LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Merle Oberon: Alexander Korda
built 640 days ago
Merle Oberon became Lady Korda upon her husband's knighthood. She divorced Sir Alexander Korda in 1945, to marry cinematographer Lucien Ballard. Ballard devised a special camera light for her to eliminate her facial scars on film. The light became known as the "Obie".
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Korda gave her the opportunity, personal patronage, and training which was to establish her as a beautiful star (name Merle Oberon) and acceptable actress. She was later to become his wife. Her first role of importance was as Anne Boleyn in Korda's film, The Private Life of Henry VIII, where her dark beauty and svelte grooming made a marked, if short-lived, impression among the King's succession of wives. Her appearance and panache won her many star roles in both London and Hollywood productions, including those in Korda's The Private Life of Don Juan, The Scarlet Pimpernel, and The Dark Angel.
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Merle got her first big break in 1931, when she met producer Alexander Korda. His ex-wife had pointed her out to him in the commissary and her beauty impressed him. He convinced Merle to change her last name to the more unusual Oberon and set about building up her career.
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Korda, the first of her four husbands, launched Oberon's career by casting her as Anne Boleyn in The Private Life of Henry VIII. But he was aware that actresses of mixed-race were not acceptable at the time, so re-wrote her past, choosing Tasmania because of its links to England and because it was so far away.
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Alexander Korda