Hedy Lamarr

About

Hedy Lamarr was an Austrian-American actress and inventor, born as Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler on November 9, 1914, in Vienna, Austria. She is best known for her iconic roles in films like Samson and Delilah and White Cargo. Beyond her Hollywood career, Lamarr was a pioneering inventor who developed a frequency-hopping system during World War II. This technology, created with composer George Antheil, was designed to guide torpedoes by using spread spectrum and frequency hopping to avoid radio jamming. Lamarr's inventive genius was not widely recognized until later in her life. She was awarded a patent for her "Secret Communication System" in 1942 but did not see financial benefits from it. Her contributions to modern wireless communication systems, including Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, were acknowledged in the 1990s. Lamarr became a U.S. citizen in 1953 and continued to act until her retirement in 1958. She passed away on January 19, 2000, leaving behind a legacy as both a Hollywood star and a technological innovator.