The first Asian actress to be nominated for an Oscar kept her heritage hidden until after her death

Oberon was born in Mumbai, India, in 1911 to a British father and a mother who was of Sinhalese and Maori origin, who herself was born in present-day Sri Lanka.At the age of 17, Oberon left Calcutta, India, for England to act in films. Her grandmother, who was darker-skinned, traveled with Oberon under the guise of being her maid.Desperate to maintain a future in Hollywood, Oberon invented the origin story of being from Tasmania, Australia, erasing her Indian roots.

In 1965, Oberon canceled appearances in Tasmania, her fabricated birthplace, once she learned local journalists began to question her origins.It wasn't until 1983, four years after her death, that her South Asian heritage became public knowledge.In the biography"Princess Merle: The Romantic Life of Merle Oberon," photographs and familial records revealed the story she had worked her life to keep unknown.

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