Inspiring Women in History: Hedy Lamarr
Bombshell actress, inventor, and woman who knows her worth; today we’re covering Hedy Lamarr.
Not only is she to thank for modern wifi, bluetooth, and GPS but she was the first woman to fake it *on the big screen! Hedy was incredible for many reasons but I fell in love with her was her knack for multiplicity and drive for life. Women are complex and beautiful and she’s a lovely personification of that so let’s dig in!
Hedy was born Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler (November 11, 1914 - January 19, 2000) in Vienna, Austria to wealthy parents. Her mother was a pianist who inspired her love of theater and her father, who would take walks and explain how things functioned, sparked her curiosity for science and technology.
By eighteen, she was notorious for a scene she would never be able to escape. Hedy was the first actress to flirt naked and act out an orgasm on screen. The film made her famous and she won an award at the Venice Film Festival but she didn’t know that specific shot was going to be so close and personal. She was taken advantage of by the director and says herself that she was manipulated. She gained recognition but at what cost? Something that is prevalent as ever in our modern times, just look at the MeToo movement.
Hedy’s first husband, (33 to her 18) in 1933, was the third wealthiest man in Austria, a well known military arms manufacturer with close ties to fascist leaders, Mussolini and Hitler. This was prior to WWII popping off so although her parents, both of Jewish descent, did not approve, she proved a woman will do anything for a love bomb. He persuaded her to quit acting and be his personal arm candy, however during this time she would attend meetings with him. This is where she was first introduced to the field of applied science and military technology involving bombs and torpedoes.
In Hedy’s autobiography, she stated “I knew very soon that I could never be an actress while I was his wife. …He was an absolute monarch in his marriage. …I was like a doll. I was like a thing, some object of art which had to be guarded - and imprisoned- having no mind, no life of it’s own.”
There are varying accounts of her escape but from her biography, we know she fled her first marriage through calculated, intentional action. She drugged a maid, stole their clothing and biked to get away. She sewed her jewels and prize possessions into the lining of a coat to not be confused with a thieving maid. Others shared she wore all her jewelry to a dinner party and vanished afterward on night.
A woman who knows her worth.
Soon after in 1937, she met the head of MGM who was scouting for new talent, looking to get cheap movie stars as antisemitism was growing and people were looking to escape Europe. He offers her a contract for $125 a week as an exclusive MGM actress. As a woman who was already famous, she turned him down but wasn’t ready to give up. She books a ticket on the same New York-bound ocean liner that she knew he would be on. She wasn’t going to let this opportunity pass.
Hedy puts on her best dress and is determined to impress him…which of course she did. By the time she arrives in New York, she has a contract for $500 a week, a new screen name of Hedy Lamarr, and the title of the “world’s most beautiful woman” in all the papers.
“Any girl can be glamorous. All you have to do is stand still and look stupid.”
For years she starred in box office hits as an exotic seductress but the lack of character depth had her tinkering away in her trailer on set. Hedy was primarily self taught but would spend all her free time designing and drafting inventions between takes. She introduced inventions that were practical solutions to everyday problems, like a tablet that would dissolve in water to create a flavored carbonated drink and a glow in the dark dog collar. Her most incredible idea of all was still yet to come.
During wartime, Hedy wanted to do more for her adopted country so she began touring around, performing to sell war bonds. It’s estimated she, along with a sailor named Eddie Rhodes, raised around $485 million dollars in today’s money. Talk about supporting your troops!
She knew the military needed more to win the war, thus bloomed her idea to use “frequency hopping”. Hedy brought her bright idea to composer George Antheil, a friend of hers, and proposed that war torpedos could be steered by radio control, essentially a covert communication system that could help defeat the Nazis. Sadly, the Navy rejected the idea because she was a woman and no one believed her when she went public. Her patent was locked up and labeled “top secret” for the rest of the war. Hedy eventually gave up trying to petition the Pentagon and went back to film full time.
Soon frequency hopping was popping up in military technology, in the early 60s it was used on U.S. warships during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Decades went by and Hedy retired to Florida where she continued inventing practical solutions like improvements to traffic lights. It wasn’t until she was in her 80s when engineers realized that the name listed on the patent was the notorious Hedy Lamarr.
Only at the end of her life was she was finally recognized for her concept that is now used as the basis for secure WiFi, GPS, and Bluetooth technology. She didn’t want money but she did say…
“Well it’s about time.”
Iconic. A truly incredible woman with a tale as good as any movie she starred in…probably better…but nobody asked me!
This was a very brief overview but delve deeper into the history of Hedy Lamarr with this article from The History Channel and the National Women’s History Museum, this breakdown of her documentary, or even her biography!
We have more of this series to come with icons from all over history but the next is another legendary actress: Josephine Baker! Follow along while we cover incredible women from history all month long!
Cheers!
xx - Emmy
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