Hedy Lamarr was an Austrian and American actress and inventor. Regarded as a successful film star, she also co-invented a radio guidance system during World War II; technology that would one day form the basis for today’s WiFi, GPS, and Bluetooth communication systems.
After a brief early film career in Czechoslovakia, including the controversial erotic romantic drama Ecstasy (1933), she fled from her first husband, Friedrich Mandl, and secretly moved to Paris. Traveling to London, she met Louis B. Mayer, who offered her a film contract in Hollywood. Lamarr became a film star with her performance in the romantic drama Algiers (1938). She achieved further success with the Western Boom Town (1940) and the drama White Cargo (1942). Lamarr’s most successful film was the religious epic Samson and Delilah (1949). She also acted on television before the release of her final film, The Female Animal in 1958. She was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960.
This was the last known picture of Hedy after she was arrested for shoplifting in Orlando, Florida, for stealing $21.48 worth of laxatives and eye drops
