Hedy Lamarr, the ingenious actress - ancestor stories
The story of Hedy Lamarr, talented actress in Hollywood and WiFi inventor, a story of a woman whose genius has long been kept in silence ...
A passionate actress
Hedy Lamarr or Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler of his real name, born on November 9, 1914 in Vienna, Austria. Only daughter of Emil Kiesler, director of bank, and Gertrud Lichtwitz, pianist, Hedwig, from little ones, spends her time playing comedy. It is at her 16th birthday that her acting dream will take a real turning point when she presents herself to Sascha studios from Vienna. After a few appearances in Georg Jacoby films and an experience as a script, Hedwig shoots his first successful film, no need for Carl Boese money before playing in Thirteen trunks from Monsieur O.F. by Alexis Granowsky, a film in which his beauty will be greatly noticed. At 18, the actress is the first to play a scene of cinema in cinema in Ecstasy by Gustav Machaty. It was at the same time that Hedy married Friedrich Mandl, rich industrialist, arms dealer and supplier of Mussolini.
His beginnings in Hollywood
But life with Friedrich, her jealous and possessive husband, is not rosy. In 1937, the actress decided to leave him and flee Nazi Germany to the United States, not far from Hollywood. A boon for Hedwig, which has become Hedy. She wins a contract with California's largest studio, MGM, and keeps playing in new feature films. At the time, many considered her to be the most beautiful woman in the world and many men to court her. It will also serve as a model to represent Snow White and Catwoman. Hedy will marry six times. But the actress gets tired of playing the roles of a fatal woman and decides to give free rein to her genius.
A genius actress
Qualifiée de « géant intellectuel comparée aux autres actrices de Hollywood » par son ami le pianiste George Antheil, les deux partenaires s’intéressent rapidement à l’armement. En juin 1941, alors que la Seconde Guerre Mondiale fait rage, les deux inventeurs déposent le brevet d’un système secret de communication destiné aux torpilles radio-guidées pour que le système émetteur-récepteur de la torpille puisse changer de fréquence et ainsi empêcher la détection de l’attaque sous-marine par l’ennemi. Ce système de communication ingénieux destiné à l’armée américaine ne sera finalement utilisé qu’en 1962, pour la crise des missiles de Cuba, sans jamais être reconnus pour leur génie. Cette invention est en fait l’ancêtre de « l’étalement de spectre par saut de fréquence » soit la méthode de transmission du WIFI, du GPS ou du Bluetooth. Des technologies bien connues et utilisées par tous à nos jours.
Late awards
Hedy Lamarr will continue to play in movies for Hollywood a few years before his career declined. It was not until 1997 that the contribution of the Hollywood actress was recognized. That same year Hedy received the prize forElectronic Frontier Foundation. Only three years before his death, January 19, 2000. Afterwards, in 2014 first, his name and that of George Antheil in 2014 joined the list of National Inventor Hall of Fame, then in 2018, a documentary by Alexandra Dean, From Ecstasy to WiFi highlights his ingenuity.