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Merle Oberon as Antonita in THE PRIVATE LIFE OF DON JUAN (1934) . . . i think she is simply mesmirizing!
Tags:
Merle
Oberon
film
Antonita
Don
Juan
1934
Added: 25th April 2008
Views: 240
Rating: 
Posted By: Teresa |
 
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Posted by: Naomi on 2008-04-25
- Because of facial scars she 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 lit the subject head on, thus reducing the incidence of unflattering facial lines and shadows
- Merle was known as 'Queenie Thompson' up until 1939 when her then husband Alexander Korda convinced her to change it. The 1987 miniseries 'Queenie' (1987) starring Mia Sara was based on a book by Merle's nephew, loosely based on her life.
- Early publicity stated that she was born in Tasmania, rather than India. At that time, a Tasmanian background was considered classier than her true mixed race origins.
- To hide her half-Indian parentage, she would falsely represent to visitors that her mother was the maid.
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- In 1949, twelve years after her mother's death, she commissioned a painting of her mother from an old photograph, instructing the painter to lighten her mother's complexion in the painting to hide the fact that she was part-Indian.
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Posted by: Teresa on 2008-04-26
great trivia, Naomi! today, her exotic good looks and background would be a plus . . and, i HATE the way she treated her Mother, but times were different . . i suppose . .
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