Louis Graveure

He died on April 27, 1965 in San Francisco, California under the name "Louis Graveure".

It is believed that the Graveures lived in New York until around 1957, when they moved to Los Angeles. Lest anyone think that Louis Graveure spent his final days penuriously there, it should be noted that he and his family lived in the luxury apartment building, Villa Carlotta, home to many movie studio contract players. There he taught voice privately, perhaps by referral from the film industry contacts he had made through Ramon Navarro and Camilla Horn.

In 1947, Louis Graveure reentered the United States, this time accompanied by a new wife, Patricia, and a two year old child named Viola. He attempted a comeback recital in New York that year, but judging from the critical reaction, the years of singing as a tenor had taken their toll and the recital was not a success.

Graveure's liaison with Camilla Horn lasted four years. They were adored by the public, living in Horn's luxurious villa in Berlin, and, when not working, in her villa on Cote d'Azur. But, war was not far off. Graveure left Berlin for that villa in France in 1938 and did not return. A telegram he sent to Horn from there was intercepted, and the Gestapo agent who delivered it told Horn that Graveure was suspected of espionage. Her Berlin villa was searched and her car interior destroyed in the quest for incriminating material. None was found. Louis Graveure attempted to leave France for a U.S. concert tour in 1940, shortly after the Nazis marched into Paris. He was diverted instead to England where he stayed for the duration of the Second World War.

He was an actor, known for A Waltz for You (1934), Ein Lied klagt an (1936) and Ich sehne mich nach dir (1934). He was married to Eleanor Painter and Patricia.

The decision to emigrate to Berlin in 1931 to sing at Deutsche Oper may have been motivated by the decline in bookings, the crash of 1929, the divorce from Painter, dissatisfaction with teaching, and a lucrative German contract.

After some years teaching privately during summers in San Francisco (Ramon Navarro, silent film star, studied with him), he took an endowed chair in voice at Michigan State University in 1928, perhaps verifying the observation by Time magazine that he, among many other famous singers of the period, was not being booked as frequently.

He married Eleanor Painter in 1916. She had trained in Berlin, and was considered a very fine operatic soprano. She made her debut as Madama Butterfly in 1912 at Deutsche Oper and continued singing repertory in that Fach both in the U.S. and Europe during her married life. From 1920, Louis Graveure, too, sang recitals and operatic performances in Berlin. Eleanor divorced Louis in 1930, subsequently marrying a wealthy businessman.

Following a 1915 debut, his "glorious" voice and "great store of genuine feeling" captivated public and press alike. He made a yearly western concert tour and produced over forty recordings in the next fifteen years for Columbia, some of which sold very well. Schirmer published his manual of singing called Super-Diction in 1918. He became accustomed to riding about New York City in a chauffeur driven limousine.

He made his New York debut in 1914 in an operetta called The Lilac Domino, opposite Eleanor Painter, and received enthusiastic notices. In 1915, a baritone resembling Douthitt but called Louis Graveure made his New York recital debut. The press was curious to know if Graveure was, in fact, Douthitt.

Louis Graveure was born on March 18, 1888 in London, England as Wilfred Douthitt.