Hedy Lamarr

Hello! My name is Hedy Lamarr. I was a movie star, and I loved it. When I was on the big movie screen, I loved to wear sparkly dresses and play pretend. It was so much fun to be an actress and tell stories in movies for everyone to watch. But I had a secret hobby that no one knew about.

When I wasn't acting, I loved to invent things! My mind was always full of new ideas. During a very serious time in the world called World War II, around the year 1942, I wanted to help. I had a big idea to help boats send secret messages that couldn't be found. I worked with my friend, George Antheil, and we came up with a clever plan. Our idea was like making a message jump from one spot to another, super fast, like a little frog hopping between lily pads so no one could catch it!

For a long time, people only knew me as a movie star. But my secret idea was so important! Today, that same idea of 'frequency hopping' helps power things you use every day. It’s part of the magic that lets your tablet play cartoons without any wires, and how phones talk to each other. I lived to be 85 years old, and I am so happy that my secret idea is still helping people all over the world connect with each other every single day.