Hedy Lamarr (; born Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler, November 9, 1914 -  January 19, 2000) was an Austrian-born American film actress and inventor. At the beginning of World War II, Lamarr and composer George Antheil developed a radio guidance system for Allied torpedoes, which used spread spectrum and frequency hopping technology to defeat the threat of jamming by the Axis powers. Although the US Navy did not adopt the technology until the 1960s, the principles of their work are arguably incorporated into Bluetooth technology, and are similar to methods used in legacy versions of CDMA and Wi-Fi.

Lamarr was born Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler in 1914 in Vienna, Austria-Hungary, the only child of Gertrud "Trude" Kiesler (nee Lichtwitz; 1894-1977) and Emil Kiesler (1880-1935). Her father was born to a Jewish family in Lemberg (now Lviv in Ukraine) and was a successful bank director.  Her mother Gertrud was a pianist and Budapest native who came from an upper-class Jewish family; she had converted from Judaism to Catholicism and was described as a "practicing Christian", who raised her daughter as a Christian. Lamarr helped get her mother out of Austria (then under Nazi domination) and to the United States, and she later became an American citizen. Gertrud Kiesler put "Hebrew" as her race on her petition for naturalization as an American citizen.  In the late 1920s, Lamarr was discovered as an actress and brought to Berlin by producer Max Reinhardt. Following her training in the theater, she returned to Vienna to work in the film industry, first as a script girl, and soon as an actress. In early 1933, at age 18, she starred in Gustav Machaty's film, Ecstasy (Ekstase in German, Extase in Czech). Her role was that of a neglected young wife married to an indifferent older man. The film became both celebrated and notorious for showing Lamarr's face in the throes of orgasm as well as close-up and brief nude scenes, a result of her being "duped" by the director and producer, who used high-power telephoto lenses.  Although she was dismayed and now disillusioned about taking other roles, the film gained world recognition after winning an award in Rome. Throughout Europe, the film was considered an artistic work, while in America, it was considered overly sexual and received negative publicity, especially among women's groups. It was banned there and in Germany.  She went on to play a number of stage roles, including a starring one in Sissy, a play about Austrian royalty produced in Vienna, which won accolades from critics. Admirers sent roses to her dressing room and tried to get backstage to meet her. She sent most of them away, including a man who was more insistent, Friedrich Mandl. He became obsessed with getting to know her. She fell for his charming and fascinating personality, partly due to his immense financial status. Her parents, both of Jewish descent, did not approve, due to Mandl's ties to Mussolini, and later, Hitler, but could not stop the headstrong Hedy.

Did she like her role?