Trivia of Hedy Lamar

Trivia of Hedy Lamarr

*She was unhappily married to a Nazi Arms dealer.She escaped of her first marriage by using sleeping powder and a maid's outfit. Lamarr’s move to America was as much an escape as a movie deal. However, the marriage afforded her the opportunity to rub elbows with German generals and admirals, which is probably where she first heard about military technology.

*Her first film was banned by the Pope and Hit*er.Lamarr soared to international stardom at age 18 when she appeared in the 1933 Czech film Ecstasy. While some critics today have declared Ecstasy an arthouse classic, its nudity and sexual nature were considered scandalous when it was originally released. The Pope denounced the film in the Vatican newspaper, the Catholic Legion of Decency condemned it, and Hit*er banned it in Germany.

*Inspired by an early Philco wireless radio remote and player piano rolls, she worked with composer George Antheil (who created a symphony played by eight synchronized player pianos) she invented a frequency-hopping system for remotely controlling torpedoes during World War II. (The frequency hopping concept appeared as early as 1903 in a U.S. Patent by Nikola Tesla). The invention was examined superficially and filed away. At the time, Allied torpedoes, as well as those of the Axis powers, were unguided. Input for depth, speed, and direction were made moments before launch but once leaving the submarine the torpedo received no further input. In 1959 it was developed for controlling drones that would later be used in Viet Nam. Frequency hopping radio became a Navy standard by 1960. Due to the expiration of the patent and Lamarr's unawareness of time limits for filing claims, she was never compensated. Her invention is used today for WiFi, Bluetooth, and even top secret military defense satellites. While the current estimate of the value of the invention is approximately $30 billion, during her final years she was getting by on SAG and social security checks totaling only $300 a month.

*She was the model for Snow White's look in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937).

*Considered Delilah to be the best performance of her career and Cecil B. DeMille's Samson and Delilah (1949) her best film.

*The mansion used in The Sound of Music (1965) belonged to her at the time.

*At 64 she became a recluse.Arrested for shoplifting in 1966 and 1991. But she was released on the scene.