Name: Art Book Club: Love, Queenie: Merle Oberon, Hollywood’s First South Asian Star
Start: 2026-01-07T17:30:00-05:00
End: 2026-01-07T19:00:00-05:00
Location: 2445 Monroe St, Toledo, OH, United States, Ohio 43620

$Art Book Club: Love, Queenie: Merle Oberon, Hollywood\u2019s First South Asian Star$

Join the Toledo Museum of Art Library & Archives for an engaging discussion of Distant Star: The Life of Merle Oberon by Mayukh Sen, the first comprehensive biography of the groundbreaking actress in more than forty years.
Sen’s deeply researched work uncovers the remarkable story of Estelle “Queenie” Thompson, born in India to a South Asian mother and a White father, who later reinvented herself as Merle Oberon. Rising to international fame in films such as Wuthering Heights (1939), Oberon became the first performer of color nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress, for The Dark Angel (1936). Through interviews with her family and access to previously unseen archives, Sen examines Oberon’s transformation, exploring how race, gender, and power shaped her life and career in Hollywood.
This Art Book Club discussion coincides with the exhibition Radiance and Reverie: Jewels from the Collection of Neil Lane, which showcases jewelry worn by Hollywood legends and highlights a century of exquisite design.
📚 Art Book Club events are free and open to the public, but registration is required.
Location: TMA Library