Trivia

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.

Was the inspiration for the DC Comics antiheroine and Batman's love interest, Catwoman.

Sued Mel Brooks for mocking her name in his film Blazing Saddles (1974) by naming a character "Hedley Lamarr". They settled out of court.

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

Was co-inventor (with composer George Antheil) of the earliest known form of the telecommunications method known as "frequency hopping", which used a piano roll to change between 88 frequencies and was intended to make radio-guided torpedoes harder for enemies to detect or to jam. The method received U.S. patent number 2,292,387 on August 11, 1942, under the name "Secret Communications System". The earliest U.S. Patent that alluded to frequency hopping was by Nikola Tesla in 1903 (US patent 725,605). Frequency hopping is now widely used in cellular phones and other modern technology. However, neither she nor Antheil profited from this fact, because their patents were allowed to expire decades before the modern wireless boom. In fact, at the time the patent was filed, the intended purpose (guidance of torpedoes) was of little no value as neither Allied or Axis torpedoes had any form of active guidance. All torpedoes of the era were fire-and-forget. It would not be until after 1959 that the USN would have torpedoes capable of using freq-hopping (ie torpedoes with radio control).

She received an award from the Electronic Frontier Foundation in 1997 for her pioneering work in spread-spectrum technology.

Her favourite lesson at school was chemistry.

For her appearance in Ecstasy (1933), she has been credited as being the first nude woman as well as portraying the first sex-scene in film history (scenes were cut and additional ones added in order to be able to release it in some countries). However, she was actually at least 18 years too late to be the first nude woman in film, as both Inspiration (1915) and Lois Weber's Hypocrites (1915) had beaten her to it.

Her profile was the most requested in the 1940s by women to their plastic surgeons.

The first Inventor's Day in Germany was held in her honor on November 9, 2005, on what would have been her 92nd birthday.

Became a naturalized US citizen on April 10, 1953.

Escaped to London in 1937.

A documentary on her said that she was used as a model for Walt Disney's Snow White,.

In April 1998 she sued software company Corel Corp. for using her photo on the cover of its product CorelDRAW.

She made innovations in plastic surgery to hold on to the looks of her youth.

Her main interest was inventing.

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

She admitted that she made one of her biggest career mistakes when she turned down the leading role in Casablanca (1942).

Although she earned a great deal of money during her career, she lost her fortune with her production company. She died impoverished in Florida in 2000.

Her nude and sex scenes in Ecstasy (1933) caused a scandal in Europe at the time. Even Benito Mussolini had a copy of the movie in his private possession. Today these nude scenes looks harmless.

When Ecstasy (1933) was showed in the cinemas the name Hedy Kiesler was the talk of the town. However, instead of a great film career, she followed with a marriage to Austrian munitions manufacturer Fritz Mandl. She retired from the film business at her husband's request and devoted herself to the marriage. Mandl tried to buy up all existing copies of "Extase" but was unsuccessful. The marriage turned out to be a disaster, however--her husband beat her regularly and was an ardent Nazi supporter--and she escaped from the marriage and her home country and fled to England, where she met producer Louis B. Mayer, who changed her name to Hedy Lamarr in honor of silent-screen star Barbara La Marr.

May be the only screen actor to be in the National Inventors Hall of Fame. She was inducted in 2014 along with former Hollywood composer George Antheil. At the start of World War II, the two invented a frequency hopping technique that could be used by the Allies to prevent jamming of torpedo guidance systems. Unfortunately at that time the Allies' torpedoes, and the Axis' for that matter, had no guidance systems; once leaving the submarine they received no further input; strictly fire and hope. Thus at the time this was an invention without a purpose. It later became an important aspect for wireless communications. The inventors received no compensation for their discovery. The original 1942 patent expired and the technique became part of the public domain. The earliest U.S. Patent that alluded to frequency hopping was by Nikola Tesla in 1903 (US patent 725,605).

Arrested for shoplifting in 1991. She was found guilty at trial and sentenced to one year of probation.

She escaped of her first marriage by using sleeping powder and a maid's outfit.

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

At 64 she became a recluse.

One of the few stars with whom costume designer Edith Head admitted she did not like working. The others were Claudette Colbert and Paulette Goddard.

According to her biography in the MGM book "Who's Who" (1944), she called the color of her eyes "chameleon blue, which is to say that they are variable from hazel to gray and in some lights green".

Had three children: Anthony Loder (born March 1, 1947), Denise Hedy Loder (born May 29, 1945), James Loder (born March 6, 1939; Hedy's husband John Loder adopted him October 16, 1939 as James Markey Lamarr).

Was the inspiration for Anne Hathaway's performance of Catwoman in The Dark Knight Rises (2012).

After a screen test, it was Louis B. Mayer who changed her last name to Lamarr in honor of silent film star Barbara La Marr.

Was considered for the role of Ilsa Lund in Casablanca (1942), but Ingrid Bergman was cast instead. When Julius Epstein, one of the film's several screenwriters, was trying to "pitch" (explain the plot) to producer David O. Selznick, he started a long, drawn-out summary but finally wrapped up with "Oh, what the hell! It's going to be a lot of shit like Algiers (1938)!", which was one of her starring films.

The market value of Hedy Lamarr's invention is $30bn. She never earned a penny from the technology.

Was cast in the movie Picture Mommy Dead (1966), but fired on February 3, 1966, when she did not show up for the first day of shooting.

After an education that included ballet and dancing lessons and learning to speak such languages as English, Italian and Hungarian, she rounded off her apprenticeship by attending a Swiss boarding school.

Her daughter's godmother was Bette Davis.

During her marriage to screenwriter Gene Markey, the two adopted a son, James. She soon after gave birth to two children, Denise Hedy and Antony, while married to actor John Loder.

Arrested for shoplifting in January 1966. Found not guilty.

Introduced to husband John Loder by Bette Davis.

When she first arrived in Hollywood MGM set her up in a roommate situation with Hungarian actress Ilona Massey.

Starred in only one Academy Award-winning film: Samson and Delilah (1949).

Although MGM refused to loan her out to Warner Bros. to play the leading female role in Casablanca (1942), Lamarr portrayed Ilsa Lund in a 1944 Lux Radio Theatre adaptation of the classic movie, with Alan Ladd as Rick Blaine and John Lund as Victor Laszlo.

Sued Mel Brooks over the use of the name Hedley Lamarr in his movie Blazing Saddles (1974) and settled out of court. Brooks said he was flattered by this attention. The reference to suing Hedy Lamarr was from Harvey Korman's first day on the set and, ironically, made a comedic reference to what was at that point a non-existent lawsuit.

Bore a strong resemblance to Vivien Leigh, who was born exactly 1 year and 4 days before her.

Howard Hughes thought she was a genius.

She was married six times.

Starred in seven Academy Award-nominated films: Algiers (1938), Lady of the Tropics (1939), Boom Town (1940), Comrade X (1940), Tortilla Flat (1942), Experiment Perilous (1944), and Samson and Delilah (1949).

Her acting legacy also includes her work as a radio actress, which includes vocal portrayals of the roles played by Bette Davis in The Bride Came C.O.D. (1941), Jean Arthur in Too Many Husbands (1940), Myrna Loy in Love Crazy (1941), and Ingrid Bergman in Casablanca (1942).

Only one known audio recording of Lamarr speaking as herself.

Her father was a bank director and her mother was a pianist.

Introduced to her husband John Loder by Bette Davis at the Hollywood Canteen.