Hedy Lamarr

Peter Gallivan, author of The Hidden Heroes of Science, shines a spotlight on a star inventor.

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Hedy Lamarr was an amazing inventor whose tech is still used today. Working during the Second World War, she helped create a method to send secret messages that today underpins Bluetooth and Wi-Fi technologies. Yet she didn’t work in a research facility – her lab was her dressing room on Hollywood movie sets.

Becoming a star

Hedy Lamarr was born Hedwig Eva Kiesler in Austria in 1914 to a Jewish family. From a young age she was curious about the world and enjoyed taking things apart. She remembered taking apart her music box (a small box that plays a tune when it is opened), which was encouraged by her father, who explained how machines such as city trams worked. Lamarr’s mother was a pianist who supported her daughter's artistic side and helped her discover a love of performance through ballet and piano.