Hedy Lamarr: Beyond the Beauty (Jerry Skinner Documentary)

[Music] this is hedy lamarr the actress that hollywood called the most beautiful woman in the world this is the actress that snow white was modeled after and catwoman in the original comic book series lamarr was a superstar in hollywood during the 30s 40s and early 50s before there was such a thing as a superstar eddie lamarr was born hedwin eva maria casler on november the 9th 1914 in vienna austria hedwin was hard for the youngster to pronounce when someone asked her name and it quickly became heady haiti's parents emil and trudy casler were ukrainian and hungarian jews emel was a bank director in vienna and trudy was a concert pianist hedy was a privileged child with special tutors in private schools she wanted to become an actress at an early age from looking at movie magazines by the time she was 10 she could speak four languages the family lived here at 12 peter jordan strassa vienna and in 1925 at the age of 12 eddie won a beauty contest and persuaded her parents to allow her to take acting classes although mr keisler wasn't pleased with the idea of his daughter becoming an actress in 1930 at the age of 15 she quit school and got a job as a sonographist however she was still set on becoming an actress with the help of a friend kitty got a job as a script girl at vienna's first film studio tobus sashka she will soon be given small parts and a few films the next year after going to work at the studio in 1931 financial collapse hit the austrian banking system leaving many wealthy people broke including her own family austrian producer max reinhardt saw hedy and invited her to berlin and to attend his dramatic acting school within one year she had made her first motion picture debut money on the street however it will be her fifth film that will get the notice of the world in 1932 hedy keisler at the age of 17 appeared in ecstasy a near pornographic film where she runs through the woods in the nude and performs a graphic love american scene from facial expressions ecstasy was filmed in prague czechoslovakia the movie will be released in 1933 and hedy will become known as the ecstasy girl the film was banned in germany by adolf hitler and by the pope as being vulgar in order to help salvage her reputation her parents encouraged her to take the part of empress elizabeth of austria in the play the rose of bavarian land at this time hedy was receiving flowers and proposals from men all over however her most persistent pursuer was fritz mandel the third richest man in austria fritz was a 35 year old chairman of a weapons factory they married on august the 10th 1933 when hedy was 18. fritz made hedy stop acting and become hostess to his weapons clientele such as it liz bento mussolini and germany's adolf hitler fritz was very jealous of his young wife and soon began to fear that she might leave him ordered that she be watched at all times and she was not to go anywhere by herself this is heady at home in vienna in 1935. the same year she lost her dad emile casler at the age of 54. she had always been close to her dead and now she knew if she left fritz she'd have to do it on her own while fritz was dealing with top fascist leaders he sometimes allowed his wife to attend business meetings where weapons and military technology was discussed it was during these meetings that hedy picked up more than entertainment social skills it was rumored that she may have even slept with adolf hitler himself this may be one of the reasons that fritz became so frantic when his wife escaped from his clutches hedy told several stores how she arranged her escape all of which would make a good movie script she told of putting sleeping pills in her maid's coffee who was assigned to watch her then dressed up like the maid to make her escape eddie said her husband gave her expensive jewelry but kept it in a vault that she had no access to another story was that she persuaded fritz to let her wear all of her jury to one of vienna's major social events she was then able to slip out of the party and use the jury to escape to paris a more likely story was she was able to slip a piece of jury every now and then and gave it to a friend to sell for money then she used the money to escape what we know is she did leave fritz and he did frantically search for from paris she went to london when a friend told her that fritz was looking for her in paris when hedy casler reached london she contacted a movie agent although she hadn't made a movie in four years she was still well known the agent arranged a meeting with louis b mayer head of mgm studios who was fixing to leave london and sail back to the united states mayor offered her a six-month contract for 125 dollars per week according to haiti she refused saying that she was worth more than that she managed to get on the same boat as mayor hoping to change his mind which she did and received a seven year contract for 550 dollars per week according to heady by the time the ship reached new york mayer was afraid the american audience might not accept the ecstasy girl so he asked her to change her name to hedy lamarr from mayer's favorite silent movie star barbara laymar the studio also helped arrange a divorce from fritz mandel eddie lamar's debut