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Biography
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"Without security it is difficult
for a
woman to look or feel beautiful."
Estelle Merle O'Brien Thompson was born in
India on February 19, 1911. She was educated in that country
until the age of 17 when she arrived in London. Merle began
her career in British films with mostly forgettable roles
on her part. She appeared in an uncredited role in Alf's
Button in 1930.
Unfortunately, Merle would have that trend
for the next three years. Movie moguls began to see an untapped
talent in their midst and began grooming her for something
bigger. Finally, in 1933, she landed a part with substance
with her role as Ysobel d'Aunay in Men
of Tomorrow. That was quickly followed by The
Private Lives of Henry the VIII that same year. Up to
this point she had been in British films only. After her portrayal
of Lady Marguerite Blakeney in The
Scarlet Pimpernel in 1934, she came to Hollywood to try
her hand at American film making.
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The
US had already had some idea of Merle's talent because they had
seen The
Broken Melody which was released in the US as Vagabond Violinist.
With her nomination for an Academy Award for Best Actress as Kitty
Vane in 1935's The
Dark Angel, Merle became a star in both Britain and the US.
Her portrayal of Miss Vane set the stage for better roles to come.
During
the 1930's she had many a suitor and several affairs such as Leslie
Howard and with David
Niven and became fast friends with many of Hollywood's biggest
stars and world celebrities. She became Lady Korda when her husband
Alexander Korda
received a knighthood on September 22, 1942.
She appeared in several well received films such
as These
Three (1936), Over
the Moon (1937), and The
Divorce of Lady X (1938). In 1939, Merle turned in another masterful
performance as Cathy Linton in Wuthering
Heights with Laurence Olivier.
The
1940's proved to be a very busy decade where she appeared in no
less than 15 movies. In 1948 she appeared in Berlin
Express and would not be seen of the screen again until her
appearance as Elizabeth Rockwell in Pardon
My French (1951). With no screen appearances in 1953, Merle
bounced back in 1954's Desiree
where she played the role of Josephine to perfection. Unfortunately
the drought was not getting any better. There were no films for
her in 1955, one in 1956, and none until Of
Love and Desire in 1963.
In between she did appear on television as host of the TV series
Assignment Foreign Legion. Her final film was Interval
in 1973. Afterwards, Merle lived in quiet retirement until her death
of a massive stroke on November 23, 1979 in Malibu, California.
She was 68 and had kept her beauty to the end.
 Contributions
to this bio are from
IMDb mini-biography by
Denny
Jackson
 To
see photos from Merle's private life go here.
Spouse
- Robert
Wolders (31 January 1975 - 23
November 1979) (her death)
- Pagliai,
Bruno (28 July 1957 - 1973) (divorced); 2 adopted children
- Lucien
Ballard (26 June 1945 - August 1949) (divorced)
- Alexander
Korda (3 June 1939 - 1945) (divorced)
Trivia
- Was
known as "Queenie Thompson" up until 1939 when her then
husband Alexander Korda convinced her to change her name.
- Interred
at Forest
Lawn, Glendale, California, USA, in the Garden of Remembrance,
2nd section, left side.
- I
Claudius is rumored to have been The
Epic That Never Was, a disasterous film and never released
because of Merle's accident. When in fact, the reasons were financial
and Charles
Laughton's inability to "get
into the part".
- Because
of facial scars the actress sustained in a London car crash in
1937, her future husband, cinematographer Lucien Ballard, designed
a compact spotlight that he coined the "Obie" (Oberon's
nickname). Mounted on the side of the camera, the device lights
the subject head on, thus reducing the incidence of unflattering
facial lines and shadows.
- Lost
the role of "Domini Enfilden" in "The Garden of
Allah" to Marlene
Dietrich.
- Born
under the sign of Aquarius!
- To
hide her half-Indian parentage, she would falsely represent to
visitors that her mother was the maid.
- Her
father hailed from Britain and her mother from Ceylon (now Sri
Lanka).
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