As a teen, Gabrio grew to an impressive height of 6 feet 2 inches [2] and after a stint as an apprentice glass window painter, set his sights on a career as a stage actor.

After being demobilized, Gabrio relocated to Paris where he performed in such theaters as the Gaîté Rochechouart, the Théâtre des Ambassadeurs, the Comédie Montaigne and the Odéon in roles by George Bernard Shaw and William Shakespeare, among others.

Gabrio's career flourished in France into the 1930s and is possibly best recalled for his roles such as Carlos, the gangster cohort of actor Jean Gabin's character Pépé le Moko in the 1937 film directed by Julien Duvivier.

In 1942 he appeared in the Marcel Carné-directed and Jacques Prévert and Pierre Laroche-penned Les Visiteurs du Soir as the executioner, opposite Arletty and Marie Déa.

The film, which debuted on 5 December 1942 during the Nazi occupation of France, is an allegory of the eternal struggle between good and evil as fourteenth-century lovers defy the Devil.