Hedy Lamarr: From Controversial Movie Star to Famed Inventor

Hedy Lamarr lived a life like few others. Born in Austria-Hungary in 1914, she started her film career with a notable obscenity scandal, but soon after became a Hollywood star of the 1930s and '40s.

Around the same time, she achieved impressive feats as an inventor, and today is linked to the invention of WiFi. In this gallery, we'll take a look back at Lamarr's fascinating career, from the Ecstasy controversy to her Hollywood films, personal life, and talents for inventing. Enjoy!

In 1933, Austrian actress Hedwig Kiesel made waves as the star of a controversial Czech erotica film titled Ecstasy. Notorious for its early cinema depiction of nudity and sexuality, Ecstasy was exhibited selectively worldwide following an obscenity uproar. Pope Pius XI was among the biggest critics, denouncing the film.

All the same, some championed the controversial work as an important art film and it's still studied to this day. The star, who later changed her name to Hedy Lamarr, was 18 when she acted in the film. Her story with Ecstasy doesn't end there, however.

Ecstasy later gained an additionally controversial reputation when Lamarr claimed she was tricked and pressured into performing nude.

However, other figures associated with the film denied Lamarr's accusation, and some believe she may have changed the story—like she changed her name—to salvage her reputation.

A few years after the Ecstasy controversy, Lamarr was discovered by MGM head Louis B. Mayer, who signed her to come to Hollywood. Her first work following the scandal was 1938 film Algiers (pictured here), her breakthrough Hollywood role.

After Algiers, Lamarr moved on to a run of films where she starred opposite some of Hollywood's most famous leading men. Clark Gable was a two-time co-star, in Boom Town and Comrade X, both from 1940.

In the early 1940s, Lamarr worked opposite James Stewart in two projects, including the Busby Berkeley musical Ziegfeld Girl—one of Lamarr's best-known movies (pictured here). She and Stewart also co-starred in Come Live with Me.

Around the time Hedy Lamarr was starring opposite Hollywood A-listers, she was also working as an inventor and "tinkerer" in her free time. She's most famous for co-inventing a frequency-hopping spread spectrum—a naval war radio technology—during the WWII years.

The technology, co-invented with composer George Antheil, has since been linked to the arrival of BlueTooth and WiFi — and Lamarr's ideas are said to be key to their inventions.

Lamarr capped off her busy acting-inventing decade with the lead role of "Delilah" in Cecil B. DeMille's 1949 film version of Samson and Delilah. It's usually cited as her best-known and most-acclaimed work.

Lamarr's final film role came in 1958's The Female Animal, and, in later life, she grew reclusive. She'd live to be 85 years old, passing away in 2000.

In her lifetime, Lamarr was married five times, including to famous figures Gene Markey, John Loder, and Teddy Stauffer. The actress-inventor had three children, all fathered by Loder, an English actor.

Since her death in 2000, Lamarr's unique life and impressive career have attracted growing interest. In 2014, she was posthumously inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame, and, in 2017, her life was the subject of documentary Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story. Seen here, the poster describes her as an "icon immigrant inventor."