Review of Hedy Lamarr’s Double Life

“People seem to think because I have a pretty face I’m stupid…I have to work twice as hard as anyone else to convince people I have something resembling a brain” (Wallmark, 2019, unnumbered).

Have you ever heard of Hedy Lamarr and her movie career? Perhaps you have heard about frequency-hopping spread spectrum or the technology on which Wi-Fi and cellular signals are based.

Frond endpaper from the book (Wallmark, 2019)

If you answered yes to either of the questions or are interested in amazing leading ladies, you should check out Laurie Wallmark’s Hedy Lamarr’s Double Life: Hollywood Legend and Brilliant Inventor. This amazing picture biography details the life of Hedy Lamarr an international movie star who was also a “savvy scientist and inventor” (Wallmark, 2019, inside flap of the dust jacket”

Summary

Hedy Lamar was always fascinated in inventions and how things work, even from a young age. Her father introduced her to the wonder of scient and technology sharing his passion with her. Lamarr is quoted as having said “(My father) had encouraged me by telling me to hold fast to my dream and that if I held fast it would come true” (Wallmark, 2019, unnumbered). Heady’s passion for movies and stage lead her to America where she became famous as an actor. However, this was never her only passion and she spent many hours perfecting her many inventions throughout her life. Her most well-known discovery was frequency-hopping along with George Antheil. The idea came from trying to help the US Navy guide torpedoes during WWII. However, even though they received a patent and shared the idea with the Navy it did not come to be until 40 years later when they no longer would receive credit. Even though this set back was disappointing Hedy would still go on to help the nation with war efforts from selling war bonds to “volunteering at the Hollywood Canteen, a club for American servicemen…” (Wallmark, 2019, unnumbered). Even with set back Hedy always sought for her goal. Though in response to not receiving acknowledgment for her technology she stated, “I can’t understand why there’s no acknowledgment when it’s used all over the world…never a letter, never a thank you, never money” (as quoted in Wallmerk, 2019, unnumbered).

Lamarr and Antheil illustrated by Katy Wu (Wallmark, 2019)

Review

Laurie Wallmark truly brings Hedy Lamarr to life in this wonderful retelling of her life. The illustrations by Katy Wu are delightful and illustrate the many moments in Hedy’s life which led her to have a “double life” in Hollywood and science at a time when women were kept back from academics. Wallmark’s use of quotes from Lamarr is brilliant and brings her to life for the modern young reader who may not have even heard of this famous movie star, but they would know about Wi-fi, cell phones and many more inventions made possible by what she invented.

Conclusion

I highly recommend this book for anyone with an interest in engaging and brilliant women. Hedy demonstrates what a spirit of curiosity and perseverance can do, even without receiving the credit. She did her best and what made her happy when others thought she was unable to.

Reference

Wallmark, L. (2019). Hedy Lamarr’s double life: Hollywood legend and brilliant inventor. New York: Sterling Children’s Books.

I took the images from the book. Illustrations were done by Katy Wu for Laurie Wallmark’s book.