Fernand Gravey, Acting - KorPlix:Korean Person Archives

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Fernand Gravey
Acting

Fernand Gravey
Known For
Acting
Birthday
1905-12-25,Ixelles, Brabant, Belgium
Gender
Male
Biography
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

How to Steal a Million

7.5

How to Steal a Million
1966-07-13

The Queen's Affair

0

The Queen's Affair
1934-03-01

Gunman in the Streets

6.4

Gunman in the Streets
1950-12-13

The Last Turning

6.4

The Last Turning
1939-05-17

The Great Waltz

5.5

The Great Waltz
1938-11-04

6.2

Toto in Paris
1958-10-23

5.1

Du Guesclin
1949-06-03

6.2

Paradis perdu
1939-10-27

Fanfare of Love

7

Fanfare of Love
1935-11-15

Captain Fracasse

6.4

Captain Fracasse
1943-06-19

Fantastic Night

5.9

Fantastic Night
1942-07-10

7.4

La Ronde
1950-09-27

You Will Be a Duchess

0

You Will Be a Duchess
1932-02-12

A Star Vanishes

0

A Star Vanishes
1932-08-22

0

Passionately
1932-09-20

0

Early to Bed
1933-08-08

The Improvised Son

0

The Improvised Son
1932-11-22

Let's Get Married

0

Let's Get Married
1931-03-06

The Premature Father

0

The Premature Father
1933-09-29

0

Touche-à-tout
1935-11-01

Symphonie D'Amour

0

Symphonie D'Amour
1936-09-18

Threesome Romance

5.5

Threesome Romance
1942-06-17

La Rabouilleuse

7

La Rabouilleuse
1944-02-02

1

Once Is Enough
1946-10-23

0

Captain Blomet
1947-12-10

0

Le Traqué
1950-11-15

The Happiest of Men

0

The Happiest of Men
1952-11-26

The Woman from Beirut

4.5

The Woman from Beirut
1965-11-15

3

Mitsou
1956-12-24

The Madwoman of Chaillot

7.1

The Madwoman of Chaillot
1969-10-12

The King and the Chorus Girl

5.5

The King and the Chorus Girl
1937-03-27

6.1

Slightly Ahead
1956-10-10

Fools for Scandal

6.2

Fools for Scandal
1938-04-16

My Wife Is Formidable

4.7

My Wife Is Formidable
1951-12-05

Guns for San Sebastian

7

Guns for San Sebastian
1968-03-20

7

Bitter Sweet
1933-08-21

Foolish Husbands

6

Foolish Husbands
1941-12-18

Monsieur Beulemeester, Civic Guard

6

Monsieur Beulemeester, Civic Guard
1913-12-20

Hardboiled Egg Time

5

Hardboiled Egg Time
1958-03-19

6.5

Loyalty
1914-04-23

1

La Garçonne
1957-04-05

Saïda Makes Off with the Manneken Pis

5.3

Saïda Makes Off with the Manneken Pis
1913-03-07

Give Her the Moon

5.4

Give Her the Moon
1970-02-25

5.2

Domino
1943-07-28

School for Coquettes

1.5

School for Coquettes
1958-05-21

Royal Affairs in Versailles

6.8

Royal Affairs in Versailles
1954-02-10

Promise at Dawn

5.3

Promise at Dawn
1970-11-25

6.5

Mister Flow
1936-12-02

The Crumblers Are Doing Well

2

The Crumblers Are Doing Well
1961-11-15

The Age of Indiscretion

7

The Age of Indiscretion
1953-08-23

6

Varieté
1935-10-04

Ladies Hairdresser

0

Ladies Hairdresser
1932-05-19

Breakdowns of 1938

5

Breakdowns of 1938
1938-12-31

Monsieur Sans-Gêne

0

Monsieur Sans-Gêne
1935-03-14

That's Entertainment, Part II

6.8

That's Entertainment, Part II
1976-05-16

Si j'étais le patron

6.7

Si j'étais le patron
1934-10-25

Hollywood Goes to Town

7

Hollywood Goes to Town
1938-07-07

Seven Men, One Woman

5.7

Seven Men, One Woman
1936-08-28

5.7

Paméla
1945-05-02

The Lie of Nina Petrovna

5.6

The Lie of Nina Petrovna
1937-11-04

0

Antonia
1935-01-25

0

Court Waltzes
1933-12-15

C'était un musicien

0

C'était un musicien
1934-05-11

5

Love Songs
1930-11-21

2

The Hideout
1971-07-21

My Husband Is Marvelous

3.5

My Husband Is Marvelous
1953-04-29

Thirteen at the Table

4.5

Thirteen at the Table
1955-12-28

Mademoiselle Josette, ma femme

0

Mademoiselle Josette, ma femme
1950-09-20

5

Harry's Girls
1963-09-13

The House in the Woods

6.3

The House in the Woods
1971-09-12

0

Discorama
1959-02-04

8

Cinépanorama
1956-02-04