A mother of invention

Oct. 1—HIGH POINT — During her heyday in the Golden Age of Hollywood, Hedy Lamarr — a glamorous siren of the silver screen — was often described as "the most beautiful woman in the world."

And it would be hard to argue the point.

But the voluptuous Austrian-born actress could've had another title — "the most beautiful inventor in the world."

"She was known for being beautiful, but people didn't recognize her genius," says Heather Massie, the writer and star of the one-woman show "Hedy! The Life & Inventions of Hedy Lamarr," which will be performed this week at the High Point Theatre.

"That's exactly why I do this play, to celebrate Hedy Lamarr as a woman of science. So many women who have made contributions to science have not gotten credit — she got no credit for 55 years. She and her co-inventor got a patent in 1942, but it wasn't until 1997 that she received an award for her invention."

Massie's show will be presented Friday at 7:30 p.m.

In addition, three of Lamarr's films will be screened Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings, respectively. Following each screening, Massie will host a question-and-answer session.

Massie's award-winning show tells the story of Lamarr's life in film, from her early career in Czechoslovakia — where she starred in the controversial 1933 film "Ecstasy" — to her sizzling popularity in the United States during the 1940s and '50s, after she was discovered by MGM studio head Louis B. Mayer.

Lamarr starred in such films as "Algiers" (with Charles Boyer), "Comrade X" (Clark Gable), "Come Live With Me" (Jimmy Stewart), and "My Favorite Spy" (Bob Hope), among others. She was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960.

It's an invention of Lamarr's, however, that gets a starring role in Massie's one-woman show.

Near the beginning of World War II, Lamarr and music composer George Antheil developed a radio guidance system that would make torpedoes more accurate.

"She was pained by the fact that some children had been killed by torpedoes while they were being shipped to safety," Massie says.

And how did this young actress happen to know so much about torpedo technology?

"Her first husband, while she was still living in Austria, was Fritz Mandl, an arms dealer," Massie explains. "She was mostly just a trophy wife, but she went to a lot of dinners with him and absorbed a lot of information that was being discussed. She knew that torpedo guides were very inaccurate."

With the knowledge she had stored away, Lamarr and Antheil devised a classified communication system that came to be known as frequency-hopping spread spectrum technology. Essentially, the invention was based on the concept of using multiple, simultaneously changing radio frequencies so coded signals could be transmitted without being detected, deciphered or jammed.

Although the Navy rejected the invention at the time, Lamarr's concept of frequency-hopping was eventually adopted by the Navy for missions in later years.

Furthermore, her technology became the basis for such modern marvels as Wi-Fi, GPS and Bluetooth. In 1997, she received a Pioneer Award from the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and in 2014 she was posthumously inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.

It's this lesser-known aspect of Lamarr's life that inspired Massie to write a play about the actress-turned-inventor.

"I was looking for a woman in science to feature," says Massie, who initially studied astrophysics in college before deciding to pursue theater arts instead. "My mission is to inspire audiences, and especially to encourage young women in science and technology, and to establish Hedy Lamarr as a role model for technology and invention."

The show premiered Off-Broadway on Nov. 9, 2016, on what would've been Lamarr's 102nd birthday. It has since been performed across the United States and in 11 other countries, most recently South Africa and Egypt.

Massie says audiences are consistently awed to learn about Lamarr's contribution to the world of technology.

"When people think of inventors, I want them to not only think of Thomas Edison," she says. "We usually think of inventors as white men, but that doesn't paint a true picture of who inventors are. I want to feature Hedy in a way that shows we can all accomplish things outside of what society tells us is possible."

jtomlin@hpenews.com — 336-888-3579

jtomlin@hpenews.com — 336-888-3579