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Hedy Lamarr: Hollywood Sex Symbol, Tech Geek Hedy was a glamorous movie star of the 1930s and '40s, a taboo-breaking beauty who is credited with simulating the first on-screen orgasm (and also appearing nude) in a 1933 film called "Ecstasy." But Hedy Lamarr was a trailblazer in more ways than one. She came up with a way to make radio signals jump between frequencies, and thus prevent the signals from becoming jammed. After Lamarr and a partner obtained a patent for the invention in 1942, she gave it -- at no charge -- to the U.S. Navy, which began using it in the 1960s. Click through to get to know the stunning actress and innovator. (Archive Photos/Getty Images) More from Life.com: Hollywood Beauties Pitch In The Sexiest Life Photos of All Time The 75 Best Life Photos![50314717]()
Hedy in Fox Fur In 1938, LIFE's master photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt -- the man captured the sailor kissing the nurse in Times Square on VJ Day -- made these glamorous portraits of the Austrian-born Lamarr wearing a white fox fur jacket. (Alfred Eisenstaedt/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images) More from Life.com: Hollywood Beauties Pitch In The Sexiest Life Photos of All Time The 75 Best Life Photos![104525740]()
Hedy Lamarr, 1939 Hedy looking serene and mysterious. (Archive Photos/Getty Images) More from Life.com: Hollywood Beauties Pitch In The Sexiest Life Photos of All Time The 75 Best Life Photos![50685640]()
Hedy Lamarr, 1938 The actress and inventor was known for being long and tall. (Alfred Eisenstaedt/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images) More from Life.com: Hollywood Beauties Pitch In The Sexiest Life Photos of All Time The 75 Best Life Photos![104525743]()
Hedy Lamarr, Circa 1940 Hedy's innocent smile. (Archive Photos/Getty Images) More from Life.com: Hollywood Beauties Pitch In The Sexiest Life Photos of All Time The 75 Best Life Photos![104525792]()
Hedy Lamarr, 1943 By the late '30s Lamarr had made it to Hollywood. (Laszlo Willinger/Getty Images) More from Life.com: Hollywood Beauties Pitch In The Sexiest Life Photos of All Time The 75 Best Life Photos![113913991]()
Hedy Lamarr, 1945 The gorgeous actress poses in lingerie. (FPG/Getty Images) More from Life.com: Hollywood Beauties Pitch In The Sexiest Life Photos of All Time The 75 Best Life Photos![50425813]()
Hedy Lamarr: 1913-2000 Lamarr died in 2000 at age 86, more famous for her movie career, off-screen romances, and scandals than for the brilliant technology she created. However, a new book by Richard Rhodes, titled Hedy's Folly: The Life and Breakthrough Inventions of Hedy Lamarr, the Most Beautiful Woman in the World, aims to shed more light on her well-rounded life. (Eliot Elisofon/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images) More from Life.com: Hollywood Beauties Pitch In The Sexiest Life Photos of All Time The 75 Best Life PhotosHedy Lamarr: Hollywood's First Sexy Tech Geek!
She wasn't just a pretty face.
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- Hedy Lamarr: Hollywood's First Sexy Tech Geek!
