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.
Women of the 80’s (Polly Platt, The Invisible Woman, Episode 8)
Terms of Endearment (Polly Platt, The Invisible Woman, Episode 7)
Pretty Baby and a Playmate Murder (Polly Platt, The Invisible Woman, Episode 6)
A Star is Born (Polly Platt, The Invisible Woman, Episode 5)
Orson Welles, What’s Up Doc, Paper Moon (Polly Platt, The Invisible Woman, Episode 4)
Last Picture Show Love Triangle (Polly Platt, The Invisible Woman, Episode 3)
Peter Bogdanovich and the Woman Behind the Auteur (Polly Platt, The Invisible Woman, Episode 2)
“It wasn’t sexism, then” (Polly Platt, The Invisible Woman, Episode 1)
Sneak Peek: Polly Platt, The Invisible Woman, Episode 1
Season Trailer: Polly Platt, The Invisible Woman
159: Vanessa Williams, Whitney Houston and Hollywood’s Misogynoir Problem (Make Me Over, Episode 8)
158: The Hemingway Curse? Mariel and Margaux (Make Me Over, Episode 7)
157: Cass Elliot, Carnie Wilson and Fat-Shaming in Rock and Pop (Make Me Over, Episode 6)
156: Esther Williams and the Birth of Waterproof Makeup (Make Me Over, Episode 5)
154: Marie Dressler, the First Female Star to Conquer Hollywood’s Ageism (Make Me Over, Episode 3)
153: Hollywood’s First Weight Loss Guru: Madame Sylvia (Make Me Over, Episode 2)
152: Hollywood’s First Weight Loss Surgery: Molly O’Day (Make Me Over, Episode 1)
Sneak Peek: Make Me Over
151: Splash Mountain (Six Degrees of Song of the South, Episode 6)
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