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Hollywood Life
Hedy Lamarr, in "Ziegfield Girl", 1941, Courtesy of American Masters, PBS
"Any girl can be glamorous. All you have to do is stand still and look stupid.”
-Hedy Lamarr, The Stars (1962) by Richard Schickel
As a teenager, Hedy was discovered by an Austrian film director. She became known throughout the world in 1933, with her role in the controversial film "Ecstasy". Hedy was exploited by the director to do explicit scenes. "Ecstasy" was condemned by the Pope and banned in the U.S. In 1937, she moved to Hollywood and changed her name to Hedy Lamarr when she signed as an actress with MGM Studios. Hedy's Jewish name was changed by MGM mogul, Louis B. Mayer to "Lamarr" to escape her past. Lamarr went on to star in 30 films in Hollywood and was featured in many popular films such as "Samson and Delilah". At the height of her career, she was proclaimed "the most beautiful woman in the world."
“A star is made, created; carefully and cold-bloodedly built up from nothing, from nobody. All I ever looked for was a face.”
-Louis V. Mayer, MGM owner, "The Man Behind The Movies: Louis B. Mayer's Secret Life", February 2020
"Of all the European émigrés who escaped Nazi Germany and Nazi Austria, she was one of the very few who succeeded in moving to another culture and becoming a full-fledged star herself. There were so very few who could make the transition linguistically or culturally. She really was a resourceful human being, I think because of her father's strong influence on her as a child."
-Bombshell: Interview with Richard Rhodes on Hedy Lamarr, April 18, 2017
“The best-looking movie star that ever lived; she became my inspiration”.
-Mel Brooks, director/actor, in 'Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story'
Hedy Lamarr and Charles Boyer in "Algiers" 1938, Hedy Lamarr Legacy
"She was so beautiful that everybody would stop talking when she came into a room.”
- George Sanders, Hollywood actor, in Scientific American
Original theatrical release poster of Algiers(1938) Original theatrical release poster of Samson and Delilah (1949) Original theatrical release poster of The Stange Woman (1946)
“I’ve never played a part like me yet. I may look like a leading lady but I’m really a character actress.
-Hedy Lamarr, 'Beautiful: The Life of Hedy Lamarr", 1944
1966 Ad, Actress Hedy Lamarr's Autobiography, Ecstasy and Me: My life As A Woman