Toshia Mori, “Blondie Johnson” (Warner Brothers, 1933)

Toshia Mori, “Blondie Johnson” (Warner Brothers, 1933)

Merle Oberon (1911-1979) is probably the greatest Asian leading lady of old Hollywood, but she is seldom celebrated as such because during her life, she hid her background and somehow passed as white, using skin-lightening creams (which eventually...

Merle Oberon (1911-1979) is probably the greatest Asian leading lady of old Hollywood, but she is seldom celebrated as such because during her life, she hid her background and somehow passed as white, using skin-lightening creams (which eventually led to serious skin problems from poisoning), clever makeup and lighting, and a fabricated story about her past. She starred in dozens of major films and was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress in 1935 for “The Dark Angel”. Oberon was born in Bombay, India, to a mother of Sri Lankan and Maori heritage who was only 12 (!), and a British father. Merle was raised by her biological grandmother Charlotte, who was only 14 herself when she was raped by a British tea plantation foreman, giving birth to Merle’s mother Constance. So Merle grew up as her biological mother’s sister, as her grandmother was only 26 when she was born. It’s little wonder she invented a story that she was born in Tasmania, Australia, where her birth records were destroyed in a fire. She grew up in abject poverty in Bombay and Calcutta, working in a restaurant, where her beauty was noticed; she started landing film roles at 17, and she was a natural onscreen. She went on to star with Laurence Olivier in “Wuthering Heights” and “The Divorce of Lady X”, with Gary Cooper in “The Cowboy and The Lady”, and in other hits like “Lydia”, “Til We Meet Again”, and “Berlin Express”. None of that would have been possible if it had been known that Oberon had Asian ancestry (see: Anna May Wong). She was given a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960. The truth of her background began to unravel toward the end of her life, but didn’t become known until after her death in 1979. An ABC miniseries based on Oberon’s life aired in 1987, named “Queenie”, Merle’s nickname. In 2013, a New Zealand film named “White Lies” was partially based on her life as well. And who can blame her for those white lies; she wouldn’t have had a career without them. I know she didn’t really do it for us, but thank you Merle Oberon anyway, it’s just cool seeing an Asian woman in leading roles in old Hollywood movies.

13 years for Z and me since the day that form was filed in city hall, and we’d been solid as a rock for 11 years before that, but we were plotting our next cross-border move and we thought the legality might be helpful, which it has been. Here’s to...

13 years for Z and me since the day that form was filed in city hall, and we’d been solid as a rock for 11 years before that, but we were plotting our next cross-border move and we thought the legality might be helpful, which it has been. Here’s to the next lucky 13. No drama, nice and easy, every day a revelation of colours like a Song dynasty iron glaze fired in a mountain kiln.

Under the great red cedar tree on the shore of Harrison Lake.

Under the great red cedar tree on the shore of Harrison Lake.

In other news, my dad sent me this selfie he took last week with Alicia Keys in Shanghai, where they were both attending some grand opening, which I found both shocking and normal as he flies around the world doing such things. He isn’t even really...

In other news, my dad sent me this selfie he took last week with Alicia Keys in Shanghai, where they were both attending some grand opening, which I found both shocking and normal as he flies around the world doing such things. He isn’t even really familiar with her work, but so it goes. No word on whether she was working on some secret project…

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