Hedy Lamarr Research Paper

969 Words4 Pages

Hedy Lamarr was a gorgeous woman. With her silky black hair, slender nose, and small figure, it's no wonder that people were focused more on her looks. "Hedy Lamarr was billed in her time as 'The worlds most beautiful woman' according to a Washington Post obituary," She was a great film star, but she was more than that. She remembers, "Jack Kennedy always said to me, Hedy, get involved. That's the secret of life. Try everything. Join everything. Meet everybody." That seemed to be something that she carried with her through her life. Hedy Lamarr had an exciting early life, an eventful career, several short marriages; she also co-created a world renowned invention, and had a peaceful later life. Hedy Lamarr had an exciting early life. She …show more content…

She typically fell for older, taller, and polished men. Her first husband was Fritz Mandl. He became wealthy by selling weapons to Nazis. Mandl was very possessive over Lamarr and tried to destroy her acting career and all Ecstasy prints. According to the World Press Review, she once said, "I was sort of his slave." She planned her escape from Fritz for a long time. By 1935 she had tried to leave him twice, but both times she was brought back and watched even closer. After she did escape she told people different stories about how she escaped. One included her drugging a maid, taking her clothes, and sneaking out dressed like her. Gene Markey, her second husband, was witty and charming. They were married after only four weeks of dating! They adopted a son, James Markey, during their short marriage. When they were divorced after 16 months, she said that Markey had only spent four evenings alone with her during their marriage. The judge suggested that she get to know someone for more than a month before marrying them. Lamarr was married a total of six times in her life. Her next husband was John Loder. During this marriage she had two children, Anthony and Denise Loder. Her next marriages were Ernest Stauffer, Howard Lee, and Lewis W. Boise Jr. Even though she was married multiple times she died …show more content…

She co-created a world renowned invention. The device was connected to torpedoes and had a pattern that fluctuated frequently. This made it harder for enemies to change the direction of the torpedoes by jamming the radio signal that was being used to steer them. It was known as the broad spectrum radio. She gained knowledge about weapons technology at dinner parties that she attended with her first husband Fritz Mandl. The idea was sparked by multiple children being targeted on the Volendam and City of Benares ships by torpedoes in 1940. She figured that she had to do something about this. She met George Antheil around this time. "With the avant-garde composer she invented an electronic device that minimized the jamming of radio signals." His ability to synchronize player pianos helped them perfect the invention. The device wasn't used in wartime but it became part of today's satellite and cellphone technology. Neither Lamarr nor Antheil made money from the invention, but much later in their lives they made it into the inventors hall of fame in