via IMDB: Merle Oberon was born in Bombay, of mixed Welsh-Indian parentage, as Estelle “Queenie” Thompson. According to Michael Korda, she “became a feature of Bombay nightlife while still in her early teens and eventually made her way to England as the girlfriend of a wealthy young Englishman.” In London she became a star at the Cafe de Paris and the girlfriend of a Black American jazz musician called Hutch. The three Korda brothers, Alexander, Zoltan and Vincent, were Hungarian Jews who made careers in the movie business, first in London and later in Hollywood. Alexander Korda discovered Queenie in the tea line at the movie studio. He changed her name and cast her as Anne Boleyn in _Private Life of Henry VIII, The (1933)_, the first British picture to be nominated for an Academy Award as Best Picture.