Who was Hedy Lamarr?

Hedy Lamarr was an elegant Austrian-American actress of the “Golden Age”.One of the most popular actresses and well known of her day Often called “The Most Beautiful Woman in Film,”. A beautiful and gifted actress. She starred in dozens of films mostly remembered for her roles in Algiers and Samson and Delilah. Also a Scientist and inventor whose technology is still used today.

Hedy Lamarr, birthname name Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler, was born on 9 November 1914, Vienna, Austria-Hungary to Emil Kiesler and Gertrud or “Trude” Kiesler. She was a Jewish descendants and well-off, her father was deputy director of Wiener Bankverein (Viennese bank) and later became director at the united Creditanstalt-Bankverein, her mother was a concert pianist. Her family fled to US after her country was annexed by Nazis in 1938.

Childhood And Education of Hedy Lamarr

Lamarr received a good and solid education as she was the only daughter of a prosperous director of a Viennese bank. She was privately tutored from a very young age of four. She studied schools in Vienna and at her teen age she also learned to refine her skills as an upper-class woman at a finishing school in Switzerland.

She had a brilliant mind, she could speak four languages. As a child her mother  introduced her to the arts and she had showed an interest in acting and film. She was a good pianist and a good dancer at the age of ten. At the age of sixteen, she was enrolled in a Berlin-based dramatic school, where she studied acting with Reinhardt.

Although she did’t recieved any formal education in Science and technology, she had began an interest in machines, science and technology when she was still a child. Her interest of machinery came from her father who used to take her for a long walk and discuss about the machines and the function of sound wave. By the age of five, she had taken apart and reassembling her music box to understand how the sound waves functioned and the mchine operated.

Height Weight Body measurements & Zodiac sign

 Hedy Lamarr’s inventions

Lamarr was a gifted mathematician, scientist, and an ingenious innovator who helped invent spread-spectrum communication techniques using frequency hopping during Second world war. Hedy and composer George Antheil, neighbour of Lamarr when she lived in California, wanted to contibute something for the fellow Americans who were losing their lives in World War II.

They often spoke of designing weapons and in the field of science to combat the Axis power. Hedy’s knowledge of weapons and Antheil’s knowledge of sound waves together developed a a radio-signals which can manipulated the radio frequencies at irregular intervals. They used different piano keys to randomly change the frequencies of radio signals. It can be used to control torpedos that could be jammed by the Nazis so that Nazis miss their target.

Her idea called “frequency hopping” provides a way to radio transmitter and torpedos to change frequency from one to another frequency. It make an unbreakable code which prevented to intercept message transmission by the enemy. They patented their invention in 1942. This technology is still used today. The invention of spread-spectrum communication technology were the foundation and the idea behind modern-day WiFi, GPS, and Bluetooth communication systems.

She recieved the Pioneer Award of the Electronic Frontier Foundation as well as the Invention Convention’s Bulbie Gnass Spirit of Achievement Award for her contribution in the field of science and technology.

Did Hedy Lamarr’s inventions were used during second world war?

Hedy patented their invention called “frequency Hoping”  in 1942 hoping it would help the war efforts.However the US navy rejected and disapproved the invention. The Navy rejected beacuse there was lack of testing and it could interfere in radar readings. Their idea was used only in 1962 for a Cuban blockade and later have a great impact in the modern society.

Photos of Hedy Lamarr

Acting career of Hedy Lamarr

Hedy was interested in acting and theatre from her very young age.She also won a beauty contest in Vienna whe she was twelve years old. Hedy first acted in the Austrian-German romanntic-comedy film “Geld Auf Der Strase” (Money On The Road) in 1930 before coming to hollywood. She was just 17 years old at that time. She also worked in some Czechoslovakian films.Her lead role came in No Money Needed (1932), a comedy directed by Carl Boes. By 1933, she already became a star when she worked in “Extase” where she played the role of an unhappy and neglected bride of an older woman.

She was intoduced to Hollywood by Louis B. Mayer and signed a contract with MGM. She shanged her name to Hedy Lamarr once came in Hollywood. Her first Hollywood movie was Algiers (1938) where she was cast opposite to Charles Boyer. She acted in a number of films from late 1930’s onwards. The classic 1942 film Casablanca was written Lamarr in mind. But unfortunately Louis B. Mayer refused to release from the MGM contract and role goes to Ingrid Bergman.

