caption death_date death_place years_active birth_place children name birth_date spouse image article_title birth_name occupation
1943 23 november 1979 malibu , california , united states 1928-1973 bombay , bombay presidency , british india francesca son -rrb- pagliai -lrb- daughter -rrb- bruno pagliai jr. -lrb- merle oberon 19 february 1911 alexander -lrb- 1945 -- 49 -rrb- bruno pagliai -lrb- 1957 -- korda 73 -rrb- robert wolders -lrb- 1975 -- 79 -rrb- -lrb- 1939 -- 45 -rrb- lucien ballard merle oberon-publicity . jpg merle oberon
 estelle merle thompson actress
merle oberon

merle oberon -lrb- 19 february 191123 november 1979 -rrb- was an anglo-indian actress .
she began her film career in british films as anne boleyn in `` the private life of henry viii '' -lrb- 1933 -rrb- .
after her success in `` the scarlet pimpernel '' -lrb- 1934 -rrb- , she travelled to the united states to make films for samuel goldwyn .
she was nominated for an academy award for best actress for her performance in `` the dark angel '' -lrb- 1935 -rrb- .
a traffic collision in 1937 caused facial injuries that could have ended her career , but she soon followed this with her most renowned performance in `` wuthering heights '' -lrb- 1939 -rrb- .
throughout her adult life , in order to conceal her indian heritage she maintained the fiction that she was born in tasmania , australia ; she concocted a story that all her school records had been destroyed in a fire , which meant it could be neither proven nor disproven .
she maintained these fictions throughout her professional life .
the year before she died she finally admitted this story was not true , and records located since her death have confirmed her true origin .
