Latour
Love Songs 1930
as Armand Petitjean
La Fille de Delft 1914
as Jonge Jefke / Young Jefke
Monsieur Beulemeester, Civic Guard 1913
as Le petit Paul
Saïda Makes Off with the Manneken Pis 1913
as Fernand Mertens
Credits from TMDB.