Women’s History Month: The Life of Hedy Lamarr
Film Actor, Inventor, Pin-up (1913–2000)
Hedy Lamarr was born Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler on November 9, 1913, in Vienna, Austria. She was an Austrian-American actress during MGM’s “Golden Age” who also left her mark on technology. She helped develop an early technique for spread spectrum communication.
Hollywood Career
Discovered by an Austrian film director as a teenager, she gained international fame in 1933, with her role in the Czech film, Ecstasy. After ending her marriage to Fritz Mandl, a wealthy Austrian munitions manufacturer who sold arms to the Nazis, she moved to the United States and signed a contract with the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) studio in Hollywood. After signing her contract, she changed her name to Hedy Lamarr. After releasing Algiers, her first American film, she reached her peak of fame.
Often referred to as “the most beautiful American actress”, Lamarr made a number of well-received films during the 1930s and 1940s. Notable among them were Lady of the Tropics (1939), co-starring Robert Taylor; Boom Town (1940), with Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy; Tortilla Flat (1942), co-starring Tracy; and Samson and Delilah (1949), opposite Victor Mature. She was reportedly producer Hal Wallis’ first choice for the heroine in his classic 1943 film, Casablanca, a part that eventually went to Ingrid Bergman.
‘Secret Communications System’
In 1942, during the prime of her career, Lamarr earned recognition in a field very different from entertainment. She and her friend, the composer George Antheil, received a patent for an idea of a radio signaling device, or “Secret Communications System,” which was a means of changing radio frequencies to keep enemies from decoding messages. The system was originally designed to defeat the German Nazis, but it became an important step in the development of technology to maintain the security of both military communications and cellular phones. However, Lamarr wasn’t instantly recognized for her communications invention since its wide ranging impact wasn’t understood until decades later.
Recognition
In 1997, Lamarr and Antheil were honored with the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) Pioneer Award, and that same year Lamarr became the first female to receive the BULBIE™ Gnass Spirit of Achievement Award, considered “The Oscars” of inventing.
Why Do We Celebrate Her Life?
Hollywood actress Hedy Lamarr’s professional accomplishments are related to two things more and more girls are growing an interest in: technology and innovation. Despite her Hollywood fame, Hedy’s passion was in innovation; she had installed a table in her home which she used to experiment different projects that she would come up with. Some of those projects were improved stoplight and a tablet that, when dissolved in water, created a soda similar to Coca-Cola. In her spare time, instead of drinking alcohol and partying, her most enjoyable moments were spent with intelligent friends, where they would share ideas.
In 1942, Hedy Lamarr, alongside George Antheil, submitted their idea to the National Inventor’s Council and received a patent for their “Secret Communication System”. They were anxious to share their invention with the Navy, but got a dull response. This original idea, was meant to solve the problem of enemies blocking signals from radio-controlled missiles during World War II. It involved changing radio frequencies simultaneously to prevent enemies from being able to detect the messages. While the technology of the time prevented the viability of the idea at first, the arrival of the transistor and, its later downsizing, made Hedy’s idea very important to both the military and the cell phone industry.
In addition to her Hollywood career and professional developments, Hedy had to make a lot of difficult decisions to escape her controlling husband of that time, Fritz Mandl. The Austrian businessman was closed friends with Hitler and Mussolini, whom he would often party with. This friendship lead to unbearable circumstances, and Hedy decided to devise a plan to escape her husband and country. After some unsuccessful attempts, she accomplished her escape by hiring a maid that looked like her, and eventually using her uniform to leave her home unrecognized. She then made her way to Paris, and finally to the United States.
Because of her personality, her courage, her accomplishments, and her willingness to keep growing and not take life for granted, is why we want to celebrate her existence. Particularly, because she was a woman that was ahead of her time.
