Hedy Lamarr was an Austrian-American actress and inventor who pioneered the technology that would one day form the basis for today’s WiFi, GPS, and Bluetooth communication systems. As a natural beauty seen widely on the big screen in films like Samson and Delilah and White Cargo, society has long ignored her inventive genius. A very famous actress of her time, she is credited to be one of the most beautiful women to have ever graced the silver screen. Overwhelmed by cinema from childhood, she decided early on to become an actress and started her acting career as a teenager after being unearthed by a film producer.
An Austrian by birth, she eventually moved to America after contacting MGM head Louis B. Mayer, who cited her a movie contract in Hollywood. A very glamorous and talented lady, she soon settled herself as one of the most followed-after actresses in Hollywood.
Because of her sex appeal, she was invariably typecast as the glamorous temptress and appeared opposite the era’s most popular leading men such as Spencer Tracy, Clark Gable, and James Stewart. But Hedy Lamarr was no dumb beauty – she was a highly intelligent and smart woman with a keen interest in scientific inventions.
Along with the composer George Antheil, she co-invented the technology for spread spectrum and frequency hopping communications but did not receive direct recognition for this invention. The significance of the invention was realized decades later and she was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2014sensation.
Wiki/Biodata
| Birth Name | Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler |
| Nick Name | The Most Beautiful Woman in Films |
| Age | 86 Years (at death) |
| Religion | Judaism |
| Sun Sign/Zodiac Sign | Scorpio |
| Birth Place | Vienna, Austria |
| Date of Birth | 9 November 1914 |
| Date of Death | 19 January 2000 |
| Death Place | Casselberry, Florida, USA |
| Cause of Death | Heart disease |
| Nationality | American-Austrian |
| Residence | Vienna, Austria |
| Home Town | Vienna, Austria |
| Hobbies | Acting and Inventions |
Family | |
| Mother’s Name | Gertrud “Trude” Kiesler |
| Father’s Name | Emil Kiesler |
| Brother | Not Known |
| Sister | Not Known |
Husband/Spouse/ Marital Status and More | |
| Affairs/Boyfriends | Not Known |
| Husband/Spouse | 1. Fritz Mandl (m. 1933-1937) 2. Gene Markey (m. 1939-1941) 3. John Loder (m. 1943-1947)  4. Teddy Stauffer (m. 1951-1952) 5. W. Howard Lee (m. 1953-1960) 6. Lewis J. Boies (m. 1963-1965) |
| Children | Daughter- Denise Loder Son(s)- Anthony Loder, James Lamarr Markey  |
Education | |
| School | Max Reinhardt’s theater school |
| College/University | Not Known |
| Educational Qualification | Not Known |
| Profession | Actress, Inventor |
| Brands Endorsed | Not Known |
| Career Manager | Austrian Film Director |
Height, Weight, and Figure Measurements | |
| Height (Approx.) | in Feet: 5′ 7″ in Meters: 1.70 m in Centimeters: 170 cm |
| Weight (Approx.) | in Pounds: 128 lbs in Kilogram: 58 kg |
Figure Measurements | |
| Breast Size | 34 inches (86 cm) |
| Hips Size | 35 inches (89 cm) |
| Waist Size | 27 inches (68.5 cm) |
Extra Ordinary Features | |
| Race / Ethnicity | Jewish |
| Hair Color | Natural Brunette |
| Eye Color | Green |
| S*xual Orientation | Straight |
| Dress Size | 6 (US) |
| Shoe Size | 7.5 (US) |
Favourite Things | |
| Favourite Food | Not Known |
| Favourite Actors | Clark Gable, Spencer Tracey |
| Favourite Colors | Not Known |
| Favourite Subject | Chemistry |
| Controversies | When she was 19 and living in her home city of Vienna, Lamarr starred in Gustav Machatý’s controversial romantic drama Ecstasy (1933), in which she performed perhaps the first on-screen female org*sm in a non-po*nographic film. “It defined her just like a s*x tape might define a celebrity today (ahem! Kim Kardashian!),” says Dean. “As a culture we definitely still struggle to deal with women who are that open about their s*xuality.” The feature caused such a stir that Lamarr’s then-husband, Friedrich Mandl, attempted to suppress it by buying up all the existing prints. |
Lamarr was originally Hedwig Eva Kiesler, born in Vienna, Austria on November 9th, 1914 into a well-to-do Jewish family. An only child, Lamarr earned a great deal of consideration from her father, a bank director, and an extraordinary man, who inspired her to look at the world with open eyes.
