Merle Oberon: A Hollywood First and Her Hidden Heritage

The Academy Awards are often celebrated for groundbreaking moments, marking milestones such as the first Black man to win for best costume design and the first openly trans person to be nominated for an Oscar. Amidst these celebrated achievements, the story of Merle Oberon, a trailblazing actress, often goes unnoticed.

Early Life and Identity in Calcutta

Merle OberonS early life in Calcutta, now Kolkata, was “less than pleasant.” Living in poverty wiht her mother,Charlotte,merle faced daily prejudice due to her Anglo-Indian identity. In the year of her birth,Anglo-Indians numbered around 100,000 out of a population exceeding 315 million. As noted, “Theirs was a community that the ruling class preferred not to acknowledge: Anglo-Indians were breathing evidence of Britain’s imperial malfeasance.”

Despite these hardships, Merle found solace in the movies, nurturing aspirations of becoming an actress.

A New Life in England

In 1929, an opportunity arose to move to England, which Merle seized. She pretended to be the wife of an English jockey, who facilitated her journey. Her mother, Charlotte, “who was darker-skinned, pretended to be Merle’s servant.” This deception served as “the gateway to a new life.”

Crafting a New Identity

In London, merle met Alexander Korda, a studio executive who fabricated a new backstory for her: she was presented as “the daughter of two European parents,” born in Tasmania. As Merle’s acting career took off with roles in films like “Men of Tomorrow” and “Wedding Rehearsal,” she gained popularity and captivated the British press.

Hollywood Ambitions and Challenges

Merle arrived in the United States in 1934, aiming to conquer Hollywood with her first American film, “Folies Bergère de Paris.” However, she encountered new prejudices and challenges. Speculation about her racial background was rampant. A 1935 article in The Washington Post alluded to Merle’s “parentage” as “one-half Indian (Hindu, not Dakota).”

These rumors threatened to destroy her career due to strict anti-asian immigration laws. The Immigration act of 1917 created an “Asiatic Barred Zone,” which banned people from most Asian countries. as noted, “That period — the late 19th and early 20th century — is now celebrated as a kind of golden age of immigration.But for Asians, it was an age of immigrant exclusion.”

Merle’s fabricated identity was not just a branding strategy; “it was also her passport.”

Navigating Hollywood’s Exclusions

Hollywood’s Hays Code, which restricted portrayals of interracial romance and nudity, further complicated matters. This made it challenging for performers of color to secure roles.Merle had to “move very cautiously in those early days.”

Merle was among several actresses, including Carol Channing and Raquel Welch, “for whom success also meant not being able to publicly embrace their heritage or hiding it altogether.”

A ‘Quiet Milestone’

Shortly after arriving in america, Merle met Samuel Goldwyn, a film producer who planned to remake “The Dark Angel.” Goldwyn also intended to remake Merle’s image.

Merle secured the lead role as Kitty. Goldwyn made “a concerted effort to align her with whiteness.” She was forced to undergo skin-bleaching treatments to appear lighter on camera. The film was released in 1935 to glowing reviews, and Merle received an Academy Award nomination for best actress the following year.

This nomination was a “quiet milestone.” Merle could not reveal her true identity, even as immigration restrictions eased.

Merle did not win the Oscar; it went to Bette Davis. Her career began to decline, coinciding with the rise of color technology in American cinema. As of how her skin appeared onscreen, “Merle, actually, lost out on certain roles after she underwent color tests.”

Legacy and Revelation

Merle Oberon died of a stroke in 1979 at the age of 68. Even after her death, her appearance remained a topic of discussion. Her obituary in The Times described her as being “of an almost exotic beauty, with perfect skin, dark hair and a slight slant to her eyes that was further accentuated by makeup.” her South asian heritage was not publicly confirmed until 1983, with the publication of the biography “Princess Merle.”

An Uphill Battle

During the 1930s, as Merle was building her career, “the United States went through a kind of ‘India craze.’” Despite restricted immigration from India, Americans became increasingly interested in yoga, Eastern religions, and Indian-inspired décor.

“India and indians were concurrently vilified and desired.” Hollywood films of that era often depicted Indian people and culture through stereotypes or glorified British rule.

Today, the film industry is more inclusive of South Asian people. “We have a rapidly growing number of south Asian American writers, directors, producers and actors working both in Hollywood and at a grass roots level, who are challenging previous narratives and creating complex, multifaceted South Asian stories.” Examples include Simone Ashley, Poorna Jagannathan, and Mira Nair.

Though, “it remains an uphill battle.” Many roles for South Asian actors are limited to one-dimensional characters or focus solely on their race. The tropes from Merle’s time persist, “may have shifted and taken on new forms, but mainstream films and television have recycled them,” such as the depiction of the terrorist or the model minority figure.

Merle Oberon starred in roles that did not center her identity. “Here was a South Asian woman playing Anne Boleyn and Cathy from ‘Wuthering Heights,’ two roles that are canonically white.” Her career serves as “a statement of refusal against this notion that your racial background should determine and limit the roles that were available to you.”