‘Hollywood’s brightest bombshell,’ Hedy Lamarr, Died in Seclusion
The Austrian-born actress was known for her intelligence, pale skin, almond eyes, and dark hair. But her failing health drove her off screen.
“I don’t fear death because I don’t fear anything I don’t understand. When I start to think about it, I order a massage and it goes away.”
— Hedy Lamarr
Hedy Lamarr, best known as a glamorous Hollywood star, gained fame for her roles in Ecstasy (1933) and Samson and Delilah (1949). She also starred alongside Clark Gable in Boom Town and Comrade X.
But she wasn’t just a Hollywood star—she was a brilliant inventor. During World War II, she co-patented a frequency-hopping technology designed to prevent enemy interference with torpedo signals. That invention laid the groundwork for modern wireless technologies like Wi-Fi, GPS, and Bluetooth.
She was married six times, with her longest marriage—lasting seven years from 1953—being to Texas oilman W. Howard Lee. She had three children: a son, James, from her marriage to screenwriter Gene Markey, and two children, Denise and Anthony, whom she later adopted with her third husband, actor John Loder.
Later years
Although she continued to receive offers for television scripts and small roles throughout the 1970s, it was her declining eyesight that ultimately led her to retire.
As her life drew to a close, she grew afraid to leave her suburban Orlando home on her own, especially since she was also legally blind.
In the final decades of her life, Lamarr chose to connect with the world primarily by telephone. She often spent six to seven hours a day on calls, keeping in touch with her children and close friends. Yet despite these long conversations, she became increasingly reclusive, spending little time with anyone in person during her final years.
Death
Lamarr died in Casselberry, Florida, on January 19, 2000, of heart disease, aged 85.
Burial
Her son Anthony Loder spread her ashes in Austria’s Vienna Woods by her last wishes, returning the actress to her place of origin. She was born in Vienna, Austria, in 1914, and was originally Austrian but later became an American citizen.
Memorial
In 2014, a memorial was unveiled in Vienna’s Central Cemetery where Lamarr’s remaining ashes were interred.
