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IMDbPro

Hedy Lamarr(1914-2000)

  • Actress
  • Producer
  • Additional Crew
IMDbProStarmeterTop 5,000153
Hedy Lamarr C. 1945
Official Trailer
Play trailer2:01
My Favorite Spy (1951)
15 Videos
99+ Photos
Hedy Lamarr, the woman many critics and fans alike regard as the most beautiful ever to appear in films, was born Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler in Vienna, Austria. She was the daughter of Gertrud (Lichtwitz), from Budapest, and Emil Kiesler, a banker from Lember (now known as Lviv). Her parents were both from Jewish families. Hedwig had a calm childhood, but it was cinema that fascinated her. By the time she was a teenager, she decided to drop out of school and seek fame as an actress, and was a student of theater director Max Reinhardt in Berlin. Her first role was a bit part in the German film Geld auf der Straße (1930) (aka "Money on the Street") in 1930. She was attractive and talented enough to be in three more German productions in 1931, but it would be her fifth film that catapulted her to worldwide fame. In 1932 she appeared in a Czech film called Ekstase (US title: "Ecstasy") and had made the gutsy move to appear nude. It's the story of a young girl who is married to a gentleman much older than she, but she winds up falling in love with a young soldier. The film's nude scenes created a sensation all over the world. The scenes, very tame by today's standards, caused the film to be banned by the U.S. government at the time.

Hedy soon married Fritz Mandl, a munitions manufacturer and a prominent Austrofascist. He attempted to buy up all the prints of "Ecstasy" he could lay his hands on (Italy's dictator, Benito Mussolini, had a copy but refused to sell it to Mandl), but to no avail (there are prints floating around the world today). The notoriety of the film brought Hollywood to her door. She was brought to the attention of MGM mogul Louis B. Mayer, who signed her to a contract (a notorious prude when it came to his studio's films, Mayer signed her against his better judgment, but the money he knew her notoriety would bring in to the studio overrode any moral concerns he may have had). However, he insisted she change her name and make good, wholesome films.

Hedy starred in a series of exotic adventure epics. She made her American film debut as Gaby in Algiers (1938). This was followed a year later by Lady of the Tropics (1939). In 1942, she played the plum role of Tondelayo in the classic White Cargo (1942). After World War II, her career began to decline, and MGM decided it would be in the interest of all concerned if her contract were not renewed. Unfortunately for Hedy, she turned down the leads in both Gaslight (1940) and Casablanca (1942), both of which would have cemented her standing in the minds of the American public. In 1949, she starred as Delilah opposite Victor Mature's Samson in Cecil B. DeMille's epic Samson and Delilah (1949). This proved to be Paramount Pictures' then most profitable movie to date, bringing in $12 million in rental from theaters. The film's success led to more parts, but it was not enough to ease her financial crunch. She made only six more films between 1949 and 1957, the last being The Female Animal (1958).

Hedy retired to Florida. She died there, in the city of Casselberry, on January 19, 2000.
BornNovember 9, 1914
DiedJanuary 19, 2000(85)
BornNovember 9, 1914
DiedJanuary 19, 2000(85)
IMDbProStarmeterTop 5,000153
  • Awards
    • 4 wins & 1 nomination

Photos322

Hedy Lamarr in The Heavenly Body (1944)
Hedy Lamarr in The Heavenly Body (1944)
Hedy Lamarr and Robert Young in H.M. Pulham, Esq. (1941)
Hedy Lamarr and Robert Young in H.M. Pulham, Esq. (1941)
Hedy Lamarr and Robert Young in H.M. Pulham, Esq. (1941)
Hedy Lamarr and Robert Young in H.M. Pulham, Esq. (1941)
Hedy Lamarr and Robert Young in H.M. Pulham, Esq. (1941)
Judy Garland, Hedy Lamarr, and Lana Turner in Ziegfeld Girl (1941)
Hedy Lamarr, Robert Young, and Ruth Hussey in H.M. Pulham, Esq. (1941)
Hedy Lamarr and Philip Dorn in Ziegfeld Girl (1941)
Hedy Lamarr and Tony Martin in Ziegfeld Girl (1941)
Spencer Tracy and Hedy Lamarr in I Take This Woman (1940)

Known for

Hedy Lamarr and Victor Mature in Samson and Delilah (1949)
Samson and Delilah
6.8
  • Delilah
  • 1949
The Strange Woman (1946)
The Strange Woman
6.6
  • Jenny Hager
  • 1946
June Allyson, Hedy Lamarr, and Robert Walker in Her Highness and the Bellboy (1945)
Her Highness and the Bellboy
6.4
  • Princess Veronica
  • 1945
Dishonored Lady (1947)
Dishonored Lady
6.5
  • Madeleine Damien
  • 1947