After the success of her American films, she continued to work in films like Lady of the Tropics (1939), I Take This Woman (1940), Boom Town (1940) and alongside king of Hollywood Clark Gable in Comrade X (1940). She also starred opposite James Stewart in Come Live with Me (1941) and Ziegfeld Girl (1941). Her other works include White Cargo (1942), The Heavenly Body (1944) and The Conspirators (1944). Her final film with the MGM contract was Her Highness and the Bellboy(1945).

She is best remembered for her work in Boomtown (1940), Samson and Delilah (1949) and The Female Animal (1957). She continued to work with some of the most popular actors of that time which include- Spencer Tracy, Clark Gable, and Jimmy Stewart.

Hedy retired in Florida and her last film was Instant Karma in 1990.Hedy was honoured Electronic Foundation Pioneer Award and National Inventors Hall of Fame in 1997 for her contribution in Bluetooth, GPS and Wifi.

Hedy Lamarr nude.

Hedy Lamarr went on nude on a scene in the film “Extase”. It is said that her first husband bought all the copies of this film and burnt them. This film brought the attention of Hollywood producers.

Hedy Lamarr’s spouse

Hedy Lamarr married and divorced six times in her life. She had altogether three children.

First husband-Friedrich Mandl

Friedrich Mandl was a Jewish who was born in Vienna, Austria-Hungar.He was an merchant based in vienna who sold amunitions and manufactured military aircraft.In August 1933, she married Friedrich Mandl when she was just 18 year old and he was 33 years old. She gained many knowledge about weapons, militarytechnology and munitions from her husband which could prove benficail to her later scientific inventions. However their marriage was short lived. They divorced in 1937.

Why did Hedy Lamarr run away from from her husband?

Her first husband was very controlling man and also linked with Nazi industrialists. “I knew very soon that I could never be an actress while I was his wife … Once said by Lamarr. Mandl excessively control her, like a monarch. Her freedom was very restricted and no life of its own. There was also a contoversy between her husband about a nude scene in her film Extase. It is said her husband brought all the copies of the film. She was always guarded by a maid like a prison and prevented in pursuing her acting career. Lamarr run away from her husband by disguising heself as a maid.

Second husband-Gene Markey

Gene Markey was an American writer, producer, screenwriter, a highly decorated naval officer and former husband of Joan Bennett. He was a screen writer of King of Burlesque(1936) ,On the Avenue (1937) and produce films like Wee Willie Winkie. Lamarr,after seperation from her first husband, married to Gene in March 1938.They dated for one year from 1938 to 1939. They were together only for two year from 1939 to 1941. The couple had an adopted son named James Markey. However it is said that James was the biological son of Lamarr with actor John Loder.

Third husband-John Loder

John Loder was a famous British actor. The pair married in 1943. It was his second marriage. The couple had two children together – Denis Loder and Anthony Loder. After marriage he adopted James Markey Loder,the adopted son of Hedy and Gene Markey. They divorced in 1947.

Fourth husband-Teddy Stauffer

Teddy Stauffer was a famous Swiss bandleader who formed the band “Teddies”. It was a brief marriage,the couple married only for eight months.They dated only for one month and married on 12 June, 1951 and divorced on 17 March, 1952. In 1952 Lamarr tells the Hollywood press that she was a victim of domestic violence. Teddy hit her several times in the face and knocked her against the wall. She said, it was a mistake that she married Teed.

Fifth husband- W. Howard Lee 

W. Howard Lee was a Texas oilman. Before marriage they dated for one year and married on 22 December, 1953. They were together for six years and divorced in 1960. They had a long court battle for their divorce in 1960.The couple had no children.

Sixth husband- Lewis J. Boies

Lewis J. Boies was a divorce lawyer. They dated for one year and married in Macrh 1963. The marriage lasted for two years and divorced on 21 June 1965. It was the last marriage of Lamarr, she remained until her death in 2000.

Hedy Lamarr death

Hedy Lamarr died at the age of 85 on Janauary 19,2000 due to heart in her Florida home.