Actress, Inventor. Daughter of a prominent Viennese banker, she gained stardom as a teen for running through the woods nude in the 1933 Czech film "Ecstasy." She later married a wealthy arms manufacturer Fritz Mandl. After three years of marriage, and fearing the threat of Adolph Hitler, she left her husband and homeland of Austria in 1937. In London she met Louis B. Mayer of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Motion Picture Studios, who signed her to a contract, and sent her to Hollywood. At a dinner party given by Janet Gaynor, Hedy met composer George Antheil. Shortly after this meeting, Hedy Lamarr and Antheil invented and patented a secret communications system, U.S. Patent 2,292,387. The patent was applied for June 10, 1941, and received August 11th, 1942. The purpose of the system was to provide reliable and jam proof control of long range torpedoes. The system involved the use of the frequency hopping principles of Spread Spectrum radio. However it was 20 years before it was put to effective use by the United States Navy in torpedo guidance systems, and 40 years before it was permitted by the FCC to be used in commercial radios. At the age of 38, in 1953, Hedy Lamarr became a naturalized U.S. Citizen.

Actress, Inventor. Daughter of a prominent Viennese banker, she gained stardom as a teen for running through the woods nude in the 1933 Czech film "Ecstasy." She later married a wealthy arms manufacturer Fritz Mandl. After three years of marriage, and fearing the threat of Adolph Hitler, she left her husband and homeland of Austria in 1937. In London she met Louis B. Mayer of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Motion Picture Studios, who signed her to a contract, and sent her to Hollywood. At a dinner party given by Janet Gaynor, Hedy met composer George Antheil. Shortly after this meeting, Hedy Lamarr and Antheil invented and patented a secret communications system, U.S. Patent 2,292,387. The patent was applied for June 10, 1941, and received August 11th, 1942. The purpose of the system was to provide reliable and jam proof control of long range torpedoes. The system involved the use of the frequency hopping principles of Spread Spectrum radio. However it was 20 years before it was put to effective use by the United States Navy in torpedo guidance systems, and 40 years before it was permitted by the FCC to be used in commercial radios. At the age of 38, in 1953, Hedy Lamarr became a naturalized U.S. Citizen.

Bio by: Bill Walker