By: Nishita Gudipati
Hedy Lamarr was born on November 9th, 1914 in Vienna, Austria. Originally, she was Hedwig Eva Kiesler as she was part of a well-to-do Jewish family. Her father was a bank director who was a big influence on her impact on society through her inventions. Her mother was a concert pianist who introduced Lamarr to the arts. Despite having a brilliant mind, Lamarr’s intelligence was overlooked, and became popular for her looks, starring in her first film at 16. However, it wasn't until 1932 that she earned name recognition.
However, Lamarr's life didn’t get any easier when it came to making a name for herself as an inventor. Lamarr married one of her fans, Fritz Mandl, but the marriage was quite short-lived. She claimed to be feeling unhappy and pushed down by Mandl and even his friends. To continue her career, she fled to London and took the knowledge of wartime weaponry discussed by her husband, with her.
Lamarr finally made it big in Hollywood with her introduction to Louis B. Mayer. This was also the beginning of her inventing career. While working in Hollywood, Lamarr met Howard Hughes who allowed her to begin her inventing by providing a small set of materials. Her very first known invention was a new type of plane for Hughes himself. Along with that, Lamarr created many small but important inventions, however her most significant invention came as the US entered WWII.
Lamarr met another prominent figure, George Antheil, who shared the same passion for innovation as her. Together, they realized the ongoing war was a big part of their lives. With the use of the details Lamarr had learned from Mandl about weaponry, the two of them decided to build a system using frequency hopping. Their invention was to be used with torpedoes so that they could hit their target without any interference. Although they received the patent for the idea, the military chose not to use the actual device.
It took Lamarr years to be recognized for more than just her acting career. However, she eventually received various awards for her innovations. The Electronic Frontier company awarded her and Antheil with the Pioneer Award. She was also the first woman to receive the Invention Conventions’s Bulbie Gnass Spirit of Achievement Award. She was also later known as the mother of WiFi. Although her journey towards her achievements was lengthy and overlooked, she used her career as an actress as an advantage and didn’t give up until she was recognized for her ingenuity as well.
Works Cited:
2018, Colleen Cheslak |. “Biography: Hedy Lamarr.” National Women’s History Museum, www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/hedy-lamarr. Accessed 2 July 2024.
“Biography.” Hedy Lamarr, www.hedylamarr.com/about/biography/. Accessed 2 July 2024.
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