Editing Merle Oberon

{{Short description|Anglo Indian actress (1911–1979)}}
{{Use British English|date=October 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2021}}
{{Infobox person
| name          = Merle Oberon
| image         = Merle_Oberon-publicity.JPG
| imagesize     =
| caption       =
| birth_name    = Estelle Merle O'Brien Thompson
| birth_date    = {{birth date|df=yes|1911|02|19}}
| birth_place   = [[Bombay]], [[British Raj|British India]]
| death_date    = {{death date and age|df=yes|1979|11|23|1911|02|19}}
| death_place   = [[Malibu, California]], U.S.
| occupation    = Actress
| years_active  = 1928–1973
| spouse        = {{Plainlist|
* {{marriage|[[Alexander Korda|Sir Alexander Korda]]|1939|1945|end=div}}
* {{marriage|[[Lucien Ballard]]|1945|1949|end=div}}
* {{marriage|Bruno Pagliai|1957|1973|end=div}}
* {{marriage|[[Robert Wolders]]<br>|1975}}}}
| children      = 2
}}

'''Merle Oberon''' (born '''Estelle Merle O'Brien Thompson'''; 19 February 1911{{spaced ndash}}23 November 1979) was a British actress. She began her acting career in British cinema in the early 1930s, with a breakout role in ''[[The Private Life of Henry VIII]]'' (1933). She later moved to Hollywood, where she became an international star, earning acclaim for films such as ''[[The Dark Angel (1935 film)|The Dark Angel]]'' (1935), ''[[Wuthering Heights (1939 film)|Wuthering Heights]]'' (1939), and ''[[That Uncertain Feeling (film)|That Uncertain Feeling]]'' (1941). Her career spanned from the 1920s to the 1970s, primarily in English-language films produced in the UK and the U.S. Her performance as Kitty Vane in ''The Dark Angel'' earned her a nomination for the [[Academy Award for Best Actress]].

Oberon's other notable roles included ''[[A Song to Remember]]'' (1945), ''[[Berlin Express]]'' (1948), and ''[[Désirée (film)|Désirée]]'' (1954). A traffic collision in 1937 caused facial injuries that nearly ended her career, but she recovered and remained active in film and television until 1973.

==Early life==
Estelle Merle O'Brien Thompson<ref>Higham and Moseley 1983, p. 24.</ref><ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2507&dat=19380505&id=9UFAAAAAIBAJ&sjid=jFkMAAAAIBAJ&pg=5389,663535&hl=en "£5,000 Damages for Merle Oberon."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160312100736/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2507&dat=19380505&id=9UFAAAAAIBAJ&sjid=jFkMAAAAIBAJ&pg=5389,663535&hl=en |date=12 March 2016 }} ''[[The Herald (Glasgow)|The Glasgow Herald]]'', 5 May 1938. Retrieved 5 January 2016.</ref> was born in [[Bombay]], [[British Raj|British India]], on 19 February 1911, to a white father and a [[Burgher people|Burgher]] mother. She was given the nickname "Queenie" in honour of [[Mary of Teck|Queen Mary]], who visited India along with [[George V|King George V]] in 1911.<ref name=highmos25>Higham and Moseley 1983, p. 25.</ref>

===Parentage===
For most of her life, Oberon concealed the truth about her parentage by claiming that she had been born in [[Tasmania]], Australia to white parents,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2019/04/04/british-raj-india-staying-on/|title=Staying On|last=Hastings|first=Max|journal=New York Review of Books|date=4 April 2019|access-date=3 April 2019|language=en|issn=0028-7504|archive-date=3 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190403025458/https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2019/04/04/british-raj-india-staying-on/|url-status=live}}</ref> and that her birth records had been destroyed in a fire. She identified as British.

She was raised as the daughter of Arthur Terrence O'Brien Thompson, a Welsh mechanical engineer from [[Darlington]] who worked in Indian Railways,<ref name=highmos21>Higham and Moseley 1983, p. 21.</ref> and his wife, Charlotte Selby (whose full name was Constance Charlotte Thompson, according to her 1937 obituary), who was born in Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) and was a Burgher from British Ceylon. Oberon's birth certificate lists her biological mother as "Constance Thompson",<ref name="Kodé">{{Cite news |first=Anna |last=Kodé |title=Merle Oberon, Hollywood's First South Asian Star |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=2025-03-09 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/09/arts/merle-oberon-south-asian-hollywood-star.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=2025-03-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250410155458/https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/09/arts/merle-oberon-south-asian-hollywood-star.html |archive-date=2025-04-10 |url-status=live}}</ref> which could have referred to either Constance Charlotte Selby or her then-14-year-old daughter, Constance Joyce Selby. It is theorized that Thompson [[Pregnancy from rape|impregnated his stepdaughter by rape]], with Charlotte raising Oberon as Constance's half-sister to avoid scandal. Neither Charlotte nor Constance acknowledged this theory during their lifetimes, and DNA testing did not exist then to determine paternity.<ref name=mystery>{{Cite web |url=http://merleoberon.net/# |title=Merle Oberon: Hollywood's Face of Mystery |access-date=4 May 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090504124519/http://merleoberon.net/ |archive-date=4 May 2009 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref><ref name="abc.net.au">{{cite web| url= http://www.abc.net.au/tv/documentaries/stories/s657300.htm|title='The Trouble With Merle' (TV Documentary)|website = abc.net.au|publisher=ABC TV (Australia)|access-date=19 September 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051030144856/http://www.abc.net.au/tv/documentaries/stories/s657300.htm|archive-date = 30 October 2005}}</ref> Charlotte herself had given birth to Constance at the age of 14 after being raped by Henry Alfred Selby, the Anglo-Irish foreman of a tea plantation.<ref name=highmos18/> In their 1983 biography of Oberon, [[Charles Higham (biographer)|Charles Higham]] and Roy Moseley, known to write highly fictionalised accounts of celebrities, also averred dubiously {{clarify span|that Selby|reason=Which Selby does this refer to - rapist father Henry Alfred Selby, or victimized mother Charlotte Selby|date=March 2025}} had [[Māori people|Māori]] ancestry, though the [[Iwi]] (Maori tribe) was not known.<ref name=highmos18>Higham and Moseley 1983, 17-18.</ref>

Constance married Alexander Soares, with whom she had four children: Edna, Douglas, Harry, and Stanislaus. Edna and Douglas moved to the UK at an early age. Stanislaus, who lived in [[Surrey, British Columbia|Surrey, Canada]], was the only child to retain his father's surname of Soares. Harry eventually moved to Toronto, Canada, retaining grandmother Charlotte's maiden name, Selby. After locating Oberon's birth certificate in Indian government records in Bombay, Harry tried to visit her in Los Angeles, only for Oberon to refuse any meeting. When Higham and Moseley were working on their biography of Oberon, Harry withheld that he might have been Oberon's half-brother instead of her nephew; he later disclosed the information to Maree Delofski, producer of the 2002 [[Australian Broadcasting Corporation|ABC]] documentary ''The Trouble with Merle'', which investigated the conflicting versions of Oberon's origin,<ref name="abc.net.au"/> and repeated it to biographer [[Mayukh Sen]], who included it in the book ''Love, Queenie: Merle Oberon, Hollywood's First South Asian Star'' (2025).

===Youth===
In 1914, when Merle was three, Arthur Thompson joined the [[British Army]] and later died of [[pneumonia]] on the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]] during the [[Battle of the Somme]].<ref name=highmos2526>Higham and 1983, pp. 25–26.</ref> Merle and Charlotte led an impoverished existence in shabby flats in Bombay for a few years before moving in 1917 to <!--- name at the time --->[[Kolkata|Calcutta]].<ref name=highmos28>Higham and Moseley 1983, p. 28.</ref> Oberon attended [[La Martinière Calcutta]] for Girls, one of the best private schools in Calcutta, as a charity student.<ref name=highmos28/><ref>Woollacott, 2011, P97</ref> There, she was constantly teased by the majority European students for her mixed ethnicity, which led her to quit school and receive lessons at home.<ref name=highmos30>Higham and Moseley 1983, p. 30.</ref>

Oberon performed with the Calcutta Amateur Dramatic Society. She loved films; she liked going to [[nightclub]]s. Indian journalist [[Sunanda K. Datta-Ray]] said that Merle worked as a telephone operator in Calcutta under the name Queenie Thomson, and won a contest at Firpo's Restaurant there, before the outset of her film career.<ref>Datta-Ray, Sunanda K. "More than skin-deep." ''Business Standard'', New Delhi, 4 July 2009. Retrieved 16 July 2009.</ref>

At Firpo's in 1928, aged 18, Oberon met a former actor, Colonel Ben Finney, and dated him;<ref name=highmos3334>Higham and Moseley 1983, pp. 33–34.</ref> however, when he saw Charlotte one night at her flat, he realized Oberon was of mixed ancestry and ended the relationship.<ref name=highmos3334/> However, Finney promised to introduce her to [[Rex Ingram (director)|Rex Ingram]] of [[Victorine Studios]] (whom he had known through his relationship with the late [[Barbara La Marr]]), if she were prepared to travel to France, which she readily did.<ref name=highmos3334/> After packing all their belongings and moving to France, Oberon and her mother found that their supposed benefactor avoided them,<ref name=highmos37>Higham and Moseley 1983, p. 37.</ref> although he had left a good word for Oberon with Ingram at the studios in [[Nice]].<ref name=highmos37/> Ingram appreciated Oberon's exotic appearance and quickly hired her to be an extra in a party scene in a film named ''The Three Passions''.<ref name=highmos38>Higham and Moseley 1983, p. 38.</ref>

==Acting career==
[[File:Merle-Oberon-1937.jpg|thumb|left|Merle Oberon in 1936]]
===Early roles===
Oberon arrived in England for the first time in 1928, aged 17. She worked as a club hostess under the name Queenie O'Brien and played in minor and unbilled roles in various films. "I couldn't dance or sing or write or paint. The only possible opening seemed to be in some line in which I could use my face. This was, in fact, no better than a hundred other faces, but it did possess a fortunately photogenic quality," she told a journalist at ''Film Weekly'' in 1939.<ref>''Film Weekly'', May 1939, p. 7.</ref> 
===Alexander Korda and British stardom===
Her film career received a major boost when director [[Alexander Korda]] took an interest and gave her a small but prominent role, under the name Merle Oberon, as [[Anne Boleyn]] in ''[[The Private Life of Henry VIII]]'' (1933) opposite [[Charles Laughton]]. The film became a major success and she was then given leading roles in other productions, starting with ''[[The Battle (1934 film)|The Battle]]'' (1934) opposite Charles Boyer, and ''[[The Broken Melody (1934 film)|The Broken Melody]]'' (1934).

Oberon then made two more films for Korda: ''[[The Private Life of Don Juan]]'' (1934) with Douglas Fairbanks was a disappointment but ''[[The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934 film)|The Scarlet Pimpernel]]'' (1934) with [[Leslie Howard (actor)|Leslie Howard]], who became her lover for a while, was a huge hit.<ref>Higham and Mosley 1983, P. 94.</ref>

===Hollywood and Sam Goldwyn===
Oberon's career benefited from her relationship with, and later marriage to, Korda. He sold "shares" of her contract to producer [[Samuel Goldwyn]] and she moved to Hollywood. Her "mother" stayed behind in England. Oberon's career there began with ''[[Folies Bergère de Paris]]'' (1935) starring [[Maurice Chevalier]].

Goldwyn put her in ''[[The Dark Angel (1935 film)|The Dark Angel]]'' (1935), which earned her a sole [[Academy Award for Best Actress]] nomination, then ''[[These Three]]'' (1936) for [[William Wyler]] and ''[[Beloved Enemy]]'' (1936). The latter co-starred [[David Niven]], with whom Oberon had a serious romance. According to one biographer, she even wanted to marry him, but he was not faithful to her.<ref>Munn [https://books.google.com/books?id=OrDFAwAAQBAJ&q=merle+oberon&pg=PT96 2010, p. 70.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160425141721/https://books.google.com/books?id=OrDFAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT96&dq=david+niven+merle+oberon&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CB0Q6AEwAGoVChMI2Ma5vui9xwIVgfCACh0M6AWK#v=onepage&q=merle%20oberon&f=false |date=25 April 2016 }}</ref>

[[File:Laurence Olivier Merle Oberon Wuthering Heights.jpg|thumb|300px|Laurence Olivier and Merle Oberon in ''[[Wuthering Heights (1939 film)|Wuthering Heights]]'' (1939)]]

She was selected to star in Korda's 1937 film, ''[[I, Claudius (film)|I, Claudius]]'', as [[Messalina]], but her injuries in a car crash resulted in the film being abandoned.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1817&dat=19370325&id=4uw-AAAAIBAJ&sjid=Dk0MAAAAIBAJ&pg=5220,3578690&hl=en|title=Star's injuries halt production of film|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160509022047/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1817&dat=19370325&id=4uw-AAAAIBAJ&sjid=Dk0MAAAAIBAJ&pg=5220,3578690&hl=en |archive-date=9 May 2016|newspaper=[[The Tuscaloosa News]]|date=25 March 1937|page=8}}</ref><ref>Graham, Sheilah. [https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1499&dat=19370404&id=jqtQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=CyIEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5649,4986274&hl=en "Hollywood gadabout."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160518153258/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1499&dat=19370404&id=jqtQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=CyIEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5649,4986274&hl=en |date=18 May 2016 }} ''[[Milwaukee Journal]]'', 4 April 1937. Retrieved 5 January 2016.</ref>{{#tag:ref|In July 1937, [[United Press International|United Press]] correspondent Dan Rogers noted: "Beautiful Merle Oberon has two scars from her recent automobile accident, but movie fans will never see them. She is completely recovered, is entertaining again at her home... and will start a new picture here this month.... One [injury] was a slight cut on the left eyelid; it left no mark at all. The most serious hurt was to the back of her head; it left a scar but of course it is hidden by her thick hair. Just in front of her left ear is a fine perpendicular white line a half-inch long. So skilfully did surgeons do their job that this scar is invisible except at a range of a yard or less, in strong light."<ref name="Oberon Ready for Work">Rogers, Dan. "Merle Oberon ready for work after accident; scars will not mar beauty." ''[[Corpus Christi Caller-Times|Corpus Christi Times]]'' ([[United Press International|United Press]]), 7 July 1937. Retrieved 5 January 2016.</ref>|group=Note}} While in England she co-starred against [[Laurence Olivier]] in the Korda comedy ''[[The Divorce of Lady X]]'' (1938).

Back in Hollywood, Oberon appeared opposite Gary Cooper in ''[[The Cowboy and the Lady (1938 film)|The Cowboy and the Lady]]'' (1938) and then played Cathy in the highly acclaimed film ''[[Wuthering Heights (1939 film)|Wuthering Heights]]'' (opposite [[Laurence Olivier]]; 1939).

In England Oberon made ''[[Over the Moon (1939 film)|Over the Moon]]'' (1939) and ''[[The Lion Has Wings]]'' (1940) for Korda.

Oberon had darker skin, due to her Sri Lankan background.<ref name="Kodé" /> This was not too much a problem in black-and-white film, but she did not "test well" during colour film tests.<ref name="Kodé" /> According to ''Princess Merle'', the biography written by [[Charles Higham (biographer)|Charles Higham]] with Roy Moseley, Oberon suffered damage to her complexion in 1940 from a combination of cosmetic poisoning and an allergic reaction to [[sulfa drugs]] in an attempt to lighten her skin.<ref name="Kodé" /> Alexander Korda sent her to a skin specialist in New York City, where she underwent several [[dermabrasion]] procedures.<ref name=princess>Higham and Moseley 1983.{{page needed|date=June 2013}}</ref> The results were only partially successful; her face had become noticeably pitted and indented unless concealed by makeup.<ref name=princess/>

Oberon starred in ''[['Til We Meet Again|Til We Meet Again]]'' (1940) and ''[[Affectionately Yours]]'' (1941) for Warner Bros, then ''[[That Uncertain Feeling (film)|That Uncertain Feeling]]'' (1941) for [[Ernst Lubitsch]]. Korda financed ''[[Lydia (film)|Lydia]]'' (1941). None of these films was particularly successful at the box office. Oberon was one of many stars to make cameos in ''[[Forever and a Day (1943 film)|Forever and a Day]]'' (1943) and ''[[Stage Door Canteen (film)|Stage Door Canteen]]'' (1943). She made ''[[First Comes Courage]]'' (1943) at Columbia and played the female lead in ''[[The Lodger (1944 film)|The Lodger]]'' (1944), a popular noir. Also admired was ''[[Dark Waters (1944 film)|Dark Waters]]'' (1944).

Oberon had a big hit with ''[[A Song to Remember]]'' (1945), in which she played the French writer [[George Sand]]. However, this was followed by a series of unsuccessful films at Universal: ''[[This Love of Ours]]'' (1946), ''[[Night in Paradise (1946 film)|Night in Paradise]]'' (1946), and ''[[Temptation (1946 film)|Temptation]]'' (1946). She made some films for RKO, ''[[Night Song (1948 film)|Night Song]]'' (1948), and ''[[Berlin Express]]'' (1948).

===Later career===
In France, Oberon appeared in ''[[Pardon My French (1951 film)|Pardon My French]]'' (1951), then ''[[24 Hours of a Woman's Life]]'' (1952) in England and ''[[All Is Possible in Granada (1954 film)|All Is Possible in Granada]]'' (1954). Back in Hollywood she played the [[Joséphine de Beauharnais|Empress Joséphine]] in ''[[Désirée (film)|Désirée]]'' (1954) and had a cameo role in ''[[Deep in My Heart (1954 film)|Deep in My Heart]]'' (1954). She had the lead in a noir, ''[[The Price of Fear (1956 film)|The Price of Fear]]'' (1956).

Oberon came out of retirement sporadically to appear in films such as ''[[Of Love and Desire]]'' (1963) and ''[[Hotel (1967 film)|Hotel]]'' (1967).

Her last movie was ''[[Interval (film)|Interval]]'' (1973).

==Personal life==
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:Merle Oberon, 1937, Gerald L. Brockhurst.jpg|alt=Portrait of Merle Oberon, by Gerald L. Brockhurst, painted in 1937, Oil on canvas. 33-3/4 x 29 inches (85.7 x 73.7 cm).|thumb|Merle Oberon, 1937, portrait by Gerald L. Brockhurst|left]] -->
Charlotte Selby, Oberon’s possible birth grandmother, raised Oberon as her daughter until her death in 1937. In 1949, Oberon commissioned paintings of Charlotte based on an old photograph (but depicting Charlotte with lighter skin),<ref name="sapnamagazine.com">Kahn, Salma. [http://sapnamagazine.com/?p=537 "Hollywood's first Indian actress: Merle Oberon."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090131064019/http://sapnamagazine.com/?p=537 |date=31 January 2009 }} ''SAPNA Magazine'', Winter 2009. Retrieved 5 January 2016.</ref> which hung in all her homes until Oberon's own death in 1979.<ref>Higham and Moseley 1983, p. 100.</ref>

===Relationships and marriages===
Oberon married director [[Alexander Korda]] in 1939. While married, she had a brief affair in 1941 with [[Richard Hillary]], an RAF fighter pilot who had been badly burned in the [[Battle of Britain]]. They met while he was on a goodwill tour of the United States. He later wrote the best-selling autobiography ''[[The Last Enemy (autobiography)|The Last Enemy]]''.  

Oberon became Lady Korda when her husband was knighted in 1942 by [[George VI|King George VI]] for his contribution to the war effort.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=35719 |date=25 September 1942 |page=4175}}</ref> At the time, the couple was based at [[Hills House, Denham|Hills House]] in [[Denham, Buckinghamshire|Denham, England]]. She divorced him in 1945 to marry the American [[cinematographer]] [[Lucien Ballard]]. Ballard devised a special camera light for her, to obscure on film her facial scars suffered in the 1937 accident. The light became known as [[Catch_light|the "Obie"]].<ref name=biography>Higham and Moseley 1983, p. 161.</ref> She and Ballard divorced in 1949.

Oberon married Italian-born industrialist Bruno Pagliai in 1957, adopted two children with him and lived in [[Cuernavaca]], [[Morelos]], Mexico. While married to Pagliai, she had an affair with model [[Michael Edwards (actor)|Mike Edwards]], who was 33 years her junior.<ref>{{cite book|first=Michael|last=Edwards|year=1988|title=Priscilla, Elvis, and Me|publisher=St. Martin's Press|pages=[https://archive.org/details/priscillaelvisme00edwa/page/214 214–215]|isbn=9780312022686}}</ref> In 1973, Oberon met then 36-year-old Dutch actor [[Robert Wolders]] while they filmed ''[[Interval (film)|Interval]]''. Oberon divorced Pagliai and married Wolders, who was 25 years her junior, in 1975.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Christopher|first=Schemering|date=28 April 1985|title=The High Price of Fame and Fortune|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/entertainment/books/1985/04/28/the-high-price-of-fame-and-fortune/fdc1ebd0-84e2-4a3f-ae0e-00abbd6940a1/|access-date=10 March 2021}}</ref>

===Disputed birthplace===
To avoid prejudice over her mixed background, Oberon created a "cover story" of being born and raised in [[Tasmania]], Australia, with her birth records being destroyed in a fire. The story eventually unravelled after her death.<ref>Higham and Moseley 1983, p. 291.</ref> Oberon is known to have been to Australia only twice.<ref name="pybus">{{Cite book |last=Pybus |first=Cassandra |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l-Y3SP7A4lYC&pg=PA109 |title=Till Apples Grow on an Orange Tree |date=1998 |publisher=Univ. of Queensland Press |isbn=978-0-7022-3036-3 |pages=161 |language=en}}</ref> Her first visit there was in 1965, on a film promotion. Another visit, to [[Hobart|Hobart, Tasmania]], was scheduled, but after journalists in Sydney pressed her for details of her early life, she became ill and shortly afterwards left for Mexico.<ref name=pybus/>

In 1978, the year before her death, she agreed to visit Hobart for a Lord mayoral reception. The Lord Mayor of Hobart became aware shortly before the reception that there was no proof she had been born in Tasmania, but he went ahead with the celebration to avoid embarrassment. Shortly after arriving at the reception, Oberon, to the disappointment of many, denied she had been born in Tasmania. She then excused herself, claiming illness, and was unavailable to answer questions about her background. On the way to the reception, she had told her driver that as a child she was on a ship with her father, who became ill when it was passing Hobart. They were taken ashore so he could be treated, thereby spending some of her early years on the island. During her Hobart stay, she remained in her hotel, gave no other interviews, and did not visit the theatre named in her honour.<ref name=pybus/>

==Death==
Oberon retired after ''Interval'' and moved with Wolders to [[Malibu, California]], where she died in 1979, aged 68, after suffering a [[stroke]].<ref name="ODNB">{{Cite ODNB|id=56978|title=Oberon, Merle [real name Estelle Merle O'Brien Thompson] (1911–1979)}}</ref> Her body was interred at [[Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale|Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery]] in [[Glendale, California]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZraJCgAAQBAJ&q=merle+oberon+forest+lawn&pg=PA65|title=Celebrities in Los Angeles Cemeteries: A Directory|first=Allan R.|last=Ellenberger|date=1 May 2001|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9780786450190|via=Google Books|access-date=20 September 2020|archive-date=12 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201012055533/https://books.google.com/books?id=ZraJCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA65&dq=merle+oberon+forest+lawn|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Tributes and legacy==
Despite hiding her Asian heritage throughout her career, Oberon is regarded as the first [[List of Academy Award winners and nominees of Asian descent#Best Actress|Asian nominee in the Best Actress category]] and the first Asian individual overall to receive an Oscar nomination. In 2023, discussion around Oberon's Academy Awards status resurfaced after [[Malaysians|Malaysian]] actress [[Michelle Yeoh]] was nominated for and subsequently won the Best Actress award for her performance in ''[[Everything Everywhere All at Once]]''. News outlets such as ''[[The Hollywood Reporter]]'' opted to describe Yeoh as "the first self-identified Asian actress", while making note of Oberon hiding her identity.<ref>{{Cite AV media|title=Who was the first Asian nominated for Best Actress?|author=Vox |url=https://www.youtube.com/shorts/_ukRHmIpo30 |via=[[YouTube]] |access-date=3 March 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/michelle-yeoh-historic-2023-oscar-nomination-everything-everywhere-all-at-once-1235308400/|title=Michelle Yeoh on Historic Oscar Nom: 'This Is Beyond Just Me'|publisher=[[The Hollywood Reporter]]}}</ref>

For her contributions to film, Oberon received a star on the [[Hollywood Walk of Fame]], located at 6274 Hollywood Boulevard, on February 8, 1960.

[[Michael Korda]], nephew of Alexander Korda, published a [[roman à clef]] about Oberon after her death titled ''[[Queenie (miniseries)|Queenie]]'' in 1985, which was adapted into a 1987 television miniseries starring [[Mia Sara]], [[Kirk Douglas]], [[Sarah Miles]], [[Claire Bloom]], [[Leigh Lawson]], and [[Joss Ackland]].<ref>Korda 1999, pp. 446–447.</ref>

[[F. Scott Fitzgerald]]'s unfinished novel ''[[The Last Tycoon]]'' was made into a [[The Last Tycoon (TV series)|television series]] with [[Jennifer Beals]] playing Margo Taft, a character created for the TV series and based on Oberon.<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/07/last-tycoon-jennifer-beals-merle-oberon|title=The Fascinating Old Hollywood Story That Inspired The Last Tycoon's Best Plotline|first=Lisa|last=Liebman|magazine=Vanity Fair|date=28 July 2017|access-date=9 January 2018|archive-date=31 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170731013942/http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/07/last-tycoon-jennifer-beals-merle-oberon|url-status=live}}</ref>

New Zealand author [[Witi Ihimaera]] used Oberon's hidden South Asian and alleged Māori heritage as the inspiration for the novel ''White Lies'',<ref>Freebooksvampire [http://www.ivampiresbook.com/Romance/White-Lies-by-Witi-Ihimaera/18.html White Lies, Author:Witi Ihimaera, 3. Merle Oberon was a Maori] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160810101320/http://www.ivampiresbook.com/Romance/White-Lies-by-Witi-Ihimaera/18.html |date=10 August 2016 }}</ref><ref>''Screenz'' 6 October 2014 [http://www.screenz.co.nz/bss-2014-maori-filmmaking/ BSS 2014: on Māori filmmaking – Keith Barclay] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160617145806/http://www.screenz.co.nz/bss-2014-maori-filmmaking/ |date=17 June 2016 }}</ref> which was turned into the 2013 movie ''[[White Lies (2013 New Zealand film)|White Lies]]''.<ref>Auckland Actors [http://www.aucklandactors.co.nz/news/film/whale-rider-producer-a-novelist-reteam-for-medicine-woman Whale Rider producer & novelist reteam for Medicine Woman – Taken from Screen Daily, by Sandy George] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160208144431/http://www.aucklandactors.co.nz/news/film/whale-rider-producer-a-novelist-reteam-for-medicine-woman |date=8 February 2016 }}</ref>

British author [[Lindsay Ashford]], publishing under the pen name Lindsay Jayne Ashford, wrote the 2017 historical fiction novel ''Whisper of the Moon Moth'' based on Oberon. The novel is a fictionalised retelling of Oberon's early life, rise to Hollywood stardom, and turbulent personal life.