film in the united states was algiers with charles boyer released august the 5th 1938 back in europe hitler had annexed austria and hedy with the help of mayor arranged to have her mother come to america and eventually become a citizen the next year in 1938 the 5th of march hedy will marry screenwriter and producer gene markey three months after they married eddie gave secret birth to her first son james lamar loader the birth was kept secret from the public james was actually the son of hedy and john loader whom she will marry four years later gene markey and hedy will claim him as their adopted son james will believe himself to be adopted until he learns the truth years later in 1939 lamar will star with leading man robert taylor in lady of the tropics the next year it will be boom town with clark gable spencer tracy and claudette colbert it'll be a movie about two oil wildcatter friends who love the same woman eddie will make two more movies in 1941 one with clark gable and the other with spencer tracy also on october the 3rd 1941 gene markey and hedy lamarr divorced after two and a half years of marriage she will also start with james stewart and come live with me that same year the next year in 1942 lamar appeared with spencer tracy in tortilla flat known august 11 1942 hedy lamarr publicized as the most beautiful woman in the world by hollywood studios was awarded a patent for a secret communication system known as frequency junking she had submitted for a patent back in june 10 1941 under the name of hedy casler markey only four months before her divorce from her husband jean markey eddie was not only beautiful but smart after being beautiful all day on a movie set she would often come home and work on her inventions she had a laboratory set up in her home where she would work undisturbed lamar once said inventions are easy for me i don't have to work for ideas they just come to me naturally eddie had met composer and pianist george antle in a hollywood cocktail party back in 1941 and she explained her concept of how a torpedo-guided system could prevent jamming by routinely changing frequencies george immediately understood her concept and compared it to a role piano player changing frequencies the way a royal piano changed notes they presented their patent idea to the navy hoping to help the war effort however the navy couldn't get past her pretty face and movie star status and not giving enough consideration to her ideal they simply put it aside in the files and kept it and told her if she wanted to help the war effort she should spend her time selling war bonds which she did by the millions during this time hedy had become romantically involved with aviator and millionaire howard hughes hughes was trying to develop a fast flying plane to sell to the government he allowed hedy to use his engineering staff for her ideas he appreciated her talent for inventions it was heady that suggested he used swept wings on his airplanes instead of box wings she developed the idea from books on fish and birds on may the 27th 1943 eddie lamarr married her longtime lover actor john loader at the home of lily veyet john will soon adopt his own son james loader the family will make their home at 2707 benedict canyon road within two years of their marriage on the 29th of may 1945 they'll have a daughter they named denise she'll become a model and businesswoman like her mother denise will grow up to become a beautiful woman now two years after denise's birth hedy and john will have a son anthony or tony as he is called was born the 1st of march 1947. tony will later in life become a businessman in los angeles four months after tony's birth eddie and john loader will divorce on the 17th of july 1947. in 1949 hedy lamarr was picked by director and producer cecil b demille to play the part of delilah in his blockbuster movie samson and delilah along with victor mature as samson samson in delilah was the highest grossing film in 1950. also around 1950 hedy was having trouble with her 11 year old son james after her divorce from john loader she sent james off to a boarding school james stated that he wrote his mother but his letters were always returned realize in james situation his teacher adopted him with hedy's permission james will discover after heady's death that she was his biological mother according to james's sister denise her mother sent all three kids to boarding schools so that wasn't that unusual she didn't think her mother knew how to cope with james she said and her situation on july the 11th 1951 hedy will marry for the fourth time she met teddy stafford a nightclub owner and former band leader she met ted while vacating with her kids in acapulco sold her house in california and moved to mexico with him however she's soon tired of mexico and ted their marriage will only last nine months and they will divorce 18 march 1952. the next year in 1953 hedy lamarr casler became a citizen of the united states at the age of 38. the same year had he became a citizen she married for the fifth time on december 22 1953 to william howard lee a texas oil tycoon in 1958 she'll star with jane powell in the female animal about an aging star and her alcoholic daughter competing for the same man played by george nader two years after