Publicity photo featuring the elegant Anglo-Indian actress, Merle Oberon

Merle Oberon

(1911–79)

British actress (d. 68) | The Divorce of Lady X (1938), Wuthering Heights (1939), The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934)

British leading lady, born in India; came to Britain in 1928

Mini Biography

Merle Oberon worked as a dance hostess until signed up by Alexander Korda. She worked mainly in Hollywood from 1936. The first of her husbands was Alexander Korda and the second the cinematographer Lucien K Ballard.

Latest Merle Oberon Pictures

Main title from the 1953 ‘Sound Off, My Love’ episode of Four Star Theatre (1952-56) (5) featuring Merle Oberon
  • 27th December, 2021
Merle Oberon
Four Star Theatre (1952-56) | Sound Off, My Love (1953) opening credits (5) | Merle Oberon
Merle Oberon (as Jane Benson) and Rex Harrison (as Dr Freddie Jarvis) in a colour photograph from Over the Moon (1939)
  • 24th December, 2018
Merle Oberon, Rex Harrison
Over the Moon (1939) photograph (1) | Merle Oberon, Rex Harrison
Charles Laughton (Henry VIII) and Merle Oberon (Anne Boleyn – The Second Wife) in a scene from Alexander Korda’s The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933)
  • 24th December, 2018
Charles Laughton, Merle Oberon
Charles Laughton and Merle Oberon in The Private Life of Henry VIII
The Scarlet Pimpernel DVD from Network and the British Film
  • 15th August, 2016
Leslie Howard, Merle Oberon
The Scarlet Pimpernel DVD – Network – The British Film

Select Merle Oberon Filmography

Wedding Rehearsal (1932)
Miss Hutchinson
The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933)
Anne Boleyn – The Second Wife
The Broken Melody (1934) opening credits (1)
The Broken Melody (1934)
Germaine Brissard
The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934) opening credits (2)
The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934)
Lady Blakeney
The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934) opening credits (2)
Beloved Enemy (1936)
Helen Drummond
The Cowboy and the Lady (1938) opening credits (3)
The Cowboy and the Lady (1938)
Mary Smith
The Divorce of Lady X (1938) opening credits
The Divorce of Lady X (1938)
Leslie Steele / Lady Claire Mere
Wuthering Heights (1939) opening credits
Wuthering Heights (1939)
Cathy
The Lion Has Wings (1939) opening credits
The Lion Has Wings (1939)
Mrs Richardson
The Lion Has Wings (1939) opening credits
Over the Moon (1939)
Jane Benson
Night Song (1947) opening credits (4)
Night Song (1947)
Cathy
Berlin Express (1948) opening credits (3)
Berlin Express (1948)
Lucienne
Berlin Express (1948) opening credits (3)
Désirée (1954)
Empress Josephine
+ Show all productions (3 more)

Personal Details

Born
Died
Alexander Korda
Husband  m. 1939–1945 (divorced)

Watch Merle Oberon on British television