--- title: Hedy Lamarr: What the Actress Said About Being an Inventor description: Lamarr, who was born on Nov. 9, 1914, was modest when it came to her achievements canonical: https://time.com/4104646/bob-hope-hedy-lamarr/ author: Lily Rothman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-11-09T14:50:36.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:01:00.684Z article:section: History og:title: What Actress Hedy Lamarr Said About Her Skill as an Inventor og:description: Lamarr was born on Nov. 9, 1914 og:url: https://time.com/4104646/bob-hope-hedy-lamarr/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0b7539f0bb90156d/6988701ccd1bba45466fe02f/lamarr.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Lamarr, Hedy - Actress, Austria - *09.11.1914-19.01.2000+ Portraet - undated (around 1930). published in: Die Dame 14/1932 Photographer: Schenker, Karl - 1930 Vintage property of ullstein bild og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: What Actress Hedy Lamarr Said About Her Skill as an Inventor twitter:description: Lamarr was born on Nov. 9, 1914 twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0b7539f0bb90156d/6988701ccd1bba45466fe02f/lamarr.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # What Actress Hedy Lamarr Said About Her Skill as an Inventor  by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Nov 9, 2015 2:50 PM UTC  Hedy Lamarr photographed around 1930 Hedy Lamarr photographed around 1930ullstein bild / Getty Images  by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Nov 9, 2015 2:50 PM UTC During the height of her movie career, Hedy Lamarr—who was born on this day, Nov. 9, in 1914—got most of her press for her acting roles and for her many marriages and divorces. She was a beauty who made her name by appearing nude in the 1933 Czech film _Ecstasy_, but she didn’t necessarily hold that particular quality in high regard. “Any girl can be glamorous,” she once [said](http://time.com/vault/issue/1963-12-13/page/78/). “All you have to do is stand still and look stupid.” She proved that she was anything but, however, as the 20th century moved into its second half and her film appearances grew fewer. “Admirers of the 1930s movie _Ecstasy_ liked the unadorned way Hedy Lamarr took to the water-but they might be surprised to learn that Hedy, now sixtyish, has genuine nautical skills,” TIME [noted](http://time.com/vault/issue/1974-02-18/page/64/) in 1974 when she was fêted on National Inventors Day. “She is co-inventor of a system for guiding torpedoes to their targets that was considered for use in World War II.” In response to the praise, she demurred: “Improving things comes naturally to me.” Still, Lamarr was no stranger to being the center of attention. When she died in 2000, her former costar Bob Hope wrote a remembrance for TIME, in which he recalled her natural ability to do just that: --- > “” --- **_Read the full obituary, here in the TIME Vault:_** [Hedy Lamarr](http://time.com/vault/issue/2000-01-31/page/31/) **Read More**: [_LIFE With Hedy Lamarr: Stardom, Scandal and One Amazing Invention_](http://time.com/3881293/hedy-lamarr-stardom-scandal-and-one-amazing-invention/) ### See Original Models of the Apple I and Other Iconic American Inventions  Printing Press, 1830: Issac Adams, (Unnumbered Patent) The style of bed and platen printing press in this patent model inspired Issac Adams’ design of the later Adams Power Press, which was praised by early 19th century printers for its production of quality book work. Courtesy Smithsonian National Museum of American History  Telegraph, 1837: Samuel F. B. Morse, Prototype. Samuel F. B. Morse converted an artist’s canvas stretcher into a telegraph receiver that recorded a message as a wavy line on a strip of paper. His telegraph transmitter sent electric pulses representing letter and numbers that activated an electromagnet on the receiver. Courtesy Smithsonian National Museum of American History  Violin, 1852: William S. Mount, (Patent No. 8981). William S. Mount proposed creating violins with concave or hollow backs. This patent model represented a design innovation that would minimize the strain on the violin soundboard and avoid interference with the “sonorous and vibrating qualities” of the instrument. Courtesy Smithsonian National Museum of American History  Typewriter, 1868: C. Latham Sholes, Carlos Glidden & Samuel W. Soule (Patent No. 79265). This patent model was created by the three Milwaukee inventors who made progress towards a viable typewriting machine. Six years later, Remington & Sons produced the first commercially successful machine, bearing the names of Sholes and Glidden. Courtesy Smithsonian National Museum of American History  Sewing Machine, 1873: Helen Blanchard, (Patent No. 141987). This patent model for an improvement in sewing machines introduced the buttonhole stitch. Blanchard received some 28 patents, many having to do with sewing. She is best remembered for another overstitch sewing invention, the “zigzag.” Courtesy Smithsonian National Museum of American History  Camera Shutter, 1879: Eadweard Muybridge, (Patent No. 212865). This “Method and Apparatus for Photographing Objects in Motion” was adapted to photographic equipment. As demonstrated with this patent model, it could produce images of subjects in rapid motion. It was used by Eadweard Muybridge in his celebrated animal locomotion photography. Courtesy Smithsonian National Museum of American History  Incandescent Lamp, 1881: Thomas Edison (Patent No. 239373). Thomas Edison submitted this model to patent a variation on his newly invented light bulb. Although he never put this design into production, this lamp could be disassembled to replace a burned-out filament. Courtesy Smithsonian National Museum of American History  High-Strength Fiber, 1965: Stephanie Kwolek (Patent Nos. 3819587 and RE30352). Kwolek’s 1965 discovery at DuPont of strong polymer fibers resulted in DuPont Kevlar, best known for its use in bullet-resistant body armor Courtesy Hagley Museum and Library  Apple I Computer, 1976: Steve Jobs (Patent No. 7166791) & Steve Wozniak (Patent No. 4136359). In 1976 the first form of computer designed by Stephen Wozniak and sold by Wozniak in conjunction with Steve Jobs was sold, and became a leader in personal computing. Originally marketed to hobbyists only primarily as a fully assembled circuit board; purchasers had to add their own case and monitor in order to create a working computer. Courtesy Smithsonian National Museum of American History  Artificial Heart, 1977: Robert Jarvik, M.D., Prototype. This electrohydraulic artificial heart is a prototype for what became the Jarvik-7 Total Artificial Heart, which was first implanted into a human in December 1982 at the University of Utah Medical Center. The two sides of the device are connected with Velcro. 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