Hedy Lamarr and the Secret Communication System
Hedy Lamarr was born in 1914 in Vienna, Austria-Hungary, to a wealthy Jewish family. It was her mother, Gertrud, a pianist, who introduced her to the wonders of the stage. Hedy recalled, «One day, mother promised me a nice present if I were good. The present was a visit, my first, to the theatre. I saw a stage play for the first time. I was thrilled and speechless. I don't remember the play, its title of anything about it. But I never forgot the general impression. School held but one interest from then on. I took part in school plays and festivals. My first big part came in Hansel and Gretel.» The first film she saw that had the same effect on her was Fritz Lang's Metropolis (1927), released when she was thirteen. Although it received mixed critical reviews upon release, Metropolis is now considered one of the greatest and most influential films ever made. Portraits of Hedy Lamarr at the age of six years old (circa 1920). In the late 1920s, while taking acting classes ...