Credits

Edit
IMDbPro

Actress

  • Hedy Lamarr, Jane Powell, and George Nader in The Female Animal (1958)
    The Female Animal
    • Vanessa Windsor
    • 1958
  • Dick Powell in Zane Grey Theatre (1956)
    Zane Grey Theatre
    • Consuela Bowers
    • TV Series
    • 1957
  • The Story of Mankind (1957)
    The Story of Mankind
    • Joan of Arc
    • 1957
  • Walter Matthau, Julie Adams, Jan Sterling, Richard Egan, Sam Levene, and Charles McGraw in Slaughter on 10th Avenue (1957)
    Slaughter on 10th Avenue
    • (scenes deleted)
    • 1957
  • Shower of Stars (1954)
    Shower of Stars
    • TV Series
    • 1957
  • I cavalieri dell'illusione (1954)
    I cavalieri dell'illusione
    • Imperatrice Giuseppina
    • Genoveffa di Brabante
    • Hedy Windsor
    • 1954
  • L'eterna femmina (1954)
    L'eterna femmina
    • 1954
  • Loves of Three Queens (1954)
    Loves of Three Queens
    • Hedy Windsor
    • Elana di Troia
    • Empress Josephine ...
    • 1954
  • Bob Hope and Hedy Lamarr in My Favorite Spy (1951)
    My Favorite Spy
    • Lily Dalbray
    • 1951
  • Hedy Lamarr and John Hodiak in A Lady Without Passport (1950)
    A Lady Without Passport
    • Marianne Lorress
    • 1950
  • Hedy Lamarr and Ray Milland in Copper Canyon (1950)
    Copper Canyon
    • Lisa Roselle
    • 1950
  • Hedy Lamarr and Victor Mature in Samson and Delilah (1949)
    Samson and Delilah
    • Delilah
    • 1949
  • Hedy Lamarr and Robert Cummings in Let's Live a Little (1948)
    Let's Live a Little
    • Dr. J.O. Loring
    • 1948
  • Dishonored Lady (1947)
    Dishonored Lady
    • Madeleine Damien
    • 1947
  • The Strange Woman (1946)
    The Strange Woman
    • Jenny Hager
    • 1946

Producer

  • Loves of Three Queens (1954)
    Loves of Three Queens
    • producer
    • 1954
  • The Strange Woman (1946)
    The Strange Woman
    • executive producer
    • 1946

Additional Crew

  • Spencer Tracy in Stanley and Livingstone (1939)
    Stanley and Livingstone
    • stand-in: Nancy Kelly (uncredited)
    • 1939

Videos15

Trailer
Trailer 1:55
Trailer
Teaser Trailer
Trailer 0:58
Teaser Trailer
Trailer
Trailer 2:11
Trailer
Official Trailer
Trailer 2:26
Official Trailer
Official Trailer
Trailer 2:39
Official Trailer
Official Trailer
Trailer 2:02
Official Trailer
Official Trailer
Trailer 2:11
Official Trailer
Official Trailer
Trailer 2:35
Official Trailer
Original Theatrical Trailer
Trailer 2:55
Original Theatrical Trailer
Official Trailer
Trailer 2:41
Official Trailer
My Favorite Spy
Trailer 2:01
My Favorite Spy
Copper Canyon
Trailer 2:25
Copper Canyon

Personal details

Edit
  • Official site
    • Official Site
  • Alternative names
    • Hedwig Kiesler
  • Height
    • 5′ 7″ (1.70 m)
  • Born
    • November 9, 1914
    • Vienna, Austria-Hungary [now Austria]
  • Died
    • January 19, 2000
    • Casselberry, Florida, USA(natural causes)
  • Spouses
      Lewis William Boies Jr.March 4, 1963 - June 21, 1965 (divorced)
  • Children
      James Lamarr Markey
  • Parents
      Emil Kiesler
  • Other works
    (7/13/42) Radio: Appeared in a "Lux Radio Theater" production of "H.M. Pulham, Esq."
  • Publicity listings
    • 3 Biographical Movies
    • 9 Print Biographies
    • 3 Portrayals
    • 17 Articles
    • 28 Pictorials
    • 18 Magazine Cover Photos

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    Inspired by an early Philco wireless radio remote and player piano rolls, she worked with composer George Antheil (who created a symphony played by eight synchronized player pianos) she invented a frequency-hopping system for remotely controlling torpedoes during World War II. (The frequency hopping concept appeared as early as 1903 in a U.S. Patent by Nikola Tesla). The invention was examined superficially and filed away. At the time, Allied torpedoes, as well as those of the Axis powers, were unguided. Input for depth, speed, and direction were made moments before launch but once leaving the submarine the torpedo received no further input. In 1959 it was developed for controlling drones that would later be used in Viet Nam. Frequency hopping radio became a Navy standard by 1960. Due to the expiration of the patent and Lamarr's unawareness of time limits for filing claims, she was never compensated. Her invention is used today for WiFi, Bluetooth, and even top secret military defense satellites. While the current estimate of the value of the invention is approximately $30 billion, during her final years she was getting by on SAG and social security checks totaling only $300 a month.
  • Quotes
    I must quit marrying men who feel inferior to me. Somewhere, there must be a man who could be my husband and not feel inferior. I need a superior inferior man.
  • Trademarks
      Natural brunette hair
  • Nicknames
    • Hollywood's Loveliest Legendary Lady
    • Queen of Glamour
  • Salaries
      A Lady Without Passport
      (1950)
      $90,000

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