Free Republic

Hedy Lamarr, a Hollywood actress known for her good looks and classic come-hither bedroom gaze, also played a key role in developing cell phone technology widely used today.Born 100 years ago today in Vienna, the actress made a lesser-known contribution to wireless communication when she tried to defuse a potential military threat during World War II. To prevent remote-controlled torpedoes from being hijacked, she helped develop an early version of spread spectrum communication, which is part of the basis for wireless technologies such as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.Her successes remind us that women were central to the invention of many technologies...

The Austrian-born Hollywood actress Hedy Lamarr is being given an honorary grave in Vienna's Central Cemetery on Friday, ahead of her 100th birthday on November 9th. Lamarr was born Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler in Vienna in 1914. Not only was she known as one of the most beautiful women of her day, but she also invented a technology that enables the mass use of mobile phones and other wireless communications. She died in Florida in 2000, aged 85. On the anniversary of her 100th birthday Austria’s Film Museum is screening a documentary about her. Lamarr garnered a degree of fame...

Dear Lord, There's a young man far from home, called to serve his nation in time of war; sent to defend our freedom on some distant foreign shore. We pray You keep him safe, we pray You keep him strong, we pray You send him safely home ... for he's been away so long. There's a young woman far from home, serving her nation with pride. Her step is strong, her step is sure, there is courage in every stride. We pray You keep her safe, we pray You keep her strong, we pray You send her safely home...

Isn't it hard to believe how a beautiful actress wasn't taken seriously as the genius inventor that she was?Along with digital video and consumer drones — cf. this week’s Leaning into the Wind — one of the greatest boons to documentaries over the past decade has been previously unheard recordings of deceased people, the latest beneficiary being Alexandra Dean’s excellent Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story. Tapes of Lamarr from 1990 are among the primary source for exploring her life, which was a prime example of how it’s not always easy being the best at something — and when you’re the...

‘Bombshell’ tells the story of Lamarr’s double life as a Hollywood starlet and inventor Once billed as “the most beautiful woman in the world,” actress Hedy Lamarr is often remembered for Golden Age Hollywood hits like Samson and Delilah. But Lamarr was gifted with more than just a face for film; she had a mind for science. A new documentary, Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story, spotlights Lamarr’s lesser-known legacy as an inventor. The film explores how the pretty veneer that Lamarr shrewdly used to advance her acting career ultimately trapped her in a life she found emotionally isolating and intellectually...

Hollywood screen siren Hedy Lamarr acted throughout the 1940s and 50s in romantic scenes with the likes of Clark Gable and Jimmy Stewart – but in her down time, the brunette beauty created and patented a scientific invention that paved the way for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth technology, according to a new documentary. “Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story” – produced by actress Susan Sarandon — premiers Wednesday in London as part of the Jewish Film Festival. The documentary touches on the 35 Hollywood films the sizzling brunette made — including one she filmed at 17 where she portrayed the first female...

The remarkable life of the Hollywood siren who pioneered groundbreaking scientific inventions that paved the way for wifi and Bluetooth will be told in a new film. Hedy Lamarr, considered by her show business peers to be the most beautiful woman in the world during the 1940s and 50s, starred alongside the likes of Spencer Tracy, James Stewart and Clark Gable during her glittering acting career. But she was also a brilliant scientist who helped devise a frequency-hopping system which eventually formed the foundation for modern technologies such as wifi, GPS and Bluetooth.

If you were on Google earlier this week -- and let's face it, you were -- you may have spotted a Google Doodle which celebrates the life of one of Hollywood's most iconic actresses. Hedy Lamarr, an actress of the golden age of cinema, would have been 101 years old this week, although simply calling her an actress might be something of a misnomer. As well as appearing in films, Lamarr also applied her incredible intellect to a series of scientific and technological endeavors, which eventually earned her a place in the National Inventors Hall of Fame and practically...

Tonight at 11:45 PM, Turner Classic Movies is showing a hilarious spoof of communism and the Soviet system called "Comrade X". It was made year after the similar-themed "Ninotchka" but I've always found this Clark Gable/Hedy Lamarr spinoff the far funnier of the two films. I especially love the slapstick scene where in an effort to escape the USSR, Gable leads a battalion of Soviet tanks into invading Rumania. It also won an Oscar nomination for its funny story.

Hedy Lamarr was an Austrian-born American actress. Max Reinhardt called her the “most beautiful woman in Europe” due to her “strikingly dark exotic looks”. Mathematically talented, Lamarr came up with an early technique for spread spectrum communications and frequency hopping, necessary for wireless communication from the pre-computer age to the present day. The international beauty, along with co-inventor composer George Anthiel, developed a "Secret Communications System" to help combat the Nazis in World War II. By manipulating radio frequencies at irregular intervals between transmission and reception, the invention formed an unbreakable code to prevent classified messages from being intercepted by...

... Hedy Lamarr avoided the celebrity party circuit, preferring small gatherings with close friends. At home she set up a drafting table and devoted her downtime to inventions, including a bouillon-like cube that when mixed with water would produce an instant soft drink. It was at a dinner at the home of the actress Janet Gaynor in 1940 that she met George ­Antheil. According to Antheil’s autobiography, “Bad Boy of Music,” Hedy requested the meeting because she had read one of his Esquire articles about glands. This was Hollywood, and the most beautiful woman in the world was concerned about...

She was considered one of the most beautiful women ever to grace the silver screen, but Hedy Lamarr never wanted to be known as just a pretty face. . . . . . She is credited for patenting a technology that is used every day. Hers is a story that is something right out of … well … Hollywood. A Kept Woman Finds Freedom Upon the insistence of her parents, Hedy wed a prominent Austrian munitions tycoon by the name of Fritz Mandl. Mandl took his teenage bride everywhere, including prominent business meetings with his biggest client, the Nazi Party....

Hi I Am SmokeyWelcome to my establishment!

<p>Is this thing on? Plug in that cord over there. Yes that one. NO NOT INTO THAT PLUG yes that one. Thanks. Testing 1 2 3.</p> <p>Hi everyone. Your friendly neighborhood AM here.</p> <p>Keywords. You've seen them. You love them. Maybe you have even abused them.</p> <p>Please don't abuse keywords. There are children in China doing without keywords.</p> <p>1) Having who added what keyword be revealed at the whim of sadistic moderators, such as myself.</p>