Austrian born actor Hedy Lamarr remains iconic to this day, far proceeding her recognition throughout the Golden Age of silver screen cinema, her career lasting from the early 1930s to the 1960s. Despite her defined occupation as an actor solely, with an emphasis on her prioritised stunning beauty (rumoured to have inspired Disney’s Snow White and DC Comics’ Catwoman), she is arguably now most acknowledged for being an inventor.

Lamarr invented and pioneered a technology, availed amidst World War Two, to prevent Nazis from intercepting allied transmissions. This technology was was the foundation for today’s WiFi, GPS, and Bluetooth communication systems. At the time, however, her inventing abilities were cruelly disregarded.

“Youthful Lamarr shows a delicacy, fragility and vulnerability”

Likewise, her film career and acting are now somewhat dismissed. Lamarr’s film Ecstasy catapulted her into the spotlight with a controversial start; it was the first film to host a female simulated orgasm, and it also featured a ten-minute nude scene.

The film hosts stunning and impeccable cinematography with uniquely beautiful shots which are naturistic and home-bound. Youthful Lamarr shows a delicacy, fragility and vulnerability in her performance within the questionable (perhaps outdated) love story. Devastatingly, Lamarr revealed after shooting, on the orgasm scene, that “the director jabbed that pin into my buttocks [...] and I reacted” resulting in the finalised simulated orgasm.

Another of Lamarr’s most acknowledged performances was her titular role in De Mille’s Samson and Delilah, an adaption of the biblical story. It was the highest-grossing film of 1950 and Lamarr’s performance is mature, heartfelt, powerful and profound. Aesthetically enticing, the film is adorned with gorgeous costumes which are similarly seen in Ziegfield Girl — a 1941 musical that hosts Lamarr’s iconic glittering star hairpiece and white draping gown, that has inspired multiple contemporary versions of the look. Ziegfield Girl is a thoroughly enjoyable star-studded film; a dazzling homage to Broadway glitz and glamour and the pressure that lurks behind its curtains.

Lamarr’s body of acting work continued with further wonderful films, from that exquisite golden age. Additionally, Lamarr produced several projects that far surpassed her confining image of simply the beautiful, controversial starlet. If you are also colossally fascinated by Hedy Lamarr, I recommend Bombshell (a documentary about her) to delve further into the world of this wondrous woman.