Hedy Lamarr(1914 — 2000)
Hedy Lamarr
Autriche, États-Unis
8 min read
Austrian-born American actress, producer, and scientist
Frequently asked questions
Key Facts
- Née Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler à Vienne en 1914, elle devient actrice à Hollywood dans les années 1930-1940 sous le nom de Hedy Lamarr
- En 1942, elle co-invente avec le compositeur George Antheil un système de guidage de torpilles par étalement de spectre, ancêtre du Wi-Fi et du Bluetooth
- Elle obtient un brevet américain pour cette invention (brevet n°2 292 387) pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale
- Sa technologie de saut de fréquence est adoptée par la marine américaine dans les années 1960 et sert de base aux communications sans fil modernes
- Elle reçoit en 1997 le Electronic Frontier Foundation Pioneer Award pour sa contribution à l'informatique et aux télécommunications
Works & Achievements
Co-invented with George Antheil, this frequency-hopping system forms the theoretical basis of Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and CDMA. It is Hedy Lamarr's most influential work, even though its significance was not recognized until half a century after it was filed.
Her first major Hollywood role, alongside Charles Boyer, earned her immediate international recognition. This film definitively launched the Hedy Lamarr myth around the world.
Directed by Cecil B. DeMille, this biblical epic was a colossal commercial triumph. Hedy Lamarr portrayed Delilah with a dramatic intensity that remained etched in Hollywood's collective memory.
A Czechoslovak film by Gustav Machatý that caused a worldwide scandal. Although she regretted it for the rest of her life, the film brought her early notoriety that attracted the attention of American producers.
Memoirs in which Hedy Lamarr describes her life with a candor rare for the time. She immediately disowned the book, claiming the publishers had betrayed her confidences, and filed a lawsuit.
An adventure film starring Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy, which was one of the year's biggest box-office successes. It marks the peak of Hedy Lamarr's Hollywood career.
Anecdotes
In 1942, in the midst of World War II, Hedy Lamarr and composer George Antheil filed a patent for a 'frequency hopping' system designed to guide torpedoes without the enemy being able to jam the signal. The US Navy rejected the patent, deeming the idea too far-fetched. She never received any financial compensation for this invention.
Before fleeing Europe, Hedy Lamarr had married Friedrich Mandl, a wealthy Austrian arms dealer who worked with the Nazis and Italian fascists. She was unwillingly present at secret military meetings where she absorbed technical knowledge about guidance systems — knowledge she would later turn against the Axis.
In 1997, when she was 82 years old and had been forgotten by the general public, the Electronic Frontier Foundation presented her with the Pioneer Award for her foundational contribution to wireless technologies. It is one of the rare cases where a 20th-century patent directly gave rise to billions of dollars' worth of modern technologies (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS) without its inventor ever benefiting from it.
MGM, the major Hollywood studio that had her under contract in the 1940s, saw her as nothing more than a pretty face. Louis B. Mayer called her 'the most beautiful woman in the world' but refused to let her play complex roles. Tired of being confined to seductress parts, she turned increasingly to her invention work in her personal workshop.
In 1966, Hedy Lamarr published a controversial autobiography titled *Ecstasy and Me* in which she recounted her life with a candor that shocked Hollywood. She immediately regretted its publication, claiming that the editors had distorted her words, and attempted to have its distribution banned through legal action.
Primary Sources
A system is described for secret communication... the carrier frequency of the transmitter is caused to change or shift at intervals. The particular sequence of frequencies employed constitutes a code which, without knowledge of the code, renders the transmissions non-interceptable.
I have not been loved enough. That is certain. And what I have not found in real life, I have sought in the images on the screen.
It's about time.
Any girl can be glamorous. All you have to do is stand still and look stupid.
Letters exchanged between Lamarr and Antheil documenting the conceptual development of frequency hopping, drawing an analogy with the synchronized operation of player piano rolls.
Key Places
Birthplace of Hedwig Kiesler, steeped in the intellectual and artistic culture of interwar Central Europe. It was here that she developed her first passions for theater and the sciences.
The residence of her first husband Friedrich Mandl, where she was kept under constant surveillance and attended business meetings with Nazi and fascist officials, unwittingly accumulating knowledge about weaponry.
The Hollywood studio where Hedy Lamarr filmed her greatest American successes (Algiers, Samson and Delilah). It was here that her international fame was built, and where the contradiction between the glamorous actress and the inventor took shape.
The institution where patent no. 2,292,387 was filed on August 11, 1942 — the official act consecrating Hedy Lamarr as an inventor, even though its significance would not be recognized until decades later.
The city where Hedy Lamarr spent her final years in relative obscurity, before passing away in January 2000. It was there that she received visits from journalists who helped reintroduce her technological contribution to the general public.
Liens externes & ressources
Références
Œuvres
Brevet n° 2 292 387 — « Secret Communication System »
11 août 1942
Samson et Dalila (Samson and Delilah)
1949
Ecstasy and Me: My Life as a Woman — autobiographie
1966
