In 1935, Merle Oberon became the first biracial actress to be nominated for a Best Actress Oscar, an incredible achievement in then-segregated Hollywood -- except that nobody in Hollywood knew Oberon was biracial. Born in Bombay into abject poverty in 1911, Oberon's fate seemed sealed in her racist colonial society. But a series of events, lies, men and an obsession with controlling her own image -- even if it meant bleaching her own skin -- changed Oberon's path forever.
This episode was written and performed by Halley Bondy, a writer and journalist whose work has appeared on NBC, The Outline, Eater NY, Paste Magazine, Scary Mommy, Bustle, Vice and more. She's an author of five young adult books plus a handful of plays and is a writer / producer for the podcast "Masters of Scale." She lives in Brooklyn with husband / cheerleader Tim and her amazing toddler Robin.
36: Star Wars Episode X: Errol Flynn
35: Star Wars Episode IX: Olivia de Havilland and John Huston, with Special Guest Rian Johnson
34: Star Wars Episode VIII: How Norma Jeane Became Marilyn Monroe
33: Star Wars Episode VII: Lena Horne
32: Star Wars Episode VI: Marlene Dietrich
31: Star Wars Episode V: Rita Hayworth and Orson Welles
30: Star Wars Episode IV: Gene Tierney (Or: The Many Loves of Howard Hughes, Chapter 5)
29: Star Wars Episode III: Hedy Lamarr
28: Star Wars Episode II: Carole Lombard and Clark Gable
27: Star Wars Episode I: Bette Davis and the Hollywood Canteen
26: Tales of Celebrity Drunkenness, 2014
25: The Short Lives of Bruce and Brandon Lee
24: Mia Farrow in the 1960s, Part Two: Mia & Dory
23: Mia Farrow in the 1960s, Part One: Mia & Frank
22: Audrey Hepburn: Sex, Style, and Sabrina
21: The Birth of Barbra Streisand’s A Star is Born
20: LIZ <3 MONTY
19: Raquel Welch, From Pin-up to Pariah
18: The Many Loves of Howard Hughes, Chapter 4: Jane Russell
17: Theda Bara, Hollywood’s First Sex Symbol
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