Posts Tagged Hedy Lamarr

Those of you, who know me, know that I am not only a history buff, but a classic movie buff as well. Visit cine classics, my blog on classic film for more on that. So why am I saying this? Well, because this little history secret has do with a beautiful classic movie star named Hedy Lamarr. Hedy is remembered mostly for her roles in classic film from the 30’s and 40’s. One in particular comes to mind, a pre-code film where Hedy has a nude scene, scandalous for the day, in the movie “Ecstasy.” The movie was condemned by the pope and banned in the United States. The movie tamed by today’s standards, was considered immoral back in the day of Hayes Enforcement. Hedy wasn’t just looks, and she had that plenty, but she also had brains.

Hollywood called her “the most beautiful woman in the world.” It was WW II that changed Hedy and she decided to use her brains to help her adopted country, America. In the summer of 1942 Lamarr got together with composer George Atheil and patented a secret communications system to prevent the jamming of radio-controlled torpedoes. Hedy came up with this idea on the back of a cocktail napkin: frequency hopping. Basically its radio signals that constantly switched frequencies to make interception impossible.

It was an invention ahead of its time and it wasn’t used until the Cuban missile crisis some years later. Today this is called spread spectrum technology and is an important part of cell phones systems, satellite encryption, and other modern technologies.

Hedy once said, “Any girl can be glamorous; all you have to do is stand still and look stupid.” She fooled the world with her looks, but shocked the world with her brains. You go girl!

For more on Hedy click here