Hedy Lamarr
Personal Information
Born: 1914
Died: 2000
Country of Birth: Austria
Nationality: USA
Ethnicity: White
Education
no formal education
Professional Life
Field of Study: Actress; Inventor
Institution/Corporation: MGM
Degrees & Memberships: none
Awards & Achievements
Awards: 2014, National Inventors Hall of Fame; 1960, Star on Hollywood Walk of Fame; 1997, Electronic Frontier Foundation Pioneer Award (George Antheil);1997, Bulbie Gnass Spirit of Achievement Bronze Award (with Antheil); 2014, a memorial to her was unveiled in Vienna s Central Cemetery; 1939, elected Most Promising New Actress; 1998, Viktor Kaplan Medal, Austrian Association of Patent Holders & Inventors; 2015, Google Doodle; 2019, asteroid 32730 Lamarr named after her
Achievements: Frequency hopping communication system , led to Wifi, Bluetooth & GPS; in late 1950s designed, & with then husband W. Howard Lee, developed Villa LaMarr, a ski resort in Aspen, CO
Has been called "The Mother of Wifi"
Was married 6 times
Never received any money for her invention
Her name was omitted from the patent for a frequency-hopping device because she was not a US citizen at the time, becoming a citizen in 1953
1933, fled from her 1st husband, Friedrich Mandl, a wealthy Austrian ammunition manufacturer & secretly fled to Paris
Won a beauty contest in vienna when she was 12
In Hollywood, she was promoted as "the world's most beautiful woman"
She reportedly took up inventing because she was bored of acting
Usually spoke about herself in the 3rd person
She & composer/pianist George Antheil invented the frequency-hopping system to assist the US in WWII but the Navy initially rejected the idea because they felt an actress & composer couldn't be inventors
1966, arrested in Los Angeles for shoplifting but charges were dismissed; arrested for same in Florida in 1991, pled no contest, agreed to refrain from breaking any laws for 1 year & charges were dismissed
Held 1 patent