‘She had to hide’: the secret history of the first Asian woman nominated for a best actress OscarPosted in Articles, Arts, Asian Diaspora, Biography, History, Media Archive, Passing, United States, Women on 2023-03-13 02:27Z by Steven |
‘She had to hide’: the secret history of the first Asian woman nominated for a best actress Oscar
The Guardian
2023-03-07
Andrew Lawrence
Beaufort, South Carolina
Merle Oberon, a pick for best actress in 1936, was born in Bombay and spent her career passing for white
Magazine writers didn’t know what to make of Merle Oberon when she took Hollywood by storm in the 1930s. One writer described her as “bizarre, bewildering, and different”, while others marveled at her “delicate” oval face, “eloquent” emerald eyes, “bright red lips” and “alabaster” skin.
Though her 1936 best actress Oscar nomination for the coming-of-age drama The Dark Angel affirmed her place in a league with Katharine Hepburn and the eventual winner, Bette Davis, the glamor paragons of the day, it was only later that the world discovered Oberon was a south Asian woman passing for white…
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