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Monday, November 9, 2015

YOU ONLY THOUGHT YOU KNEW HER


Today's sirens all seem to lack something, don't they?

Substance?  Soul?  Integrity? 

Viennese-born Hedwig Eva Maria Keisler was both daring and intellectual, whose life surpassed any heroine she portrayed on the screen.

Who?

Heddy Lamarr -- who is one of the major players in my WIP, LOVE IS BUT ANOTHER WORD FOR DEATH.

Take "Ecstasy," the 1933 Czech film that was highly controversial for its nudity and sex scenes.

 Lamarr made “Ecstasy” when she was just 18,

 and it was released the same year that she married one of Austria’s richest men, a munitions manufacturer who did business with Mussolini and, 

according to Lamarr’s autobiography, hosted Hitler at their castle home.


 Lamarr, who was of Ukrainian-Hungarian Jewish heritage, 

eventually made her escape from spouse and situation 

— she wrote that she fled to France in disguise — 

and was discovered in Paris by MGM mogul Louis B. Mayer.

{Of course in actuality, it was Samuel McCord who helped her escape, put his marriage into a tailspin, and made her famous in films.}


 During World War II, though, Lamarr also put her mind to the war effort, determined to invent something that would help defeat Hitler. 

(Her first marriage had resulted not only in reportedly hosting the Fuhrer, but also in gaining knowledge of torpedoes.)


 She and California neighbor/composer George Antheil co-created a frequency-hopping system 

(using a player-piano roll) 

so radio-guided torpedoes could avoid interference jamming — an invention for which they received a patent in 1942.

Pick up her autobiography or her latest biography to learn more about a fascinating woman.

16 comments:

  1. I was familiar with Lamarr's story and it's a pretty cool one. Nice when a film star goes beyond that celebrity role to actually do something of substance.

    Arlee Bird
    Tossing It Out

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    1. Isn't it though? Marlene Dietrich entertained the troops on the front lines in WWII for 3 years without a break -- and with a death sentence on her head from Hitler. I used that last fact in my GHOST OF A CHANCE. It was fun writing it. :-)

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  2. I don't know Lamarr or her story. I like that she used her celebrity stays for something so big as to defeat Hitler. She was an awesome lady.

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    1. Well, Heddy certainly had "Staying" Power-- both as an actress and as a woman of intellect! :-) Best of luck for your 99 cent sale of THIRTY SECONDS!

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  3. Very interesting, people lead lives beyond belief at times.

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    1. I think the same thing as I pass people on the street. :-) We would be amazed at the lives we passed without knowing it.

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  4. Heddy Lamarr always had that dreamy look, who knew she had smarts hiding behind that look? Smart enough to get out of a dangerous marriage and do something for the Allied side. I could see why Meilori wouldn't be impressed with McCord getting involved.

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    1. She did have that dreamy look, didn't she? Now, we know some of the things she was dreaming about. Meilori wanted there to be only woman that McCord worried about. My the murder of his sister in front of him guaranteed that he would always try to save young girl in risk that he happened across.

      The wonder is not that Meilori left him, but that it took so long for her to do it. But there was treachery at work there then -- which I will eventually get to in NEW ORLEANS ARABESQUE -- if speeding 18 wheeler drivers don't get me first!!

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  5. She was beauty and brains. So McCord was smitten or just lending a helpful hand?

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    1. McCord was just lending a helping hand but Meilori fears he is smitten, for Heddy is the most beautiful human she has seen.

      Meilori should know there is only woman for him!

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  6. Heddy Lamarr sounds like some switched-on lady with a whiff of danger. You're right, today's heroic ladies just don't make the cut. :-)

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    1. Brains, courage, resolve, and daring to put her life on the line to escape Hitler and an abusive husband -- Heddy does put Kim and Miley to shame. I'm always glad to see you here! :-)

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  7. I learned that about her on the Science Channel. Lovely lady, she even looks a bit like my mother.
    And just wanted to say, in reference to Denise's comment, those aren't ladies. :)

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  8. I'm not too surprised that Samuel McCord helped Hedy Lamar--she was worth it!.

    I learned about Hedy's exotic background and scientific braininess a few years ago, and I was glad to see Google honor her today. What a class act she was.

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