Meet Hedy Lamarr, born Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler on November 9, 1913, in Austria, and later a U.S. citizen, who passed away January 19, 2000. She was an actress and inventor who lit up the screen and the tech world.
She kicked off her film career in Germany with a spicy flick, Ecstasy (1933), before ditching her rich ammo-making husband and sneaking off to Paris. There, she linked up with MGM’s big shot Louis B. Mayer, who hooked her up with a Hollywood deal. From the late ‘30s to the ‘50s, she was a major star in hits like Algiers (1938), I Take This Woman (1940), Comrade X (1940), Come Live With Me (1941), H.M. Pulham, Esq. (1941), and Samson and Delilah. Director Max Reinhardt dubbed her Europe’s most stunning woman, and Woody Allen called her a total stunner.
During World War II, Hedy teamed up with composer George Antheil to cook up a radio guidance system for Allied torpedoes, using spread spectrum and frequency hopping to outsmart Axis jamming. The Navy didn’t pick it up ‘til the ‘60s, but their ideas are now baked into GPS, Wi-Fi, CDMA, and Bluetooth tech. In 2014, they got the ultimate shout-out with a spot in the National Inventors Hall of Fame.
