Did you know that this classic actress helped invent WiFi?

Though she captivated audiences as the sultry star of films like 'Lady of the Tropics,' her talents extended well beyond the silver screen. Away from the spotlight, she was a restless innovator, spending her nights delving into science and technology. In a world eager to pigeonhole her as just another pretty face, Lamarr’s sharp intellect and inventive spirit made her one of Hollywood’s most surprising — and overlooked — trailblazers.

Born into an affluent Jewish family in Vienna in 1914, Hedy's early life was rich in cultural and intellectual stimulation. Her father's influence ignited her fascination with technology, while her mother's musical talents led to early lessons in the arts. At 12, she showcased her magnetic allure, winning a beauty contest.

After shining in local theater, Hedy Lamarr's portrayal of a love-starved wife in the Czech film ‘Ecstasy’ became a global talking point. The film's content, considered scandalous at the time, showcased Lamarr's willingness to push boundaries and challenge the era's cinematic taboos. Many Europeans loved it, but Americans and Germans banned it. She was 18 at the time.

Lamarr’s first marriage to Friedrich Mandl, a wealthy arms dealer, thrust her into a life of luxury and oppression. In her alleged autobiography, she said he was very controlling and stopped her acting career. But this period honed her understanding of applied science and military technology, elements that would later influence her own inventions​.

Once the marriage with Mandl, a close N a z i collaborator, got too much she made a daring escape. She ended up in London, where she met the head of MGM. After negotiations, he signed her and brought her to Hollywood, as "the world’s most beautiful woman."

Despite often being typecast as the exotic seductress, Lamarr sought diversity in her roles. Her filmography includes performances ranging from dramatic turns in 'Lady of the Tropics' to comedic timing in 'Comrade X', alongside stars like Spencer Tracy and Clark Gable.

Lamarr's films, such as 'Boom Town' and 'Ziegfeld Girl' not only showcased her acting prowess but also turned into significant commercial successes. These triumphs solidified her position as a leading lady in Hollywood's constellation of stars.

With the outbreak of World War II, Hedy Lamarr didn’t settle for just tinkering with inventions like before. Combining her sharp intellect with a desire to contribute, she devised a frequency-hopping communication system intended to keep enemy forces from intercepting Allied messages, a technology decades ahead of its time.

Lamarr's ingenious invention, made in collaboration with her friend, the composer and pianist George Antheil, was patented in 1942. It utilized a player piano mechanism to synchronize radio signals. This early version of frequency hopping is a precursor to the spread spectrum technology used in today's wireless networks​ like Bluetooth or Wifi.

Image: Patent for Secret Communication System, 10 June 1941, U.S. Patent Office  / Wikimedia

Although her invention was overlooked during the war, she did everything she could to help. She toured the United States, selling war bonds with charismatic flair, turning her celebrity into a weapon against tyranny.

After the horrors committed to the Jewish people during WWI, Lamarr became a citizen of the US in 1953. "Of all the European émigrés who escaped Nazi Germany and Nazi Austria, she was one of the very few who succeeded in moving to another culture and becoming a full-fledged star herself," wrote author Richard Rhodes in a biography of the star. "There were so very few who could make the transition linguistically or culturally. She really was a resourceful human being."

After getting citizenship, she fell in love with Aspen, Colorado, before it was the world-famous ski resort. She said it reminded her of the chalets in Austria and designed a home there in the 1950s with one of the six husbands she would have between 1933 and 1965.

Wanting more control, Lamarr started her own production company, but those movies didn’t make much money. In the 1960s, she was arrested twice for shoplifting. In the 1970s, she declined several shows and sued Warner Bros for using a parody of her name in 'Blazing Saddles.'

Photo: Hedy Lamarr with her fifth husband, W. Howard Lee

By 1981, with her eyesight failing, she retreated from public life to her home in Florida in 1981. She rarely left her house or saw others, but would spend hours talking on the phone. When she died in 2000, age 85 of heart disease, her son spread her ashes in Austria’s Vienna Woods. This is her honorary grave in Vienna.

Image: Haeferl via Wikimedia, May 2016

It took decades for Hedy Lamarr's intellect to be celebrated. The Electronic Frontier Foundation was among the first to honor her in 1997, shining a light on her crucial contribution to today's communication systems. In 2014, she was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.

Image: Google doodle to mark her 101st birthday, 2015 / Youtube

Hedy Lamarr's journey from Hollywood star to esteemed inventor inspires countless women in STEM fields. Now, perhaps more than ever, continues to be a touchstone in discussions about women’s roles in science and technology, and her life story has been the subject of films, books, and documentaries, securing her status as a cultural icon.

Follow us for more great galleries