Merle first performed with the Calcutta Amateur Dramatic Society. She was also crazy about the movies and going out to nightclubs. As she entered her teen years, she dated increasingly prestigious men.
In 1929, she met a former actor who claimed he could introduce her to Rex Ingram of Vicotorine Studios. Merle jumped at the offer and decided to follow the man to the studios in France. However, when he saw Merle's dark mother one night at her apartment and realized Merle was mixed-race, he secretly decided to end the relationship.
After packing all their belongings and moving to France, Merle and her mother found that their supposed benefactor had dodged them. However, he had left a good word for Merle with Rex Ingram at the studios in Nice. Ingram liked Merle's exotic appearance. She was quickly hired to be an extra in party scene. After a few more bit roles, she moved with her mother to London for better opportunities.
In London, Merle worked as a dance hostess. She also left her name and picture at the Film Casting office. She was soon summoned for an audition. Though the audition didn't go well, she managed to win a handful of walk-on and extra roles over the next few years.
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.
Korda knew Merle couldn't reveal her mixed race, so he invented a past for her. His fictional embellishments included changing her birthplace to Tasmania, Australia and promoting her father from army engineer to Major.
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