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Unsung Hero in Wireless Communication
At age 84, Lamarr's double life was finally told. She was awarded the Electronic Frontier Foundation's Pioneer Award in 1997, for making significant contributions to the empowerment of individuals in using computers. Although Lamarr’s invention was intended for the U.S. military, it was later implemented and broke barriers in wireless communication. The world benefits from spread-spectrum radios by providing high-speed wireless access to the internet. "Frequency hopping" laid the groundwork for modern technologies of GPS, Bluetooth, and WiFi. Lamarr challenged gender stereotypes while inventing and starting a production company, influencing countless women in media today.
"This is a technology that has revolutionized global communications between individuals...She basically showed that just because you're beautiful, you don't have to be dumb."
-David Hughes, an historian in wireless technology, first to research Lamarr's story,Westside Pioneer, 2015
"The brilliant mind of Hollywood legend Hedy Lamarr", Alexandra Dean, director of "Bombshell', March 10, 2018, PBS NewsHour
"She's been forgotten. But she contributed so much to an older generation. A lot of men fell in love with her. And now the younger generation is benefiting from the unknown creative work that she did."
-Anthony Lorder, son of Lamarr, Associated Press, 1997
“What Hedy Lamarr’s life teaches us — and it’s an important message for all kids to realize — is that you don’t have to choose to be just one thing. Hedy shows us anything is possible.”
-Laurie Wallmark, author, Hedy Lamarr's Double Life: Hollywood Legend and Brilliant Inventor, 2018
"Sub-hunting plane in search for flight 370", Engineering & Technology Magazine, March 2014
Lamarr's greatest recognition finally came in 2014 when she and co-inventor George Antheil were admitted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame, alongside legendary inventors Edison, Bell, Tesla, and Ford. Lamarr, no longer forgotten, has now become an icon of women in science, featured in books, plays, and a Google Doodle. In 2017, the film "Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story", documented Lamarr’s legacy as a brilliant unsung hero who was consistently underestimated due to her gender and beauty. Today, the “Hedy Lamarr Award for Innovation in Entertainment Technology” is awarded to a female who makes significant contributions in the field of entertainment technology.
“We’re proud to partner with the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media as we work to empower girls. It’s so important that young girls have examples of women on-screen that are smart, resilient, and inspiring, so they can grow up to reach their full potential.”
– Paula Kerger, President and CEO of PBS, 2011
"She was really unhappy that she did not get credit for inventing frequency hopping until the end of her life. She was well-aware of what her invention had become and often complained so that when, for example, she heard they were finally going to recognize her, her son asked her what she was going to say and she said, I’m going to say “Well, it’s about time.” She didn’t want any money for it—she and George gave it to the Navy for free--but like most people who make discoveries and inventions she at least wanted credit. And that did finally come to her."
-Bombshell: Interview with Richard Rhodes on Hedy Lamarr, 2017
Hedy Lamarr, Walk of Fame on February 8, 1960
“This is the story of a Hollywood actress, defined by her appearance, who was secretly a brilliant inventor and helped change the course of history."
-Susan Sarandon, executive producer of Reframed Pictures, June 2016
“The film is bittersweet because at the very end of her life, when she’s very old, she starts to get this incredible recognition … from the Navy, from the Army, from the Air Force … But, unfortunately, at that point she’d become a recluse. She wasn’t leaving her house. She sent a recording of herself thanking them. So she wasn’t able to stand up and receive this very delayed applause.”
- Alexandra Dean, interview in "The story of Hedy Lamarr, the Hollywood beauty whose invention helped enable Wi-Fi, GPS and Bluetooth", November 2017
“She would love to be remembered as someone who contributed to the well-being of humankind'.
-Anthony Lorder, son of Hedy Lamarr, April 2019
“I’m blown away to be mentioned in the same sentence as Hedy Lamarr, a true pioneer not just in her inventions but in forging new ways to be a woman fully in all dimensions… How all of our lives, thanks to digital and wireless, are advanced because of her and how much my career actually was inspired from her scientific advance.”
-Willow Bay, dean of the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, speech, 3rd annual “Hedy Lamarr Award for Innovation in Entertainment Technology”, November 12, 2019