He would often take her for long walks where he would debate the inner-workings of different machines, like the printing press or streetcars.
These discussions guided Lamarr’s thinking and at only 5 years of age, she could be found taking apart and reassembling her music box to understand how the machine worked.
Meanwhile, Lamarr’s mother was a concert pianist and suggested her to the arts, placing her in both ballet and piano lessons from a young age. Lamarr’s brilliant mind was avoided, and her beauty took center stage when she was unearthed by director Max Reinhardt at age 16.
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Personal Life, Death, and Legacy
- Lamarr was married six times. She adopted a son, James, in 1939, during her second marriage to Gene Markey. She went on to have two biological children, Denise (b. 1945) and Anthony (b. 1947), with her third husband, actor John Loder, who also adopted James.
- In 1953, Lamarr completed the naturalization process and became a U.S. citizen.
- In her later years, Lamarr lived a reclusive life in Casselberry, a community just north of Orlando, Florida, where she died on January 19, 2000, at the age of 86.
Hedy Lamarr Net Worth
According to WoodGram, Hedy Lamarr’s estimated Net Worth, Salary, Income, Cars, Lifestyles & many more details have been updated below. Let’s check, How Rich is Hedy Lamarr?
| Estimated Net Worth in 2000 | $3 Million - $8 Million (Approx.) |
| Estimated Net Worth in 1999 | $1 Million - $5 Million (Approx.) |
| Previous Year's Net Worth 1998 | $100,000 - $1 Million |
| Annual Salary | Under Review |
| Income Source | Hollywood Movie Actress and Inventor (profession) |
Noted, Currently, We don’t have enough information about Cars, Monthly/Yearly salaries, etc. We will update you soon.
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Movies – Career
- She appeared in Gustav Machatý‘s film, ‘Ecstasy’ in 1933 as a young married woman who becomes muddled in a passionate extra-marital affair with a soldier. She disturbed considerable controversy with this role and became notorious for appearing in the n*de in some of the scenes.
- At that time she was married to a controlling man from whom she flew and fled to Paris. There she met MGM head Louis B. Mayer who offered her a movie contract in Hollywood. She adopted the screen name ‘Hedy Lamarr’ at his suggestion.
- In 1938, she appeared in her first Hollywood movie, ‘Algiers’ opposite Charles Boyer. The movie became a sensation as the American audiences were captivated by Lamarr’s stunning beauty and striking onscreen persona.
- She became one of the most successful actresses in Hollywood over the next few years and appeared alongside several of the leading men of that era.
- She acted in 18 films during the 1940s which include ‘Boom Town’ (1940) with Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy, ‘Tortilla Flat’ (1942), co-starring Tracy, and ‘Samson and Delilah’ (1949), opposite Victor Mature. During the 1940s, Hedy Lamarr also became involved in scientific research, and in collaboration with George Antheil, an avant-garde composer, she co-created a frequency-hopping system for which the duo also received a patent.
- Throughout her acting career, more emphasis had been laid on her glamorous looks rather than on her talent, and she had been typecast as a s*xy seductress. As she began to age and her beauty started waning, her film career started declining.
- In spite of being one of the most successful leading ladies in the 1940s, she could not find much success in the 1950s. She acted in only a few films and made one of her last appearances in ‘The Story of Mankind’ (1957).
- In 1966, she published a steamy best-selling autobiography, Ecstasy and Me, but later sued the publisher for what she saw as errors and distortions perpetrated by the book’s ghostwriter. She was arrested twice for shoplifting, once in 1966 and once in 1991, but neither arrest resulted in a conviction.
