(1915-2000)
" Any
girl can be glamorous. All you have to do
is stand still and look stupid."
--Hedy Lamarr
Hedy Lamarr is not
just another pretty face. You
don't get into the House of Rhetoric on looks alone. Not even if
you are stunning. (Especially if you are stunning; this is
a dog-eat-dog industry!) But if you ever had a brush with
a House, or Rhetoric, we might consider renting you a room for visits.
Hedy had brushes with both.
The Austrian born actress had her brush with a House quite early in her career. In those days, parents arranged marriages for their children, and the young Hedwig was no exception. Her husband was wealthy. He was also abusive. Hedy decided to run away. The first time she tried, she fled into a nightclub that had a bordello upstairs. She ran upstairs and hid in one of the rooms. Unfortunately, one of the customers entered and mistook her for a working girl. With her husband in the hallway banging on every door, Hedy made a choice. She went to work. Eventually she gave up and returned to her husband. Later, she made a successful escape.
Her brush with Rhetoric is in its mediated form. And we are not talking about movie stardom (see her quotation, above). No, much bigger. Hedy is the "mother" of the technology upon which the cellular phone is based. Hedy's ex had been a buddy of all the big Nazi party members, including Hitler himself. During some of the parties, the use of radio signals to control bombs and such was discussed. Hedy paid attention at those dinner parties. She and a musician friend got together and invented "sequence spread spectrum" transmission. I don't pretend to know how it works, but in practice it was intended to prevent the enemy from jamming ones' torpedo guidance system. She even has a patent on the device. Let's face it, this invention helped knock the practice of communication into a whole new ballpark. So, Hedy's room is kept ready for her occasional visits.
The Austrian born actress had her brush with a House quite early in her career. In those days, parents arranged marriages for their children, and the young Hedwig was no exception. Her husband was wealthy. He was also abusive. Hedy decided to run away. The first time she tried, she fled into a nightclub that had a bordello upstairs. She ran upstairs and hid in one of the rooms. Unfortunately, one of the customers entered and mistook her for a working girl. With her husband in the hallway banging on every door, Hedy made a choice. She went to work. Eventually she gave up and returned to her husband. Later, she made a successful escape.
Her brush with Rhetoric is in its mediated form. And we are not talking about movie stardom (see her quotation, above). No, much bigger. Hedy is the "mother" of the technology upon which the cellular phone is based. Hedy's ex had been a buddy of all the big Nazi party members, including Hitler himself. During some of the parties, the use of radio signals to control bombs and such was discussed. Hedy paid attention at those dinner parties. She and a musician friend got together and invented "sequence spread spectrum" transmission. I don't pretend to know how it works, but in practice it was intended to prevent the enemy from jamming ones' torpedo guidance system. She even has a patent on the device. Let's face it, this invention helped knock the practice of communication into a whole new ballpark. So, Hedy's room is kept ready for her occasional visits.
Visit
the "official" Hedy site.
Buy
an inexpensive copy of Ecstasy, her first film (her
nude scene).
Buy
a copy of White Cargo -- she looks splendid here!
Would you like
to visit Manuela?
Have you figured out this is a cat house?
Adjust the music to your taste.
