Famous Austrians V: Hedy Lamarr

Hedy Lamarr

Considered by some to be the most beautiful woman to ever work in Hollywood, Hedy Lamarr led an interesting life. Born Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler in Vienna in 1913, she studied ballet, piano and acting, becoming an actress in Germany as a teenager. In 1933, she starred in the Czech film Ecstasy which was a cinematographic rarity (especially for the 1930s) because it had nude scenes of her in the woods on a horse. The film itself is masterful - not just for the nude scenes (just kidding!) but the story, the long shots portraying longing, ennui...another example of Expressionist art!

Later that same year, the Jewish Hedy married a  purportedly Nazi arms dealer who tried to control her in every way, going so far as to buy all the copies of Ecstasy he could find and destroy them. At some point, she escaped and filed for divorce, from where she made it to Hollywood. In 1938, she starred in Algiers (another one of my faves!) opposite Charles Boyer. Other of her films include Boom Town, Samson and Delilah and My Favorite Spy, to name a few. She had multiple husbands (like many a Hollywood starlet) but most of them were not famous, so they're not really worth mentioning.

Not just a pretty face, Hedy Lamarr was also an inventor. Along with composer George Antheil, she was the co-inventor of frequency hopping, or what is known today as spread-spectrum communication technology, which is basically the technology used in your cell phones, broadban internet, and other wireless communication devices, which is allowing me to write this blog post right now! The original Lamarr(Kiesler)-Antheil technology was developed in 1941-1942 and intended to make radio-guided torpedoes less detectable by enemy forces.

I will skip the unflattering gossip about Hedy Lamarr, such as her shoplifting escapades and the multiple times she sued people like Mel Brooks for infringement of her personality rights (you can learn about it on Wikipedia or other) because I think she was great...and who needs to dwell on the negatives?

Also, for your entertainment pleasures, follow this link to watch Algiers (Pepe le Moko is the inspiration for Pepe le Pew, by the way)! And I am pretty sure the film is in the public domain, so no copyright infringement necessary...