Stage and screen actor.
Born Fernand Maurice Noël Mertens, he was the son of actors Georges Mertens and Fernande Depernay, who appeared in silent films produced by "Belge Cinéma Film" (a subsidiary of Pathé). He began performing at the age of five in a Brussels theatre that was directed by his father. During World War I, he received an education in Britain, so he could speak both French and English fluently - something which would later benefited his film career very much. As a teenager, he turned to the theater. He moved to Paris in 1927 where he made himself known under the name of Fernand Gravey. He appeared in small Parisian Revues with Arletty, Jane Renouardt - whom he married in 1928 - and Cora Lynn, the future Edwige Feuillère. Starting his film career in "L'Amour Chante" (1930), he soon established himself as a popular leading man, bound for an international career. In 1933, he made his first English film, "Bitter Sweet" and in 1936 he arrived in 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'". After two films for Warner Bros.: "The King and the Chorus Girl" (1937/opposite Joan Blondell and Jane Wyman) and "Fools for Scandal" (1938/with Carole Lombard), he signed with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and was cast as Johann Strauss in the enormously expensive biopic "The Great Waltz", opposite Luise Rainer. He returned to France just before the Nazi occupation. Although he had agreed to star in German-approved French films, he was also a great underminer of the invaders as a member of the French Secret Army and the Foreign Legion. After the war he resumed his career a decorated war hero, starring in films (among others "La Ronde" (1950/dir. Max Ophüls), "Royal Affairs in Versailles" (1954/dir. Sacha Guitry) and on the stage. Among his last English language performances were "How to Steal a Million" (1966/dir. Wiliam Wyler), "Guns for San Sebastian" (1968) and "The Madwoman of Chaillot" (1969). He died of a massive heart attack.
Born Fernand Maurice Noël Mertens, he was the son of actors Georges Mertens and Fernande Depernay, who appeared in silent films produced by "Belge Cinéma Film" (a subsidiary of Pathé). He began performing at the age of five in a Brussels theatre that was directed by his father. During World War I, he received an education in Britain, so he could speak both French and English fluently - something which would later benefited his film career very much. As a teenager, he turned to the theater. He moved to Paris in 1927 where he made himself known under the name of Fernand Gravey. He appeared in small Parisian Revues with Arletty, Jane Renouardt - whom he married in 1928 - and Cora Lynn, the future Edwige Feuillère. Starting his film career in "L'Amour Chante" (1930), he soon established himself as a popular leading man, bound for an international career. In 1933, he made his first English film, "Bitter Sweet" and in 1936 he arrived in 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'". After two films for Warner Bros.: "The King and the Chorus Girl" (1937/opposite Joan Blondell and Jane Wyman) and "Fools for Scandal" (1938/with Carole Lombard), he signed with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and was cast as Johann Strauss in the enormously expensive biopic "The Great Waltz", opposite Luise Rainer. He returned to France just before the Nazi occupation. Although he had agreed to star in German-approved French films, he was also a great underminer of the invaders as a member of the French Secret Army and the Foreign Legion. After the war he resumed his career a decorated war hero, starring in films (among others "La Ronde" (1950/dir. Max Ophüls), "Royal Affairs in Versailles" (1954/dir. Sacha Guitry) and on the stage. Among his last English language performances were "How to Steal a Million" (1966/dir. Wiliam Wyler), "Guns for San Sebastian" (1968) and "The Madwoman of Chaillot" (1969). He died of a massive heart attack.
Stage and screen actor.
Born Fernand Maurice Noël Mertens, he was the son of actors Georges Mertens and Fernande Depernay, who appeared in silent films produced by "Belge Cinéma Film" (a subsidiary of Pathé). He began performing at the age of five in a Brussels theatre that was directed by his father. During World War I, he received an education in Britain, so he could speak both French and English fluently - something which would later benefited his film career very much. As a teenager, he turned to the theater. He moved to Paris in 1927 where he made himself known under the name of Fernand Gravey. He appeared in small Parisian Revues with Arletty, Jane Renouardt - whom he married in 1928 - and Cora Lynn, the future Edwige Feuillère. Starting his film career in "L'Amour Chante" (1930), he soon established himself as a popular leading man, bound for an international career. In 1933, he made his first English film, "Bitter Sweet" and in 1936 he arrived in 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'". After two films for Warner Bros.: "The King and the Chorus Girl" (1937/opposite Joan Blondell and Jane Wyman) and "Fools for Scandal" (1938/with Carole Lombard), he signed with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and was cast as Johann Strauss in the enormously expensive biopic "The Great Waltz", opposite Luise Rainer. He returned to France just before the Nazi occupation. Although he had agreed to star in German-approved French films, he was also a great underminer of the invaders as a member of the French Secret Army and the Foreign Legion. After the war he resumed his career a decorated war hero, starring in films (among others "La Ronde" (1950/dir. Max Ophüls), "Royal Affairs in Versailles" (1954/dir. Sacha Guitry) and on the stage. Among his last English language performances were "How to Steal a Million" (1966/dir. Wiliam Wyler), "Guns for San Sebastian" (1968) and "The Madwoman of Chaillot" (1969). He died of a massive heart attack.
Born Fernand Maurice Noël Mertens, he was the son of actors Georges Mertens and Fernande Depernay, who appeared in silent films produced by "Belge Cinéma Film" (a subsidiary of Pathé). He began performing at the age of five in a Brussels theatre that was directed by his father. During World War I, he received an education in Britain, so he could speak both French and English fluently - something which would later benefited his film career very much. As a teenager, he turned to the theater. He moved to Paris in 1927 where he made himself known under the name of Fernand Gravey. He appeared in small Parisian Revues with Arletty, Jane Renouardt - whom he married in 1928 - and Cora Lynn, the future Edwige Feuillère. Starting his film career in "L'Amour Chante" (1930), he soon established himself as a popular leading man, bound for an international career. In 1933, he made his first English film, "Bitter Sweet" and in 1936 he arrived in 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'". After two films for Warner Bros.: "The King and the Chorus Girl" (1937/opposite Joan Blondell and Jane Wyman) and "Fools for Scandal" (1938/with Carole Lombard), he signed with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and was cast as Johann Strauss in the enormously expensive biopic "The Great Waltz", opposite Luise Rainer. He returned to France just before the Nazi occupation. Although he had agreed to star in German-approved French films, he was also a great underminer of the invaders as a member of the French Secret Army and the Foreign Legion. After the war he resumed his career a decorated war hero, starring in films (among others "La Ronde" (1950/dir. Max Ophüls), "Royal Affairs in Versailles" (1954/dir. Sacha Guitry) and on the stage. Among his last English language performances were "How to Steal a Million" (1966/dir. Wiliam Wyler), "Guns for San Sebastian" (1968) and "The Madwoman of Chaillot" (1969). He died of a massive heart attack.
Bio by: Fritz Tauber
Family Members
Advertisement
See more Gravey memorials in:
Explore more
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
