Hedy Lamarr | |
|---|---|
 Lamarr, c. 1944 | |
| Born | Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler November 9, 1914 Vienna, Austria-Hungary |
| Died | January 19, 2000 (aged 85) |
| Citizenship | |
| Occupations |
|
| Spouses | W. Howard Lee
(m. 1953; div. 1960)Lewis J. Boies
(m. 1963; div. 1965) |
| Children | 3 |
Hedy Lamarr (/ˈhɛdi/; born Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler; November 9, 1914[a] – January 19, 2000) was an Austrian-born American actress and inventor. After a brief early film career in Czechoslovakia, including the controversial erotic romantic drama Ecstasy (1933), she fled from her first husband, Friedrich Mandl, and secretly moved to Paris. Traveling to London, she met Louis B. Mayer, who offered her a film contract in Hollywood. Lamarr became a film star with her performance in the romantic drama Algiers (1938).[2] She achieved further success with the Western Boom Town (1940) and the drama White Cargo (1942). Lamarr's most successful film was the religious epic Samson and Delilah (1949).[3] She also acted on television before the release of her final film in 1958. She was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960.
At the beginning of World War II, along with George Antheil, Lamarr co-invented a radio guidance system for Allied torpedoes that used spread spectrum and frequency hopping technology to defeat the threat of radio jamming by the Axis powers. However, the technology was not used in operational systems until after World War II, and then independently of their patent.[4]
- ^ Lawrence, Snezana (April 12, 2021). "Historical Notes: The Fantastic Lives of Hedy Lamarr".
- ^ Severo, Richard (January 20, 2000). "Hedy Lamarr, Sultry Star Who Reigned in Hollywood of 30s and 40s, Dies at 86". The New York Times. Retrieved December 24, 2018.
- ^ Haskell, Molly (December 10, 2010). "European Exotic". The New York Times. Archived from the original on September 8, 2018. Retrieved July 26, 2012.
- ^ Rothman, Tony (January–February 2019). "Random Paths to Frequency Hopping". American Scientist. Vol. 107, no. 1. p. 46. doi:10.1511/2019.107.1.46. Retrieved March 27, 2024.
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