Ray Gravell
Birth name | Raymond William Robert Gravell | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Date of birth | 12 September 1951 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Place of birth | Kidwelly, Wales | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Date of death | 31 October 2007 | (aged 56)||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Place of death | Calpe, Spain | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
School | Burry Port Secondary Modern School Carmarthen Grammar School | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Spouse | Mari Gravell | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Children | Manon & Gwenan Gravell | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Raymond William Robert Gravell (12 September 1951 – 31 October 2007) was a Welsh
In his later career he became a respected broadcaster and occasional actor. Gravell was also a member of the
Early life and education
Born in Kidwelly, Carmarthenshire, the son of a collier, Gravell moved to Mynydd-y-Garreg at a young age with his family. Gravell was educated at Burry Port Secondary Modern School and Carmarthen Grammar School.
Rugby career
He first played for
Gravell also played 12 games for invitational touring team the Barbarians.[4] First selected in 1975, Gravell faced an Australia XV at the start of 1976 before joining the Barbarian tour of Canada later that year where he played in six matches.[4] In 1977 Gravell played his final match for the Barbarians in a star-studded team that faced the returning 1977 British Lions in a charity match to celebrate the Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II. Although Gravell ended on the losing team, he scored one of three tries for the Barbarians in a game seen as a classic encounter.[4]
Often epitomising the hard edge of rugby, Gravell was the classic crash ball centre, thriving on the physical contact of the sport. He is often cited as the source for the much repeated rugby phrase, "get your first tackle in early, even if it's late."[5]
He announced his retirement from international rugby in 1982, and he played his last match for Llanelli in 1985 having played 485 times and scored 120 tries for the club. He was president of Llanelli RFC from 1998 and of the Llanelli Scarlets regional team from their formation in 2003 until his death.
Broadcasting and acting career
In 1985, he joined the BBC taking the leading role in Bonner, a BBC Cymru film for the Welsh language broadcaster S4C. He appeared in the BBC TV movie Filipina Dreamgirls, and this led to a role in the 1992 Louis Malle film Damage as the chauffeur of the character played by Jeremy Irons. In the same year, 1992, Gravell appeared alongside Peter O'Toole in Rebecca's Daughters, a British comedy film directed by Karl Francis that was based on a story by Dylan Thomas. The film also starred Joely Richardson and Paul Rhys.[6] He also played a gypsy in the 1996 Welsh cult horror film Darklands directed by Julian Richards and starring Craig Fairbrass and Jon Finch.
He presented regular chat and entertainment shows for both
Ray Gravell was "rugby consultant" and appeared as "Referee No. 1" in the film Up 'n' Under.[citation needed] He appeared in the Wales episode of Floyd on Britain and Ireland (1988) where he joined Keith Floyd in the kitchen, commented on some career highlights, and translated ingredients into Welsh.[7]
Personal life and death
Gravell and his wife Mari lived in Mynydd-y-garreg, Carmarthenshire, with their two daughters, Manon and Gwenan, on a street named after him, Heol Ray Gravell (Ray Gravell Road).[8] His father had committed suicide when Gravell was a young man.
In 2000 he was diagnosed with
Six months after the operation and 35 years to the day after Llanelli's famous win over the All Blacks, Gravell died of a heart attack, aged 56. He was taken ill on 31 October 2007 while on a family holiday in Spain, but did not recover and died late that night. After his death tributes were led by Welsh Rugby Union chief executive, Roger Lewis, who said "We are all in total shock because Ray was so full of life even through the difficult health problems he suffered recently. We will miss him as a rugby legend but more importantly, we will miss Ray as a great friend and a fine, family man."[11]
Tributes and funeral
At the time of his death, Gravell was
On 15 March 2008 at the final match of the Six Nations Championship, Gravell's daughters Gwenan and Manon were asked to lead the Wales team on to the pitch at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, carrying the Triple Crown plate Wales had won in their previous match. During the game itself, Wales' kicking coach, Neil Jenkins along with other members of the coaching staff and players wore number 13 shirts bearing Gravell's name. Wales won the match 29–12 securing their 10th Grand Slam, just Wales' second since Gravell himself had won it in 1978.
A public funeral was held at
References
- ISBN 0-09-173850-4
- ^ Stephens, Meic (2 November 2007). "Obituary: Ray Gravell". The Independent.
- ^ Fields of Praise, The Official History of the Welsh Rugby Union 1881–1981 p. 442, David Smith, Gareth Williams (1980)
- ^ a b c "Player Archive – R. W. R. Gravell". barbarianfc.co.uk. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
- ^ Rees, Paul (2 November 2007). "Obituary: Ray Gravell". The Guardian.
- ^ "Ray Gravell: Man of the people". WalesOnline. Media Wales. 4 November 2007. Retrieved 1 June 2009.
- ^ "Archive: When Floyd met Grav". BBC. 15 September 2009. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
- ^ "Rugby hero's right leg amputated". BBC News. 18 April 2007. Retrieved 22 May 2010.
- ^ "Rugby legend readmitted after op". BBC News – South West Wales. 18 April 2007. Retrieved 18 April 2007.
- ^ "Rugby hero's right leg amputated". BBC News – South West Wales. 19 April 2007. Retrieved 18 April 2007.
- ^ "Wales rugby legend Gravell dies". BBC Sport. 1 November 2007. Retrieved 1 November 2007.
- ^ "BBC Wales – Learn Welsh the Big Welsh Challenge – SIMON PULLS OUT". bbc.co.uk. 27 November 2007. Archived from the original on 27 November 2013.
- ^ "Thousands bid farewell to 'Grav'". BBC News. 15 November 2007. Retrieved 16 November 2007.
- ^ "Fans flock to service for Ray Gravell". WalesOnline. Media Wales. 15 November 2007. Archived from the original on 6 October 2012. Retrieved 1 June 2009.
External links
- Obituary in The Times, 2 November 2007
- Biography at BBC Radio Wales at the Wayback Machine (archived 2006-03-07)
- Ray Gravell at ESPNscrum
- Photo at sporting-heroes
- Ray Gravell at IMDb
- Ray Gravell interview at the Wales Video Gallery