Gravátt attended Fairmont Heights High School and then Howard University, where she appeared in numerous productions before graduating in 1971.

Her final Broadway appearance was in 2008 when she portrayed the role Big Mama in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

[2] Her stage résumé included the productions A Raisin in the Sun, Crowns, Miss Witherspoon, The Little Foxes, Skeleton Crew, The House That Will Not Stand and her final theater appearance, in 2018, The Revolving Cycles Truly and Steadily Roll’d.

[3] Gravátt's television credits included The Hoop Life, three Law & Order series, Sex and the City, The Good Wife, 30 Rock, Elementary, Madam Secretary, Ramy and East New York.

[6] Her film credits included The Bounty Hunter (2010), Delivery Man (2013), Roman J. Israel, Esq.

[9] Gravátt was a founding faculty member at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts as well as teaching at Howard University helping many launch their careers, as mentioned by Dave Chappelle on one of his Specials.