appearing in the female animal eddie lamarr and william howard lee will end their marriage on the 22nd of april 1960. this picture of tony age 13 and denise age 15 with her mom taken right after her divorce from lee it was reported that she received a half a million dollar settlement but she also suffered a nervous breakdown in 1962 during the cuban missile crisis it was learned that the navy was using secret communications developed by hedy lamarr and george intel the problem was their patent had run out three years earlier in 1959 although they received credit they didn't receive a penny for their invention technology developed from hedy's idea made possible today's wi-fi gps and bluetooth communication systems so when you use these devices you can thank the most beautiful woman in the world for it hedy lamarr the next year on march 4th 1963 eddie will marry her divorce attorney louis j boise jr they will regularly stay at boyz's home at sierra and shasta street in turlock california mosey practiced law in beverly hills in 1964 hedy will give permission for her austrian mansion to be used in the movie the sound of music that starred julie andrews two years after she married louis bosey they will divorce on june the 21st 1965. this is hedy and her son tony after receiving a divorce from louis bosey it'll be her final marriage eddie said i'm not ashamed to say that no man i have ever met was my father's equal and never loved another as much in 1966 she was set to play a role in the movie mommy dead but was replaced by jiajia gabor when hedy was arrested for shoplifting though charges was dropped the damage had been done by newspapers she said i've made millions but now i can't buy a sandwich that swabs to make matters worse her autobiography ecstasy and me was released the same year two ghost writers had written untrue stories about her sexual excursions hedy was shocked when she read the book and sued to stop print but too late it became a best seller during the 70s because of bad press hedy left hollywood and became a recluse in 1974 she filed suit against mel brooks producer and director of the movie blazing saddles actor harvey corman's character was named hedley lamarr a play on hedy's name the suit was settled out of court when brooks's attorneys said we can beat this lawsuit male said no we've enjoyed this lady's talents for years pay her what she wants within reason and thank her for me in 1981 with phalaenosat and retreating from the public she left california and moved to florida she always felt her mind and inventing abilities was far more important than her looks or acting career she once said that any girl can look glamorous all you have to do is stand still and look stupid during her career she made 30 films for mgm and at the same time found ways to improve the nation's traffic lights all without higher education she also said in an interview with reporters that my career suffered because i wouldn't sleep with vips just to get ahead my problem is i'm a hell of a good dame the most horrible are famous she said i did what i did for love the others did it for money hedy's close friend throughout the years was turner classic movie host robert orsman 1991 she was living in castleberry florida a suburb of orlando she had been living in obscurity until she was arrested for shoplifting eye drops totaling 21 dollars although the news made a big deal of it the charges were dropped eddie said that she and a companion forgot to put the items in a shopping cart she told a new york radio station after the incident that she was sick and tired of being in the limelight hedy's daughter denise loader deluca said that her mother was deluged with sympathetic cause after the florida incident it warms my heart that people care she said in her last years it has been said that hedy tried surgery several times to improve her appearance without complete success it's also been reported that she was legally blind and didn't venture out of her house and was living on a meager amount of income in 1997 the canadian software company coral corporation used haiti's picture and image on their cartons without permission she sued them for using her image and they settled out of court making things a little better for her in the stars last couple of years her contact with the outside world was by telephone she spoke with her friends and even her children only over the phone as much as six or seven hours a day every day during this time the world was beginning to recognize the accomplishments of this brilliant woman and presented her with scientific awards which her son tony would accept for his mother on january the 19th 2000 hedwin ava maria casler hedy lamarr passed away at her home in casselberry florida alone at the age of 85. at her request her remains was scattered in the vienna woods by her son where she grew up as a child [Music] [Music] [Music] you

Channel: Jerry Skinner

Views: 91,384

Keywords:

Id: EXNOIB5ZXNk

Length: 23min 53sec (1433 seconds)

Published: Mon Jul 05 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/Rocky_Road_To_Dublin]

https://youtu.be/8vjEnkQdaHM

[u/[deleted]]

It's Hedley!

[u/[deleted]]

Good time to mention my favourite Half Life 2 joke.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLHDuZSImwA