BIO

Merle Oberon was born Estelle Merle Thompson in Bombay, India, in 1911.   Her grandmother became pregnant by a British-born tea foreman at the age of 14.   Her mother became pregnant at the age of 12.   Oberon was raised to call her grandmother “mother” and her mother “sister”.

Although she was a very bright student and received a scholarship to one of the best girl’s schools in Calcutta, Oberon was taunted about her mixed-race features and so began a life-long obsession to obscure both her lineage and childhood impoverishment.

Oberon emigrated to England in 1928 and began her film career with a bit part in 1928 for St. George Productions while working full-time as a club hostess.

She continued playing bit roles for several years until she was ‘discovered’ by producer/director Alexander Korda and groomed for larger roles beginning in 1932.   Within two years, she was a star.

In 1935, Oberon signed with Samuel Goldwyn and moved to Hollywood.   After several starring roles and the receipt of an Actress Academy Award nomination for her performance in The Dark Angel (1935), Oberon returned to England and Alexander Korda, starring in several of his pictures and marrying him in 1939.

She appeared in more than 50 feature films through 1973.

Oberon also starred in the British television series Assignment Foreign Legion (1956-1957).

She married four times:

1. Alexander Korda (1893-1956), film producer/director, (m. 1939-1945), divorced;
2. Lucien Ballard (1904-1988), cinematographer, (m. 1945-1949), divorced.   Ballard developed a special light, later dubbed the “obie” which, when attached to a film camera, flattened the skin tone in close-ups.   Oberon’s skin had been partially damaged by the combination of a car accident and repeated use of cosmetic bleaching agents.
3. Bruno Pagliai, manufacturer, (m. 1957-1973), 2 children (adopted), divorced;
4. Robert Wolders (1936-), actor, (m. 1975-1979).

Oberon died of a stroke in Malibu, California, in 1979, at the age of 68.

Additional biographical information is available at:

NOTED FILMS

TV SERIES

Assignment Foreign Legion