Hollywood actor Merle Oberon made history at the Oscars in 1936, although the significance of her nomination was not known at the time. Nominated for Best Actress for The Dark Angel, she was the first actress of South Asian ancestry to receive the honour. But Oberon could not claim that distinction publicly because the identity that made her nomination historic was the very identity she had spent her career hiding. Born Estelle Merle O’Brien Thompson in Bombay in 1911 and raised in Calcutta, she presented herself in Hollywood as a white British actress born in Tasmania. She became a star, played Cathy in Wuthering Heights and worked with some of the biggest names of Hollywood’s Golden Age, while keeping her Indian and mixed-race background secret until her death in 1979.Merle Oberon was born Estelle Merle O’Brien ThompsonBefore Hollywood knew her as Merle Oberon, she was Estelle Merle O’Brien Thompson, known to her family as Queenie.She was born in Bombay in 1911. Her father, Arthur Thompson, was British, while her mother’s family had roots in Sri Lanka. The circumstances of her birth were complicated by a family secret. Later research established that the woman who raised Oberon as her daughter, Charlotte Selby, was actually her grandmother, while Constance, whom Oberon believed was her sister, was her biological mother.The details became public only after Oberon’s death and were explored in subsequent biographies and documentaries. The 1983 biography Princess Merle: The Romantic Life of Merle Oberon was the first major account to establish that she had been born in India rather than Tasmania, although later research has challenged some of the book’s claims about her family history. The 2002 documentary The Trouble with Merle also examined the conflicting accounts surrounding her origins.Oberon’s childhood was spent in Bombay and Calcutta. After her father’s death, the family lived in difficult circumstances. She attended La Martinière in Calcutta as a charity student but reportedly faced bullying because of her mixed-race background.As a teenager, she performed with the Calcutta Amateur Theatrical Society. She eventually left India for Britain in 1929, determined to build a career in films.The beginning was far from glamorous. She worked as a nightclub hostess and took small film roles while trying to establish herself.Story continues below this adHer break came through filmmaker Alexander Korda. In 1932, London Films gave her a contract. Queenie Thompson became Merle Oberon, and the transformation went beyond a stage name.Her birthplace became Tasmania. Her parents were presented as wealthy white people. Her Indian past was removed from the public information.In a 1934 interview with The West Australian, Oberon said she had been born in Tasmania, had spent seven years in India and had then gone to England. The Australian National Film and Sound Archive notes that she maintained this version of her history throughout her career, even when questions about her background became increasingly persistent.ALSO READ: ‘Have several doubts about Vijay’: Prakash Raj reacts Tamil Nadu CM’s first 120 days in officeStory continues below this adThe making of a Hollywood starOberon’s career moved quickly after her breakthrough as Anne Boleyn in The Private Life of Henry VIII in 1933. She followed it with The Private Life of Don Juan and The Scarlet Pimpernel, becoming a leading actress in British cinema before moving to Hollywood.She arrived in the United States in 1934. Her timing was significant. America had strict immigration restrictions affecting South Asians, and the 1923 Supreme Court ruling in United States v. Bhagat Singh Thind had denied Indian immigrants the racial classification required for naturalisation.Hollywood also had its own racial barriers.The Motion Picture Production Code, commonly known as the Hays Code, restricted the depiction of interracial relationships. Oberon’s carefully constructed identity as a white British woman allowed her to occupy the position Hollywood had created for its leading ladies.Writer Mayukh Sen, who became interested in Oberon after learning about her Oscar nomination, examined immigration records relating to the actress for his 2025 biography Love, Queenie. His research places her career against the immigration and citizenship restrictions that affected South Asians in America during her lifetime.Story continues below this adThe Oscar nominationIn 1935, Oberon appeared in The Dark Angel as Kitty Vane. Her performance earned her a Best Actress nomination at the eighth Academy Awards in 1936. The official Academy record lists Oberon among the nominees; Bette Davis won the award for Dangerous.Oberon’s nomination became historically significant only after her background was revealed.She was, retrospectively, the first actress of South Asian ancestry to receive a Best Actress Oscar nomination. But nobody watching the ceremony knew that.The Hollywood establishment knew Merle Oberon as a British actress from Tasmania.Story continues below this adIn 2023, when Michelle Yeoh was initially described in some coverage as the first Asian woman nominated for Best Actress, reports were subsequently corrected to acknowledge Oberon’s 1936 nomination.Wuthering Heights and the height of her fameIf The Dark Angel gave Oberon Oscar recognition, Wuthering Heights made her a lasting Hollywood name. William Wyler’s 1939 adaptation of Emily Brontë’s novel cast her as Catherine Earnshaw opposite Laurence Olivier. The film became one of the defining works of both actors’ careers.Her private life also became part of the Hollywood mythology. She married Korda in 1939 and later married cinematographer Lucien Ballard, Italian industrialist Bruno Pagliai and actor Robert Wolders. She had numerous reported relationships with other prominent figures in the film industry.Oberon’s car accidentOberon’s appearance was central to the image Hollywood had created for her. Several accounts have described her use of skin-lightening treatments, while later reporting has linked those treatments to damage to her skin.Story continues below this adIn 1937, Oberon was involved in a serious car accident that left scars on her face. The accident contributed to the abandonment of I, Claudius, a major film in which she was scheduled to appear.Cinematographer Lucien Ballard later developed a lighting technique that helped conceal the scars. The technique became known as the “Obie” and was subsequently used in Hollywood.Ballard and Oberon married in 1945.The secret followed her for the rest of her lifeOberon continued to work through the 1940s and 1950s, appearing in films including The Lodger, A Song to Remember, Night Song, Berlin Express and Desirée. But her career gradually declined.She married Bruno Pagliai in 1957 and moved to Acapulco, where the couple adopted two children. She later married Robert Wolders in 1975.Story continues below this adEven as her film career faded, Oberon remained determined to protect her past. When her nephew Michael Korda was writing Charmed Lives, he later recalled that Oberon objected to details about her real name and birthplace being included. She had spent decades defending the Tasmania story.The Australian connection became particularly uncomfortable during her later visits there. The National Film and Sound Archive records that a 1965 visit became difficult after Australian journalists pursued questions about her background, prompting her to cancel appearances and leave the country within days. In 1978, she again faced questions about her supposed Tasmanian birthplace.The truth came after Merle OberonOberon died of a stroke in Malibu on November 23, 1979. She was 68. She never publicly acknowledged that she had been born in Bombay.After her death, documentary evidence began dismantling the story she had maintained for decades. Her birth record and other documents from India established her true birthplace.Story continues below this adThe 1983 biography Princess Merle brought the revelation to a wider audience. Two decades later, The Trouble with Merle revisited the story and examined the Australian mythology that had grown around her.Sen’s later biography added further archival research and a detailed examination of the immigration and citizenship laws surrounding Oberon’s career.