MERLE OBERONBorn: Estelle Merle O'Brien Thompson in Bombay, India, 19 February 1911 (birthplace, date, and name vary in different sources). Education: Attended La Martinère College, Calcutta. Family: Married 1) the director Alexander Korda, 1939 (divorced 1945); 2) the camera-man Lucien Ballard (divorced); 3) Bruno Pagliai, 1957 (divorced), two adopted children: Bruno, Jr. and Francesca; 4) Robert Wolders, 1978. Career: Dance hostess at Cafe de Paris in London; 1930—film debut in Alf's Button; 1932—contract with London Film Productions; 1933—lead in film The Private Life of Henry VIII; followed by films for United Artists produced by Samuel Goldwyn, notably Wuthering Heights, 1939; 1957—host for TV series Assignment Foreign Legion; 1973—producer and co-editor of film Interval. Died: Of stroke in Los Angeles, 23 November 1979.
