Hedy Lamar

I work in the two way radio industry, and for the last few years I have heard people within the industry discuss actress Hedy Lamar as a matter of trivia. Depending on who tells the story, Lamar was an engineer and an inventor who helped to lay the foundation for modern wireless communications systems. I've heard several different versions of the story, from folks saying that she was the inventor of trunked radio systems, to the inventor of digital spread spectrum, to the inventor of digital voice encryption.

Is there any truth to any of this? I've looked at some biographical information and fan websites for Hedy Lamar, but can find no mention of her inventing any of these technologies. Anyone know the straight dope?

Jack

During WWII Hedwig Kiesler Markey, AKA Hedy Lamar, and a collegue invented a classified communications system for use by American submarines. The patent is in her real name rather than he stage name. She was anxious not to let her sex symbol status be compromised by any hint of intelligence. Apparently smarts was a real turn off for men back then.

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Aon Dia.
Aon Tir.
Aon Ite.

She was a co-inventor of a spread spectrum system, patented in 1942. See:
Actress Hedy Lamarr hailed for key commtech invention for a good review which appeared in Nando.net in 1997. (I found this article using the new Google search engine, which I think is the best-est search engine out there.)

Another good site is at http://home.nycap.rr.com/useless/hed...rr/lamarr.html .

I thought that was the character that Harvey Korman played in "Blazing Sadles".

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"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics"
Benjamin Disraeli

that's Hedley... HEDLEY!!!!

It should be noted, because of the use of the past tense in referring to Ms. Lamarr in some of the posts, that she is still alive and kicking. She has been arrested twice in the last 30 years for shoplifting (most recently: 1991 -probation)

She is 85 and is featured in this month's "Proust Questionnaire" column of Vanity Fair.

Some of her answers:

What is your idea of perfect happiness?
"Living a very private life"

What is your greatest fear?
"Being stuck in a crowd"

When and where were you happiest?
"Between marriages"

What living person do you most admire?
"Michael Tilson Thomas, the conductor"

Who are your favorite authors?
"Kahlil Gibran and Tennessee Williams"

Who are your heroes in real life?
"Franklin Rossevelt and Winston Churchill"

Who is your favorite hero of fiction?
"Bart Simpson"

How would you like to die?
"Preferably after sex"

What is your motto?
"Do not take things too seriously"

Why am I thinking that Hedy Lamarr had a gossip column that competed with Hedda Hopper's?

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lissa

>>Why am I thinking that Hedy Lamarr had a gossip column that competed with Hedda Hopper's?>>

Because you are confusing Hedy Lamarr, the actress, with Louella Parsons, the gossip columnist.

Thanks, Bermuda.

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lissa

Back to the Hedy Lamarr/spread spectrum encoding question. Scientific American ran a short article about this as part of a longer piece on wireless communication in the April 1998 issue. Since it was the April issue, I was never quite sure that it wasn't an April Fool's joke.



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History major. Heed at your own risk.

[NickyLarson]

RIP

[Arjuna34]

Hedy Lamarr died last month. Here's one reference: http://cnn.com/2000/SHOWBIZ/Movies/0....02/index.html

They even mention her spread spectrum patent

Arjuna34

[Alphagene]

Yup. QUite a few articles did. A few dopers did too, here.

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Marge: Your father is... resting.
Bart: "Resting" hung over? "Resting" got fired? Help me out here.

[Ukulele Ike]

The REALLY sad thing is that Frances Drake died on the same day, and got no newspaper coverage at all. The papers only have room for one dead old actress at a time, and Hedy trumped her.

-- Uke, harboring fond memories of the great 1935 Grand Guignol-style thriller MAD LOVE, in which Drake co-starred with Peter Lorre and Colin (FRANKENSTEIN) Clive, and how GREAT she looked in that diaphanous white dress while Lorre was trying to strangle her.

[NickyLarson]

A. Huxley (I am not going to attempt a spelling of his first name)died on Nov. 22, 1963, the same day as whatsisname...............

[Cartooniverse]

Originally posted by Ukulele Ike:
-- , harboring fond memories of the great 1935 Grand Guignol-style thriller MAD LOVE, in which Drake co-starred with Peter Lorre and Colin (FRANKENSTEIN) Clive, and how GREAT she looked in that diaphanous white dress while Lorre was trying to strangle her.

Uke, here's $ 5.00. "Diaphanous" is just one of THOSE words ....sigh.... Now, I want to go and find that movie and rent it and watch the scene compulsively until I find a way to build a small ritualistic sexual experience out of it. Then, obsess over every shadow and glint of flesh until I literally live the scene.

Thank god I shoot mostly color movies. I'd never get a lick of work done around here.

Cartooniverse



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If you want to kiss the sky, you'd better learn how to kneel.

[Ukulele Ike]

Cart:

That's pretty much what Dr. Gogol (the Peter Lorre character) did. He was infatuated with the Drake character, an actress who played luscious victim chicks in a Grand-Guignol-type Parisian theater. When he found she was married, he purchased her wax likeness and made a sex shrine out of it.

Then, of course, her pianist hasband had his hands crushed in a train wreck, and out of love for her Gogol grafts on the hands of a freshly-guillotined knife-throwing murderer, and there are new and mysterious knife-throwing murders, and then a spooky figure with artificial hands shows up to bedevil the pianist..."Yes...they chopped off my head...but Doctor Gogol PUT IT BACK ON!!!"

Golly Moses, I love this film!

Oh, and as a moviemaker, you'll find enjoyment galore, beyond the wigged-out plot and half-crazed characters. Karl Freund directed, and it looks it!

-- Ukulele (German Expressionism Forever!) Ike

[Babar714]

That's HEADLY!

[jwg]

There was an article about her and her invention about a year ago in the magazine Invention and Technology. It all started when she got involved in a conversation about whatever it was with a scientist who also happened to be an expert on glands - she was really interested in making her boobs larger. At least that's what I remember about the article. You remember what you want, I'll remember what I want.

[Polycarp]

A. Huxley (I am not going to attempt a spelling of his first name)died on Nov. 22, 1963, the same day as whatsisname...............

That's Aldous (one oxygen ion less than aldic, I suppose). And I cannot believe you couldn't remember the name of C.S. Lewis!

[NickyLarson]

C.S. Lewis was shot in Dallas?
That WAS a 'Magic Bullet'!

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Then we'll turn our tommy guns
on the screaming ravaged nuns
and the peoples voice will be the only sound.
-P. Sky

[RobRoy]

Her husband's Symphonia Mechanica will be out on CD this year as well.

FInally we catch up to both of them...

[Ukulele Ike]

You mean Antheil's BALLET MECHANIQUE? I'm shocked that it's not been available until now, but a quick Amazon.com search shows me it's true.

There IS a cool anthology of his piano works entitled BAD BOY OF MUSIC.

I don't think they were married, BTW.

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Uke