Profile Text
Birth Name: Estelle Merle O’Brien Thompson
Date of Birth: 19 February, 1911
Place of Birth: Girgaum, Emmanuel, Bombay, British India (now Girgaon, Mumbai)
Date of Death: 23 November, 1979
Place of Death: Malibu, California, U.S.
Ethnicity: English, Irish, Indian, Māori
Merle Oberon was a British actress. Her roles included the films Wedding Rehearsal , Men of Tomorrow (1932), The Private Life of Henry VIII , The Battle , The Broken Melody , The Private Life of Don Juan , The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934), Folies Bergère de Paris , The Dark Angel (1935), These Three , Beloved Enemy (1936), I, Claudius (1937); The Divorce of Lady X , The Cowboy and the Lady , Over the Moon , Wuthering Heights (1939), The Lion Has Wings , ‘Til We Meet Again , That Uncertain Feeling , Affectionately Yours , Lydia (1941), Forever and a Day , Stage Door Canteen (1943), First Comes Courage , The Lodger , Dark Waters (1944), A Song to Remember , This Love of Ours (1945), Night in Paradise , Temptation (1946), Night Song (1947), Berlin Express , Pardon My French , Dans la vie tout s’arrange , 24 Hours of a Woman’s Life , All Is Possible in Granada , Désirée , Deep in My Heart (1954), The Price of Fear , Of Love and Desire , The Oscar (1966), Hotel (1967), and Interval (1973); and the short subjects Assignment Foreign Legion .
She was born in Bombay, British India. She was born outside of marriage, with her mother being twelve years old. Her mother was named Constance. The identity of Merle’s biological father is not known.
Merle’s biological maternal grandfather was named Henry Alfred Selby. Harry was Irish, and was a foreman at a tea plantation.
Merle’s biological maternal grandmother was named Charlotte. Charlotte was from Ceylon, with Indian and Māori ancestry.
Merle’s birth certificate lists her parents as Charlotte Selby, who was her maternal grandmother, and Arthur Terrence O’Brien Thompson, a British mechanical engineer from Darlington, who worked in Indian Railways, and who was actually Merle’s grandmother’s partner. His name was misspelled Arther on the record.
Merle was raised believing that her mother was her sister, and that her maternal grandmother was her mother. The truth about her parentage was not publicly established until the 2000s. Merle was raised in Calcutta.
Merle hid her ancestry for her entire life, fearing discrimination from Hollywood.
Merle was married to Dutch actor Robert Wolders, until her death. She had two children, who were adopted, with her former husband, Italian-born industrialist Bruno Pagliai.
Merle was said to have been a great-aunt of actress Shelley Conn .
Source: Genealogy of Merle Oberon (focusing on her mother’s side) – https://www.geni.com