A Note from Errol Fernando, early June 2025 **
Dear Michael, I listened to a very interesting interview on Late Night Live recently which dealt with the whole story of Merle Oberon and her genealogy. Please google Late Night Live and listen to this interview which tells you about her Sri Lankan mother, her efforts to hide her ethnicity, pretending that she was born in Tasmania, etc, etc.
Late Night Live, at 10pm on Monday to Thursday on Radio National, is a programme that I greatly enjoy. Philip Adams used to host it until he retired, and David Marr is the current host. I well remember the interview with Arthur C Clarke from Sri Lanka. Fascinating!
Merle Oberon’s story is most interesting, of course. At the height of fame, she played the part of Cathy in the film ‘Wuthering Heights’ with Laurence Olivier.
All the best, Errol
** A NOTE by Michael Roberts
Errol’s father was a cricketer the Ceylon class in the 1930s or 40s. Errol is not only a top-class pianist; but he also was a solid cricketer and one of my teammates in the Peradeniya cricket team in the years 1957-1960 or so. The two of us even share the distinction of being two elements in the Peradeniya XI that mustered a grand total of 17 runs at Asgiriya against a Trinity College attack spearheaded by Eric Roles and Nimal Maralande…. who stood for “shattering speed” on the one hand and “guile” on the other.
What a transformation: from elevating piano keys to clattering wickets!
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ALSO NOTE
& … https://thuppahis.com/2019/01/26/requiem-at-trinity-collee-chapel-with-errol-fernando/
& …. https://thuppahis.com/2022/12/12/the-power-of-privilege-illegitimate-progeny-in-the-plantations-of-ceylon-and-beyond/
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