Fernand Gravey
Fernand Gravey is known for How to Steal a Million (1966), La Ronde (1950), Guns for San Sebastian (1967).
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.
Questions about Fernand Gravey
How many Fernand Gravey films are in the catalogue?
The CineQuiz catalogue has 34 films with Fernand Gravey, from 1932 to 1976.
What is the best rated Fernand Gravey film?
The best rated Fernand Gravey film in the catalogue is How to Steal a Million (1966), rated 7.5.
What was the first Fernand Gravey film?
The first Fernand Gravey film in the catalogue is La Ronde, from 1950.
People data: TMDb.
Known for
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7.5 How to Steal a Million
1966
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6.5 Varieté
1935
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7.0 Guns for San Sebastian
1967
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5.5 La Garçonne
1957
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3.7 The Hideout
1971
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7.3 La Ronde
1950
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9.0 Ladies Hairdresser
1932
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7.0 That's Entertainment, Part II
1976
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6.7 Royal Affairs in Versailles
1953
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5.9 The Great Waltz
1938
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6.8 Seven Men, One Woman
1936
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7.3 The Madwoman of Chaillot
1969
Full filmography
71 films — 34 in the catalogue
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7.0
That's Entertainment, Part II
1976 · (archive footage)
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3.7
The Hideout
1971 · Labrize
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Pas moral pour deux sous
1971 · Daniel Wilde
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5.6 Promise at Dawn
1970 · Jean-Michel Serusier
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5.8 Give Her the Moon
1970 · Captain Ragot
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7.3
The Madwoman of Chaillot
1969 · Police sergeant
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7.0
Guns for San Sebastian
1967 · Governor
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7.5
How to Steal a Million
1966 · Grammont
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5.4 La dama de Beirut
1965 · Dr. Castello
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4.5 The Crumblers Are Doing Well
1961 · François Legrand
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6.3 Toto in Paris
1958 · Il dottor Duclos
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3.5 L'École des cocottes
1958 · Stanislas de La Ferronière
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5.5 Le Temps des œufs durs
1958 · Raoul Grandvivier
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5.5
La Garçonne
1957 · Georges Sauvage
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5.8 Mitsou ou Comment l'esprit vient aux filles...
1956 · Pierre Duroy-Lelong
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6.2 Slightly Ahead
1956 · Olivier Parker, le faux entraîneur hippique, escroc
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5.0 Treize à table
1955 · Antoine Villardier
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6.7
Royal Affairs in Versailles
1953 · Molière
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8.5 The Age of Indiscretion
1953 · Padre di Andrea, presidente del tribunale
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4.7 Mon mari est merveilleux
1953 · Claude Chatel
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9.0 Le Plus Heureux des hommes
1952 · Armand Dupuis-Martin
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4.5 Ma femme est formidable
1951 · Raymond Corbier, sculpteur et mari de Sylvia
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6.4 Gunman in the Streets
1950 · Commissioner Dufresne
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8.0 Le Traqué
1950 · Commissioner Dufresne
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7.3
La Ronde
1950 · Charles Breitkopf, son mari
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7.0 Mademoiselle Josette, ma femme
1950 · André Ternay
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5.4 Du Guesclin
1949 · Bertrand du Guesclin
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8.0 Captain Blomet
1947 · Blomet
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6.0 Il suffit d'une fois
1946 · Jacques Reval
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6.5 Paméla
1945 · Paul Barras
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7.0 La Rabouilleuse
1944 · Colonel Philippe Brideau
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6.4 Domino
1943 · Dominique
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6.7 Captain Fracasse
1943 · Baron de Cigognac
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6.1 Fantastic Night
1942 · Denis
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6.7 Romance à trois
1942 · Charles
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6.7 Histoire de rire
1941 · Gérard Barbier
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6.4 Paradis perdu
1939 · Pierre Leblan
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6.5 The Last Turning
1939 · Frank Maurice
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5.8 Breakdowns of 1938
1938 · Rene (archive footage) (uncredited)
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5.9
The Great Waltz
1938 · Johann 'Schani' Strauss II
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7.0 Hollywood Goes to Town
1938 · Self
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6.3 Fools for Scandal
1938 · Rene
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Screen Snapshots Series 17, No. 6
1938 · Self
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5.3 Le Mensonge de Nina Petrovna
1937 · Lieutenant Franz Korff
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6.2 The King and the Chorus Girl
1937 · Alfred Bruger VII
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7.0 Mister Flow
1936 · Antonin Rose
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7.0 Le Grand Refrain
1936 · Charles Panard
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6.8
Seven Men, One Woman
1936 · Viscount Brémontier
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7.3 Fanfare of Love
1935 · Jean Rameau / Jeanette, piano des " Tulipes Hollandaises "
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9.0 Touche-à-tout
1935 · Georges Martin aka 'Touche-à-Tout'
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6.5
Varieté
1935 · Pierre
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8.0 Monsieur Sans-Gêne
1935 · Fernand Martin
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7.0 Antonia, romance hongroise
1935 · Captain Douglas Parker
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6.8 Si j'étais le patron
1934 · Henri Janvier
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8.0 C'était un musicien
1934 · Jean
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10.0 The Queen's Affair
1934 · Carl
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9.0 La Guerre des valses
1933 · Franz
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7.0 Le Père prématuré
1933 · Édouard Puma & Fred
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7.0 Bitter Sweet
1933 · Carl Linden
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10.0
Early to Bed
1933 · Carl
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9.0 Le Fils improvisé
1932 · Fernand Brassart
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10.0 Passionnément
1932 · Robert Perceval
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10.0 Une étoile disparaît
1932 · Self
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9.0
Ladies Hairdresser
1932 · Mario
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8.0 Tu seras duchesse
1932 · Marquis André de la Cour
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9.0 Un homme en habit
1931 · André de Lussanges
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9.0 Marions-nous
1931 · Francis Latour
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6.0 L'amour chante
1930 · Armand Petitjean
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6.5 La Fille de Delft
1914 · Jonge Jefke / Young Jefke
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6.7 Monsieur Beulemeester, garde civique
1913 · Le petit Paul
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6.3 Saïda a enlevé Manneken-Pis
1913 · Fernand Mertens
People data: TMDb.
Cast