==Filmography==
===Features===
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! Year
! Title
! Role
! class="unsortable" | Notes
|-
| 1928 || ''[[The Three Passions]]'' || Bit Part || Uncredited
|-
| rowspan=3 |1930 || ''[[The W Plan]]'' || Woman at Cafe Table || Uncredited
|-
| ''[[Alf's Button (1930 film)|Alf's Button]]'' || Bit Part || Uncredited
|-
| ''[[A Warm Corner]]'' || Bit Part || Uncredited
|-
| rowspan=2 |1931 || ''[[Never Trouble Trouble]]'' || Bit Part || Uncredited
|-
| ''[[Fascination (1931 film)|Fascination]]'' || Flower Seller || Uncredited
|-
| rowspan=6 |1932 || ''[[Service for Ladies (1932 film)|Service for Ladies]]'' || Minor Role || Uncredited
|-
| ''[[Ebb Tide (1932 film)|Ebb Tide]]'' || Girl || Uncredited
|-
| ''[[Aren't We All? (film)|Aren't We All?]]'' || Bit Part || Uncredited
|-
| ''[[Wedding Rehearsal]]'' || Miss Hutchinson || 
|-
|''[[Men of Tomorrow (1932 film)|Men of Tomorrow]]'' || Ysobel d'Aunay || '''Lost''' film
|-
| ''[[For the Love of Mike (1932 film)|For the Love of Mike]]'' || Bit Part || Uncredited
|-
| rowspan=2 |1933 || ''[[Strange Evidence]]'' || Bit Part || Uncredited
|-
| ''[[The Private Life of Henry VIII]]'' || Anne Boleyn - The Second Wife || 
|-
| rowspan=4 |1934 || ''[[The Battle (1934 film)|The Battle]]'' || Marquise Yorisaka || 
|-
| ''[[The Broken Melody (1934 film)|The Broken Melody]]'' || Germaine Brissard || 
|-
| ''[[The Private Life of Don Juan]]'' || Antonita, a Dancer of Passionate Temperament || 
|-
| ''[[The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934 film)|The Scarlet Pimpernel]]'' || Lady Blakeney || 
|-
| rowspan=2 |1935 || ''[[Folies Bergère de Paris]]'' || Baroness Genevieve Cassini || 
|-
| ''[[The Dark Angel (1935 film)|The Dark Angel]]'' || Kitty Vane || Nomination - [[Academy Award for Best Actress]]
|-
| rowspan=2 |1936 || ''[[These Three]]'' || Karen Wright || 
|-
| ''[[Beloved Enemy]]'' || Lady Helen Drummond || 
|-
| 1937 || ''[[I, Claudius (film)|I, Claudius]]'' || Messalina || Unfinished
|-
| rowspan=2 |1938 || ''[[The Divorce of Lady X]]'' || Leslie || 
|-
| ''[[The Cowboy and the Lady (1938 film)|The Cowboy and the Lady]]'' || Mary Smith || 
|-
| rowspan=3 |1939 || ''[[Over the Moon (1939 film)|Over the Moon]]'' || Jane Benson || 
|-
|''[[Wuthering Heights (1939 film)|Wuthering Heights]]'' || Cathy || 
|-
|''[[The Lion Has Wings]]'' || Mrs. Richardson || 
|-
| 1940 || ''[['Til We Meet Again]]'' || Joan Ames || 
|-
| rowspan=3 |1941 || ''[[That Uncertain Feeling (film)|That Uncertain Feeling]]'' || Jill Baker || 
|-
| ''[[Affectionately Yours]]'' || Sue Mayberry || 
|-
| ''[[Lydia (film)|Lydia]]'' || Lydia MacMillan || 
|-
| rowspan=3 |1943 || ''[[Forever and a Day (1943 film)|Forever and a Day]]'' || Marjorie Ismay || 
|-
| ''[[Stage Door Canteen (film)|Stage Door Canteen]]'' || Herself || 
|-
| ''[[First Comes Courage]]'' || Nicole Larsen || 
|-
| rowspan=2 |1944 || ''[[The Lodger (1944 film)|The Lodger]]'' || Kitty Langley || 
|-
| ''[[Dark Waters (1944 film)|Dark Waters]]'' || Leslie Calvin || 
|-
| rowspan=2 |1945 || ''[[A Song to Remember]]'' || George Sand || 
|-
| ''[[This Love of Ours]]'' || Karin Touzac || 
|-
| rowspan=2 |1946 || ''[[Night in Paradise (1946 film)|Night in Paradise]]'' || Delarai || 
|-
| ''[[Temptation (1946 film)|Temptation]]'' || Ruby || 
|-
| 1947 || ''[[Night Song (1948 film)|Night Song]]'' || Cathy || 
|-
| 1948 || ''[[Berlin Express]]'' || Lucienne || 
|-
| 1951 || ''[[Pardon My French (1951 film)|Pardon My French]]'' || Elizabeth Rockwell || 
|-
| rowspan=2 |1952 || ''[[Dans la vie tout s'arrange]]'' || Elizabeth Rockwell || French version of ''The Lady from Boston''
|-
| ''[[24 Hours of a Woman's Life]]'' || Linda Venning || 
|-
| rowspan=3 |1954 || ''[[All Is Possible in Granada (1954 film)|All Is Possible in Granada]]'' || Margaret Faulson || 
|-
| ''[[Désirée (film)|Désirée]]'' || Empress Josephine || 
|-
| ''[[Deep in My Heart (1954 film)|Deep in My Heart]]'' || Dorothy Donnelly || 
|-
| 1956 || ''[[The Price of Fear (1956 film)|The Price of Fear]]'' || Jessica Warren || 
|-
| 1963 || ''[[Of Love and Desire]]'' || Katherine Beckmann || 
|-
| 1966 || ''[[The Oscar (film)|The Oscar]]'' || Herself || 
|-
| 1967 || ''[[Hotel (1967 film)|Hotel]]'' || The Duchess Caroline || 
|-
| 1973 || ''[[Interval (1973 film)|Interval]]'' || Serena Moore || 
|}