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Movies List
| Year | Movies |
| 1930 | Money on the Street |
| 1931 | Storm in a Water Glass |
| 1931 | The Trunks of Mr. O.F. |
| 1932 | No Money Needed |
| 1933 | Ecstasy |
| 1938 | Algiers |
| 1939 | Lady of the Tropics |
| 1940 | I Take This Woman |
| 1940 | Boom Town |
| 1940 | Comrade X |
| 1941 | Come Live with Me |
| 1941 | Ziegfeld Girl |
| 1941 | H.M. Pulham, Esq. |
| 1942 | Tortilla Flat |
| 1942 | Crossroads |
| 1942 | White Cargo |
| 1944 | The Heavenly Body |
| 1944 | The Conspirators |
| 1944 | Experiment Perilous |
| 1945 | Her Highness and the Bellboy |
| 1946 | The Strange Woman |
| 1947 | Dishonored Lady |
| 1948 | Let’s Live a Little |
| 1949 | Samson and Delilah |
| 1950 | A Lady Without Passport |
| 1950 | Copper Canyon |
| 1951 | My Favorite Spy |
| 1954 | Loves of Three Queens |
| 1957 | The Story of Mankind |
| 1958 | The Female Animal |
Inventions – ‘Secret Communications System’
- In 1942, during the heyday of her career, Lamarr earned recognition in a field largely different from entertainment. She and her friend, the composer George Antheil, collected a patent for an idea of a radio signaling device, or “Secret Communications System,“ which was a means of varying radio frequencies to keep enemies from decoding messages.
- Originally designed to defeat the German Nazis, the system became a great step in the development of technology to maintain the security of both military communications and cellular phones.
- Lamarr wasn’t instantaneously recognized for her communications invention since its wide-ranging impact wasn’t understood until decades later.
Lesser Known Facts
- She acted out the first on-screen org*sm.
- She was almost in Casablanca.
- She was born Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler.
- Hedy married and divorced six times.
- Hedy Lamarr featured in 30 films over her 28-year career.
- She’s the co-inventor of 1940s wireless technology.
- Lamarr received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960, but it wasn’t until 2014-fourteen years after her death that she was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.
- Lamarr offered both her invention and her knowledge to aid the U.S. war effort but was dismissed. Charles F. Kettering of the National Inventors Council told Lamarr she could serve her country better by using her fame and a pretty face to sell war bonds. Gamely, she did, raising $25 million (that’s about $340 million today) for the military through public appearances.
- Lamarr made friends with composer George Antheil. The two discovered they shared a passion for creating and an intense curiosity about how things work. Using Lamarr’s knowledge of weapons design and Antheil’s musical instruments, they created what they called a “frequency-hopping system”: a device inspired by the roll of a player piano that could allow military torpedoes to sidestep enemy efforts at radio interference.
- Lamarr became a prolific inventor. She created a fizzing cube that turned water into instant cola. She started sketching blueprints for unheard-of machines. She took up with millionaire aviator Howard Hughes and drafted new fish- and bird-inspired designs for the wings of his airplanes.
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FAQs
Although She Was Known As “The Most Beautiful Woman In The World,” Actress Hedy Lamarr’s Greatest Life-Work Was Far From The Silver Screen. At The Height Of Her Film Career, And In The Midst Of A World War, Hedy Invented The Basis For All Modern Wireless Communications: Signal Hopping.
Invention Of Spread Spectrum Technology. Although Better Known For Her Silver Screen Exploits, Austrian Actress Hedy Lamarr Also Became A Pioneer In The Field Of Wireless Communications Following Her Emigration To The United States.
Lamarr Invented It In The 1940S For Use As A Secret Wartime Communication System That Could Keep The Enemy From Interfering With A Ship’s Torpedoes. She Got A Patent For It In August 1942, And Then Donated It To The U.S. Military To Help Fight The Nazis.
But There Was More To Lamarr Than Met The Eye. An Avid Inventor, She Worked On Everything From A Tablet That, When Dropped Into Water, Fizzed Into Instant Cola, To Frequency Hopping – A World War Ii-era Secure Communications Technology That’s Used Today In Wireless Internet, Gps And Cellphones.
Her IQ Has Been Reported To Land Around 140.
Less Well-known, Perhaps, Is That She Was An Exceptionally Gifted Engineer And A Pioneer In The Field Of Wireless Communication, Co-inventing A Device That Helped To Facilitate The Development Of Gps, Bluetooth And Wi-fi Technology. She Was Born Hedwig Eve Maria Kiesler In Austria In November 1914.
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