Hedy Lamarr

Inspired by an early Philco wireless radio remote and player piano rolls, she worked with composer George Antheil (who created a symphony played by eight synchronized player pianos) she invented a Frequency-hopping system for remotely controlling torpedoes during World War II. (The Frequency hopping concept appeared as early as 1903 in a U.S. Patent by Nikola Tesla). The invention was examined superficially and filed away. At the time, Allied torpedoes, as well as those of the Axis powers, were unguided. Input for depth, speed, and direction were made moments before launch but once leaving the submarine the torpedo received no further input. In 1959 it was developed for controlling drones that would later be used in Viet Nam. Frequency hopping radio became a Navy standard by 1960. Due to the expiration of the patent and Lamarr's unawareness of time limits for filing claims, she was never compensated. Her invention is used today for WiFi, Bluetooth, and even top secret military defense satellites. While the current estimate of the value of the invention is approximately $30 billion, during her final years she was getting by on SAG and social security checks totaling only $300 a month.

Several reference sources (including Ephraim Katz's "The Film Encyclopedia") list Hedy Lamarr's birth year as 1913.

Met Max Reinhardt at a party in 1929 when she was 15.

Hedy Lamarr, the woman many critics and fans alike regard as the most beautiful ever to appear in films, was born Hedwig Eva Kiesler in Vienna, Austria. She was the daughter of Gertrud (Lichtwitz), from Budapest, and Emil Kiesler, a banker from Lember (now known as Lviv). Her parents were both from Jewish families. Hedwig had a calm childhood, but it was cinema that fascinated her. By the time she was a teenager, she decided to drop out of school and seek fame as an actress, and was a student of theater director Max Reinhardt in Berlin. Her first role was a bit part in the German film Geld auf der Straße (1930) (aka "Money on the Street") in 1930.

She was attractive and talented enough to be in three more German productions in 1931, but it would be her fifth film that catapulted her to worldwide fame.

In 1932 she appeared in a German film called Ecstasy (1933) (US title: "Ecstasy") and had made the gutsy move to be nude. It's the story of a young girl who is married to a gentleman much older than she, but she winds up falling in love with a young soldier. The film's nude scenes created a sensation all over the world. The scenes, very tame by today's standards, caused the film to be banned by the US government at the time. Hedy soon married Fritz Mandl, a munitions manufacturer and a prominent Austrofascist. He attempted to buy up all the prints of "Ecstasy" he could lay his hands on (Italy's dictator, Benito Mussolini, had a copy but refused to sell it to Mandl), but to no avail (there are prints floating around the world today). The notoriety of the film brought Hollywood to her door. She was brought to the attention of MGM mogul Louis B. Mayer, who signed her to a contract (a notorious prude when it came to his studio's films, Mayer signed her against his better judgment, but the money he knew her notoriety would bring in to the studio overrode any moral concerns he may have had). However, he insisted she change her name and make good, wholesome films. Hedy starred in a series of exotic adventure epics.

For her appearance in Ecstasy (1933), she has been credited as being the first nude woman as well as portraying the first sex-scene in film history (scenes were cut and additional ones added in order to be able to release it in some countries). However, she was actually at least 18 years too late to be the first nude woman in film, as both Inspiration (1915) and Lois Weber's Hypocrites (1915) had beaten her to it.

She made her American film debut as Gaby in Algiers (1938).

This was followed a year later by Lady of the Tropics (1939).

Unfortunately for Hedy, she turned down the leads in both Gaslight (1940) and Casablanca (1942), both of which would have cemented her standing in the minds of the American public.

In 1942, she played the plum role of Tondelayo in the classic White Cargo (1942). After World War II, her career began to decline, and MGM decided it would be in the interest of all concerned if her contract were not renewed.

Had three children: Anthony Loder (born March 1, 1947), Denise Hedy Loder (born May 29, 1945), James Loder (born March 6, 1939; Hedy's husband John Loder adopted him October 16, 1939 as James Markey Lamarr).

In 1949, she starred as Delilah opposite Victor Mature's Samson in Cecil B.

DeMille's epic Samson and Delilah (1949). This proved to be Paramount Pictures' then most profitable movie to date, bringing in $12 million in rental from theaters. The film's success led to more parts, but it was not enough to ease her financial crunch.

She made only six more films between 1949 and 1957, the last being The Female Animal (1958). Hedy retired to Florida.

She was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6247 Hollywood Blvd. on February 8, 1960.

The mansion used in The Sound of Music (1965) belonged to her at the time.

Arrested for shoplifting in January 1966. Found not guilty.

Sued Mel Brooks for mocking her name in his film Blazing Saddles (1974) by naming a character "Hedley Lamarr". They settled out of court.

Arrested for shoplifting in 1991. She was found guilty at trial and sentenced to one year of probation.

In April 1998 she sued software company Corel Corp. for using her photo on the cover of its product CorelDRAW.

Although she earned a great deal of money during her career, she lost her fortune with her production company. She died impoverished in Florida in 2000.

Biography in: "American National Biography". Supplement 1, pp. 337-338. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.

Dr. Kleiner's pet head-crab "Lamarr" in the computer game Half-Life 2 (2004) is named after her.

The first Inventor's Day in Germany was held in her honor on November 9, 2005, on what would have been her 92nd birthday.

Was the inspiration for Anne Hathaway's performance of Catwoman in The Dark Knight Rises (2012).

May be the only screen actor to be in the National Inventors Hall of Fame. She was inducted in 2014 along with former Hollywood composer George Antheil. At the start of World War II, the two invented a Frequency hopping technique that could be used by the Allies to prevent jamming of torpedo guidance systems. Unfortunately at that time the Allies' torpedoes, and the Axis' for that matter, had no guidance systems; once leaving the submarine they received no further input; strictly fire and hope. Thus at the time this was an invention without a purpose. It later became an important aspect for wireless communications. The inventors received no compensation for their discovery. The original 1942 patent expired and the technique became part of the public domain. The earliest U.S. Patent that alluded to Frequency hopping was by Nikola Tesla in 1903 (US patent 725,605).