A Centennial Tribute to Hedy Lamarr

The smart and beautiful Hedy Lamarr was born 100 years ago today, November 9, 1914, in Vienna, Austria.

Lamarr was not only one of the loveliest women ever to grace the movies, she was a notable inventor; the "frequency hopping" for which she was a co-patent holder led to today's wireless technologies.

As a review of one of several books on Lamarr described: "Imagine that, on Sept. 12, 2001, an outraged Angelina Jolie had pulled out a pad of paper and some drafting tools and, all on her own, designed a sophisticated new missile system to attack al-Qaida. Now imagine that the design proved so innovative that it transcended weapons technology, and sparked a revolution in communications technology over the next half-century. Believe it or not, this essentially happened to Hedy Lamarr."

Here's a photo gallery to celebrate the life of a remarkable woman.

ZIEGFELD GIRL (1941):

COME LIVE WITH ME (1941), with James Stewart:

TORTILLA FLAT (1942):

EXPERIMENT PERILOUS (1944):

More studio portraits:

Hedy Lamarr retired from films in 1958; she died in Florida on January 19, 2000.

For information on books on Hedy Lamarr, click here.

Hedy Lamarr movies reviewed at Laura's Miscellaneous Musings: BOOM TOWN (1940), COMRADE X (1940) (also more extensively reviewed here), COME LIVE WITH ME (1941) (also here), CROSSROADS (1942), EXPERIMENT PERILOUS (1944), THE CONSPIRATORS (1944), THE HEAVENLY BODY (1944), DISHONORED LADY (1947), A LADY WITHOUT PASSPORT (1950), COPPER CANYON (1950), and MY FAVORITE SPY (1951).

Additional notable Hedy Lamarr films include ECSTASY (1933), ALGIERS (1938), LADY OF THE TROPICS (1939), I TAKE THIS WOMAN (1940), H.M. PULHAM, ESQ. (1941), WHITE CARGO (1942), THE STRANGE WOMAN (1946), and SAMSON AND DELILAH (1948).

November 2015 Update: Adding a review link for I TAKE THIS WOMAN (1940).

Hedy Lamarr was honored on her birthday this year with a Google Doodle celebrating her accomplishments as an actress and inventor.

2016 Update: Here's a review of WHITE CARGO (1942).

January 2017 Update: Here's a review link for TORTILLA FLAT (1942).

2018 Update: Here's a review of the documentary BOMBSHELL: THE HEDY LAMARR STORY (2017).

2020 Update: Here's my review of Hedy Lamarr's final film, THE FEMALE ANIMAL (1958).

2022 Update: Here's a review of ZIEGFELD GIRL (1941).

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