Hedy Lamarr (/ˈheɪdi/), born Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler (November 9,
1914[a] â€" January 19, 2000), was an Austrian-American actress,
inventor, and film producer. She was part of 30 films in an acting
career spanning 28 years, and co-invented an early version of
frequency-hopping spread spectrum.Lamarr was born in Vienna,
Austria-Hungary, and acted in a number of Austrian, German, and Czech
films in her brief early film career, including the controversial
Ecstasy (1933). In 1937, she fled from her husband, a wealthy Austrian
ammunition manufacturer, secretly moving to Paris and then onward to
London. There she met Louis B. Mayer, head of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
(MGM) studio, who offered her a movie contract in Hollywood, where he
began promoting her as "the world's most beautiful woman".She became a
star with her performance in Algiers (1938), her first film made in
the United States. She starred opposite Clark Gable in Boom Town and
Comrade X (both 1940), and Jimmy Stewart in Come Live with Me and
Ziegfeld Girl (both 1941). Her other MGM films include Lady of the
Tropics (1939), H.M. Pulham, Esq. (1941), as well as Crossroads and
White Cargo (both 1942); she was also borrowed by Warner Bros. for The
Conspirators, and by RKO for Experiment Perilous (both 1944). Dismayed
by often being typecast, Lamarr co-founded a new production studio and
starred in its films: The Strange Woman (1946), and Dishonored Lady
(1947). Her greatest success was as Delilah in Cecil B. DeMille's
Samson and Delilah (1949). She also acted on television before the
release of her final film, The Female Animal (1958). She was honored
with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960.
1914[a] â€" January 19, 2000), was an Austrian-American actress,
inventor, and film producer. She was part of 30 films in an acting
career spanning 28 years, and co-invented an early version of
frequency-hopping spread spectrum.Lamarr was born in Vienna,
Austria-Hungary, and acted in a number of Austrian, German, and Czech
films in her brief early film career, including the controversial
Ecstasy (1933). In 1937, she fled from her husband, a wealthy Austrian
ammunition manufacturer, secretly moving to Paris and then onward to
London. There she met Louis B. Mayer, head of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
(MGM) studio, who offered her a movie contract in Hollywood, where he
began promoting her as "the world's most beautiful woman".She became a
star with her performance in Algiers (1938), her first film made in
the United States. She starred opposite Clark Gable in Boom Town and
Comrade X (both 1940), and Jimmy Stewart in Come Live with Me and
Ziegfeld Girl (both 1941). Her other MGM films include Lady of the
Tropics (1939), H.M. Pulham, Esq. (1941), as well as Crossroads and
White Cargo (both 1942); she was also borrowed by Warner Bros. for The
Conspirators, and by RKO for Experiment Perilous (both 1944). Dismayed
by often being typecast, Lamarr co-founded a new production studio and
starred in its films: The Strange Woman (1946), and Dishonored Lady
(1947). Her greatest success was as Delilah in Cecil B. DeMille's
Samson and Delilah (1949). She also acted on television before the
release of her final film, The Female Animal (1958). She was honored
with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960.
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