Comments on: Merle Oberon: Hollywood’s First Indian Actress

By: Maxsim

Maxsim — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 11:06:41 +0000

my God, i thought you were going to chip in with some decisive insght at the end there, not leave it with ‘we leave it to you to decide

By: P.A

P.A — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 20:46:48 +0000

You made some good points there. I did a search on the topic and found most people agree with what you said.

By: PK

PK — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 16:33:23 +0000

Get real? Caucasian does not mean “white” or “european.” Don’t believe me? Look it up yourself.

By: Winfred Hammon

Winfred Hammon — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 01:03:42 +0000

this is great ive bookmarked this one hehe

By: Vishal

Vishal — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 22:09:55 +0000

This is something i have been thinking about. Well done. i will be back to read some more after lunch

By: Ezequiel Strople

Ezequiel Strople — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 02:00:59 +0000

I stumbled onto your blog and read a few post. I like your style of writing.

By: Amato

Amato — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 01:29:30 +0000

Wonderful Web site! I wanted to ask if I would be able pages and use a couple of things for a school assignment.

By: Hassan Bjorn

Hassan Bjorn — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 05:03:58 +0000

Dear Get Real,
There are so many inbetween scenes of Merle from the l930s in which she looks very much the super-beautiful Indian girl! Anybody in the least familiar with the beauty of Indian women will see that Merle was more Indian than British. Did you ever see a British woman of just a bit of Merle’s legendary beauty?? No way!!
The big Swedish movie magazine had a major article on Merle Oberon in 1940 with the headline “A drop of Indian Blood”. When I was in Karachi as a young boy, I met with an English harridan with a lovely adopted Indian son who told me all about “Queenie Thompson” and her ancestry. So what? Indians had a great civilization, great cities and palaces and flush toilets with water when the British were dressed in animals’ skins, lived in primitive huts and had to shit in the bush using leaves to clean themselves. Merle came from a more advanced civilization, but the British colonial powers had no idea about this fact. Possibly even Merle did not know.
In the l930s entry into the United States by “half-bloods” or “half-castes” was strictly forbidden. This extraordinary woman would have been left a hotel cleaner or something in England, not to mention the U.S., just because of her “mixed” blood.
Thank goodness Hungarian Alexander Korda knew better! And Merle soon became a most popular and beloved actress both in the U.S. and Europe, famed for her exquisite beauty and jewelry and royal connections. Thank God she did so well for herself!! She became the empress of international society! One can only wish that in time she should have had the courage to acknowledge her ancestry, but I understand it could never be (even when Marlon Brando’s fiancée Anna Kashfi claimed a fake Indian ancestry to make herself more interesting). I wrote to Merle discreetly about it and got a lovely letter with a signed Cecil Beaton photograph, but dodging the question. Merle was of an age when one shouldn’t displease the Queen (Victoria) and she lived the part to perfection. We don’t know about the anxiety and apprehension she may have felt, but she played the part to perfection. I’m sure the Queen and Prince Charles and her royal friends knew everything, but they loved her for herself and said nothing.
Merle Oberon is the most beautiful woman ever, in all times of history, I’m sure! She is my goddess!! And I don’t care about her blood – her blood is just human, her soul is most extraordinary, exquisite, marvellous!
I’m absolutely sure Prince Charles would agree with me! If anybody is doubting me, I’ll write to HRH and get his opinion, and we’ll put all of you doubters to shame!
hassony3@yahoo.se

By: Issac Maez

Issac Maez — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 10:48:53 +0000

Great Article! Thanks!

By: Whatever

Whatever — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 02:20:36 +0000

GetReal…you need to “get real”. You are obviously in denial. Merle Oberon was BIRACIAL. Where is your proof that she had no Indian blood? She most certainly did! She went to great lengths to hide it. Her maternal grandmother was a dark-skinned woman from Sri Lanka.

She was a beautiful woman of both European and South Asian ancestry. She was not fully Indian, but she was not white either.

A white man broke up with her when he discovered that she was of mixed race. It didn’t matter that she had white skin and European blood…she was still part Indian. To him, that was unacceptable, especially in a time where racism determined social status.

She was gorgeous, beautiful, classy, and exotic. She was not white. She looked like a white woman because of her mixed heritage. Perhaps in today’s world, she would not have been so ashamed of who she was. Unfortunately, she felt that she had to hide her roots to make it as an actress.