Why Merle Oberon, ‘Hollywood’s first South Asian star,’ kept her race a secret
Golden Age film star Merle Oberon comes alive in a new biography, sparked in part by the 2023 news that she was half Asian, a secret she kept all of her life.
Merle Oberon Was Way, Way Ahead of Her Time
His instincts proved correct when reviews praised Oberon as a revelation. “Miss Oberon, abandoning the Javanese slant of the eyes for the occasion, plays with skill and feeling,” The New York Times ...
The Christian Science Monitor11d
Actor Merle Oberon hid her South Asian heritage to keep working in Hollywood
British actor Merle Oberon’s greatest role might have been played off-camera. She kept her biracial heritage a secret so that ...
The New York Times15d
A Hollywood Star With a Secret That Could Have Ended Her Career
Merle Oberon was a popular actress who was once nominated for an Oscar. But a fact that she hid from the public threatened to unspool her entire life’s work. Merle Oberon in the 1935 Oscar ...
Slate26d
Merle Oberon Was Hollywood’s First South Asian Star. It Came at a Cost.
This is excerpted from the book Love, Queenie: Merle Oberon, Hollywood’s First South Asian Star, by Mayukh Sen. Copyright © 2025 by the author and reprinted with ...