Merle Oberon (born Estelle Merle O'Brien Thompson; 19 February 1911 – 23 November 1979) was a British actress[1] who began her film career in British films as Anne Boleyn in The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933). After her success in The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934), she travelled to the United States to make films for Samuel Goldwyn. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in The Dark Angel (1935). Oberon hid her mixed heritage out of fear of discrimination and the impact it would have had on her career.[2]
She was perhaps best known for her portrayal of Catherine Earnshaw in the 1939 film adaptation of the novel Wuthering Heights, directed by William Wyler.
Her other notable films are These Three (1936), A Song to Remember (1945), Berlin Express (1948), and Désirée (1954).
A traffic collision in 1937 caused facial injuries that could have ended her career, but she recovered, and remained active in film and television until 1973.
^"Merle Oberon: Hollywood's Face of Mystery". Archived from the original on 4 May 2009. Retrieved 4 May 2009.
^Vox. Who was the first Asian nominated for Best Actress?. Retrieved 3 March 2023 – via YouTube.
MerleOberon (born Estelle Merle O'Brien Thompson; 19 February 1911 – 23 November 1979) was a British actress who began her film career in British films...
N.C.L.E., Bewitched and The Mary Tyler Moore Show. He was married to MerleOberon, and was the longtime partner of Audrey Hepburn. Wolders came to the...
1941 American romantic comedy film directed by Lloyd Bacon and starring MerleOberon, Dennis Morgan, and Rita Hayworth. It was produced and distributed by...
American drama film directed by William Wyler and starring Miriam Hopkins, MerleOberon, Joel McCrea, and Bonita Granville. The screenplay by Lillian Hellman...
starring MerleOberon (1939) adaptation of Manon Lescaut for MerleOberon an adaptation of War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy to star MerleOberon(1940s) Velvet...
composer Frédéric Chopin. Directed by Charles Vidor and starring Paul Muni, MerleOberon, and Cornel Wilde. Frederic Chopin, a talented young pianist and composer...
have been made, particularly the 1939 version with Laurence Olivier and MerleOberon, which covers only half of the story, ending with Catherine's death rather...
Enemy is a 1936 American drama film directed by H.C. Potter and starring MerleOberon, Brian Aherne, and David Niven. It was loosely based on the life of Michael...
Technicolor romantic comedy film produced by London Films; it stars MerleOberon, Laurence Olivier, Ralph Richardson and Binnie Barnes. It was directed...
most famous is 1939's Wuthering Heights, starring Laurence Olivier and MerleOberon and directed by William Wyler. This acclaimed adaptation, like many others...
industry that wanted to cast them as caricatures. Some, like actress MerleOberon, hid their ethnicity to avoid discrimination by Hollywood's racist laws...
an Empress. A cut version with dubbed dialogue was released in 1935. MerleOberon in the 1937 uncompleted film of I, Claudius. María Félix in the 1951...
co-produced by Alexander Korda and starring Charles Laughton, Robert Donat, MerleOberon and Elsa Lanchester. It was written by Lajos Bíró and Arthur Wimperis...
(1944). On the set of The Lodger, Ballard met and then married actress MerleOberon; they remained married from 1945 until 1949. He photographed 4 more of...
Diamonds (1940), where he had top billing over Isa Miranda. He was MerleOberon's leading man in 'Til We Meet Again (1940), then starred in The Man Who...
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