Hedy Lamarr

Download or read book Hedy's Folly written by Richard Rhodes and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2012-08-07 with total page 298 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Pulitzer Prize-winning author Richard Rhodes delivers a remarkable story of science history: how a ravishing film star and an avant-garde composer invented spread-spectrum radio, the technology that made wireless phones, GPS systems, and many other devices possible. Beginning at a Hollywood dinner table, Hedy's Folly tells a wild story of innovation that culminates in U.S. patent number 2,292,387 for a "secret communication system." Along the way Rhodes weaves together Hollywood’s golden era, the history of Vienna, 1920s Paris, weapons design, music, a tutorial on patent law and a brief treatise on transmission technology. Narrated with the rigor and charisma we've come to expect of Rhodes, it is a remarkable narrative adventure about spread-spectrum radio's genesis and unlikely amateur inventors collaborating to change the world.

Download or read book Beautiful written by Stephen Michael Shearer and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2010-09-28 with total page 808 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Surprising Story of Hedy Lamarr, "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" As a teenage actress in 1920s Austria, performing on the stage and in film in light comedies and musicals, Hedy Kiesler, with her exotic beauty, was heralded across Europe by her mentor, Max Reinhardt. However, it was her nude scene, and surprising dramatic ability, in Ecstasy that made her a star. Ecstasy's notoriety followed her for the rest of her life. She married one of Austria's most successful and wealthy munitions barons, giving up her career for what seemed at first a fairy-tale existence. Instead, as war clouds loomed in the mid-1930s, Hedy discovered that she was trapped in a loveless marriage to a controlling, ruthless man who befriended Mussolini, sold armaments to Hitler, yet hid his own Jewish heritage to become an "honorary Aryan." She fled her husband and escaped to Hollywood, where M-G-M changed her name to Hedy Lamarr and she became one of film's most glamorous stars. She worked with such renowned directors as King Vidor, Victor Fleming, and Cecil B. DeMille, and appeared opposite such respected actors as Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, John Garfield, and James Stewart. But as her career waned, her personal problems and legal wranglings cast lingering shadows over her former image. It wasn't until decades later that the world was stunned to learn of her unexpected role as the inventor of a technology that has become an essential part of everything from military weaponry to cell phones—proof that Hedy Lamarr was far more than merely Delilah to Victor Mature's Samson. She demonstrated a creativity and an intelligence she had always possessed. Stephen Michael Shearer's in-depth and meticulously researched biography, written with the cooperation of Hedy's children, intimate friends, and colleagues, separates the truths from the rumors, the facts from the fables, about Hedy Lamarr, to reveal the life and character of one of classic Hollywood's most beautiful and remarkable women.

Download or read book Hedy Lamarr written by Ruth Barton and published by University Press of Kentucky. This book was released on 2010-08-13 with total page 457 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This true story of a Hollywood sex symbol’s tumultuous life is “a real page-turner. Now, here is a book that would make a great movie” (London Daily Mail). Hedy Lamarr’s life was punctuated by salacious rumors and public scandal, but it was her stunning looks and classic Hollywood glamour that continuously captivated audiences. Born Hedwig Kiesler, she escaped an unhappy marriage with arms dealer Fritz Mandl in Austria to try her luck in Hollywood, where her striking appearance made her a screen legend. Her notorious nude role in the erotic Czech film Ecstasy, as well as her work with Cecil B. DeMille (Samson and Delilah), Walter Wanger (Algiers), and studio executive Louis B. Mayer catapulted her alluring and provocative reputation as a high-profile sex symbol. In this biography, Ruth Barton explores the many facets of the screen legend—including her life as an inventor. Working with avant-garde composer and film scorer George Antheil, Lamarr helped to develop and patent spread spectrum technology, which is still used in mobile phone communication. However, despite her screen persona and scientific success, Lamarr’s personal life included a string of failed marriages, a lawsuit against her publisher regarding her sensational autobiography, and shoplifting charges that made her infamous beyond her celebrity. Drawing on extensive research into both the recorded truths of Lamarr’s life and the rumors that made her notorious, Barton recognizes Lamarr’s contributions to both film and technology while revealing the controversial and conflicted woman underneath.

Download or read book Hedy Lamarr's Double Life written by Laurie Wallmark and published by Union Square & Co.. This book was released on 2020-02-28 with total page 47 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Revelatory to young audiences in more ways than one.” —Kirkus “Many STEM-for-girls biographies fan excitement over women’s achievements, but this title actually brings the central scientific concept within middle-grade reach.” —The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books Movie star by day, ace inventor at night: learn about the hidden life of actress Hedy Lamarr! To her adoring public, Hedy Lamarr was a glamorous movie star, widely considered the most beautiful woman in the world. But in private, she was something more: a brilliant inventor. And for many years only her closest friends knew her secret. Now Laurie Wallmark and Katy Wu, who collaborated on Sterling’s critically acclaimed picture-book biography Grace Hopper: Queen of Computer Code, tell the inspiring story of how, during World War Two, Lamarr developed a groundbreaking communications system that still remains essential to the security of today’s technology.

Download or read book Hedy Lamarr: An Incredible Life written by William Roy and published by Humanoids, Inc.. This book was released on 2018-11-06 with total page 178 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Hollywood icon by day, unsung science genius by night.”

Download or read book Spread Spectrum written by Rob Walters and published by Createspace Independent Pub. This book was released on 2005 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This popular book was updated in 2013 just thirteen years after the death of the glamourous film star Hedy Lamarr. She was a famous Hollywood star and the first woman to appear naked on film. George Antheil was a piano player and composer. So just how did these two come to invent the latest technology used by the mobile phone? Or did they? She was labelled 'the most beautiful girl in the world' and he 'the bad boy of music' yet way back in 1942 they took out a patent covering the vital radio technique that we now call spread spectrum. This absorbing book traces the eventful and sometimes scandalous lives of Hedy and George. It tells the fascinating story of radio and the ongoing battle to make it secure and of similar quality to wired communication. Spread spectrum emerged from that battle to become the solution of choice for anything from mobile phones to wireless computer networks.

Download or read book Ecstasy and Me My Life As a Woman written by Hedy Lamarr and published by . This book was released on 2014-08-16 with total page 346 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the autobiography of Hedy Lamarr, who is famous for two things: First: Her movie career, as she was regarded as the most beautiful woman in Hollywood. She was also the first woman ever to appear nude in a movie. Second: She is famous as an inventor, a scientist and a researcher, especially during the Second World War, as she developed and patented a method to defend against torpedoes and missiles. She also developed an anti-aircraft system where the anti-aircraft fire would not hit the aircraft but would explode nearby. Nowadays, in the aftermath of the shooting down of Malaysian Airline 17 over Eastern Ukraine, killing 298 passengers, a new look is being taken at the process developed by Hedy Lamarr. The missile that shot down the Malaysian Airplane used a system similar to the one developed by Hedy Lamarr, and the defense against torpedoes she developed might have applications to prevent future commercial aircraft from being knocked down.