Merle Oberon

Merle Oberon was an Anglo-Indian actress who was one of the great stars of Hollywood’s golden age. But she appeared in both American and British films. Under her belt, Merle Oberon has a diverse, if not necessarily award-winning filmography. She was nominated for an Academy Awards Oscar for best actress and she acted in many successful movies opposite leading stars of British and American cinema. She married four times in her life and had a failed marriage of three times.

Born in Maharashtra on 19 February 1911, the actress often is considered to obstruct her parentage. It is however reported that Merle’s parents are Arthur Thompson and Charlotte Selby. After Arthur’s death, Merle along with Charlotte moved to Calcutta. Before her movie career, she was a telephone operator in Calcutta and preferred visiting night clubs. Later in 1929, she came across actor named Colonel Ben Finney and dated him. Though their love story was not a success, the actor influenced her to move to the country of France to fetch actor’s role in Victorine Studios. Due to her photogenic face, the studio hired her for a small role in a film named ‘The Three Passions’. Merle Oberon then moved to England in 1928 and appeared in the minuscule role in various films. This actress made her mark opposite Charles Laughton In 1933’s ‘’The Private Life of Henry VIII’’. This is the first British film to break into the American market and win an Academy Award. It is during this time Oberon fell in love with film director Alexander Korda.

Later in 1939 she married him and got divorced six years later. She cemented her spot in film history by appearing in a movie “The Scarlet Pimpernel ‘’ (1934) with Leslie Howard. Korda introduced her to Hollywood filmmaker Samuel Goldwyn, and she bagged many good roles in Hollywood. Samuel Goldwyn signed her for a Hollywood film, ‘The Dark Angel’ in 1935. She was nominated for best supporting actress role in Oscar for this movie. She went to make a slew of popular movies in American and British films. Her biggest movies roles were in Samuel Goldwyn Production movie ‘Wuthering Heights’ (1939), Columbia Pictures production movie “A Song to Remember”(1945) and 20th Century Fox Production movie’ Désirée’. The mystery has always surrounded Merle Oberon’s multiple married life and even her childhood life too.

For her contributions to the entertainment industry( Motion Pictures), a statue of Merle Oberon exists along with 2,500 Hollywood celebrities in ‘Hollwyood Walk of Fame’ which is located on Vine Street in Hollywood. She had a stroke at the age of 68 and passed away in California on 23 November 1979.