“Wuthering Heights” Movie Poster (1939). Starring Merle Oberon, Laurence Olivier and David Niven.
Exhibit at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C.
"The 1939 film adaptation of 'Wuthering Heights,' Emily Bronte's renowned 1847 novel, was nominated for eight Academy Awards, including best picture. This promotional poster pictures the glamorous Merle Oberon (Cathy) reclining as the languorous heroine in the arms of Laurence Olivier (Heathcliff), one of Hollywood's preeminent stars.
"The biography of Oberon, 'the most famous actress of disguised ancestry,' offers revelatory insights into issues of race and ethnicity during Hollywood's golden age. Born in Bombay (now Mumbai), Oberon (born Estelle Merle O'Brien Thompson) concealed her Anglo-Indian parentage, maintaining until the last year of her life that she had been born in Australia and raised by wealthy parents. Her first major roles included Anne Boleyn in 'The Private Life of Henry VIII' (1933) and Lady Blakeney in 'The Scarlet Pimpernel' (1934). In recent years, Oberon's cross-cultural origins and the fictions she devised to deny her heritage have become a subject of interest." [Text accompanying the Museum exhibit]
“Wuthering Heights” Movie Poster (1939). Starring Merle Oberon, Laurence Olivier and David Niven.
Exhibit at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C.
"The 1939 film adaptation of 'Wuthering Heights,' Emily Bronte's renowned 1847 novel, was nominated for eight Academy Awards, including best picture. This promotional poster pictures the glamorous Merle Oberon (Cathy) reclining as the languorous heroine in the arms of Laurence Olivier (Heathcliff), one of Hollywood's preeminent stars.
"The biography of Oberon, 'the most famous actress of disguised ancestry,' offers revelatory insights into issues of race and ethnicity during Hollywood's golden age. Born in Bombay (now Mumbai), Oberon (born Estelle Merle O'Brien Thompson) concealed her Anglo-Indian parentage, maintaining until the last year of her life that she had been born in Australia and raised by wealthy parents. Her first major roles included Anne Boleyn in 'The Private Life of Henry VIII' (1933) and Lady Blakeney in 'The Scarlet Pimpernel' (1934). In recent years, Oberon's cross-cultural origins and the fictions she devised to deny her heritage have become a subject of interest." [Text accompanying the Museum exhibit]