Hedy Lamarr

Date of Birth: November 9, 1914

Zodiac Sign: Scorpio

Date of Death: January 19, 2000

Biography

Hedy Lamarr, born Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler, was a renowned Austrian-American actress and inventor. She was born in Vienna, Austria, and became one of Hollywood’s most glamorous film stars during the Golden Age of cinema. Lamarr’s acting career began in Europe, where she gained notoriety for her role in the controversial film “Ecstasy” (1933). She moved to Hollywood in 1938 and signed with MGM, where she starred in a string of successful films, including “Algiers” (1938), “Boom Town” (1940), “White Cargo” (1942), and “Samson and Delilah” (1949). Apart from her acting career, Lamarr was also an accomplished inventor. During World War II, she co-invented an early technique for spread spectrum communications and frequency hopping, which laid the foundation for modern wireless communication technologies such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS.

5 Interesting Facts about Hedy Lamarr

1. Hedy Lamarr was awarded the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) Pioneer Award in 1997 for her contributions to technology.

2. She was credited with creating a tablet that dissolved in water to create a carbonated drink, similar to modern-day soda tablets.

3. In 2014, Lamarr was posthumously inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame for her frequency-hopping spread spectrum technology.

4. She was one of the inspirations for the character of Catwoman in the Batman comics.

5. Lamarr’s autobiography, “Ecstasy and Me,” was published in 1966, though she later claimed it was heavily fictionalized by her ghostwriter.

5 Most Interesting Quotes from Hedy Lamarr

1. “Any girl can be glamorous. All you have to do is stand still and look stupid.”

2. “The world isn’t getting any easier. With all these new inventions, I believe that people are hurried more and pushed more. The hurried way is not the right way; you need time for everything – time to work, time to play, time to rest.”

3. “I can excuse everything but boredom. Boring people don’t have to stay that way.”

4. “Hope and curiosity about the future seemed better than guarantees. The unknown was always so attractive to me… and still is.”

5. “I don’t regret anything I’ve ever done. I only wish I could have done more.”

Highest Net Worth Achieved

At the peak of her career, Hedy Lamarr’s net worth was estimated to be around $3 million, which would be roughly equivalent to $30 million today, adjusted for inflation.