===Short subjects===
* "Screen Snapshots Series 16, No. 4" (1936)
* "Hollywood Goes to Town" (1938)
* "Assignment: Foreign Legion" (1956/7 TV episodes)

==Radio appearances==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year !! Program !! Episode/source
|-
| 1946|| ''[[The Screen Guild Theater|Screen Guild Players]]'' || ''This Love of Ours''<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3206230/harrisburg_telegraph/ "Oberon, Cotten Star on "Guild"."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304142154/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3206230/harrisburg_telegraph/ |date=4 March 2016 }} ''Harrisburg Telegraph'', 14 December 1946, p. 17, via ''[[Newspapers.com]]''. Retrieved 11 September 2015.</ref>
|-
| 1946|| ''Screen Guild Players'' || ''[[Wuthering Heights (1939 film)|Wuthering Heights]]''<ref>{{cite journal|title=Those Were the Days|journal=Nostalgia Digest|date=Summer 2016|volume=42|issue=3|page=34}}</ref>
|}

==See also==
{{Portal|Biography}}
* [[English rose (epithet)]]

==References==

===Notes===
{{Reflist|group=Note}}

===Citations===

{{Reflist|30em}}

===Bibliography===
{{Refbegin}}
* Bowden, Tim. ''The Devil in Tim: Penelope's Travels in Tasmania''. London: Allen & Unwin, 2008. {{ISBN|978-1-74175-237-3}}. 
* Casey, Bob. ''Merle Oberon: Face of Mystery''. Hobart, Tasmania, Australia: Masterpiece@IXL, 2008. {{ISBN|978-0-98054-822-8}}.
* Higham, Charles and Roy Moseley. ''Princess Merle: The Romantic Life of Merle Oberon''. New York: Coward-McCann Inc., 1983. {{ISBN|978-0-69811-231-5}}.
* Korda, Michael. ''Another Life: A Memoir of Other People''. New York: Random House, 1999. {{ISBN|0-67945-659-7}}.
* Munn, Michael. ''David Niven: The Man Behind the Balloon''. London: JR Books, 2010. {{ISBN|1-9-0677-967-8}}.
* Pybus, Cassandra. ''Till Apples Grow on an Orange Tree''. St Lucia, Australia: University of Queensland Press, 1998. {{ISBN|978-0-70222-986-2}}.
* Woollacott, Angela. ''Race and the Modern Exotic. Three 'Australian' Women on Global Display''. Monash University Publishing, 2011. {{ISBN|978-1-92186-712-5}} 
{{Refend}}

==External links==
{{External links|date=May 2020}}
{{Commons}}
* {{IMDb name|643353}}
* {{Tcmdb name}}
* {{Screenonline name|id=485559}}
* [http://classicmoviefavorites.com/oberon/ Classic Movie Favorites website]
* [http://film.virtual-history.com/person.php?personid=1370 Photographs of Merle Oberon and bibliography]
* {{Find a Grave|1574}} – Note 1917 birthyear on headstone
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110716142112/http://www.condenaststore.com/Actors/Merle-Oberon/invt/103576 Merle Oberon in pose for ''The Dark Angel''] in '''[[Vanity Fair (American magazine 1913–1936)|Vanity Fair]]''' portrait by [[Cecil Beaton]]
* {{cite news| url= http://www.hindu.com/fr/2008/08/01/stories/2008080151070200.htm | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080913214359/http://www.hindu.com/fr/2008/08/01/stories/2008080151070200.htm | url-status= dead | archive-date= 13 September 2008 |newspaper= [[The Hindu]] | date= 1 August 2008| title= From Bombay to Beverly Hills| first= Randor | last= Guy | access-date= 4 May 2016}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20051030144856/http://www.abc.net.au/tv/documentaries/stories/s657300.htm ''The Trouble With Merle''] (Australian documentary) – investigation of her origins

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oberon, Merle}}
[[Category:1911 births]]
[[Category:1979 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century English actresses]]
[[Category:Actresses from Mumbai]]
[[Category:Anglo-Indian people]]
[[Category:British people in colonial India]]
[[Category:Actresses from British India]]
[[Category:British people of Māori descent]]
[[Category:Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)]]
[[Category:English film actresses]]
[[Category:English people of Sri Lankan descent]]
[[Category:Indian people of New Zealand descent]]
[[Category:Sri Lankan people of New Zealand descent]]
[[Category:Wives of knights]]