Wonder Woman, AKA Gal Gadot, will play the Hollywood star and real-life hero Hedy Lamarr.
The Israel-born Gadot will not only star but also executive-produce, together with her husband, the series about the Austrian real Wonder Woman.
Hedy Lamarr led such a fascinating life that seems out of a book. Born to a Jewish family in Vienna, Lamarr started her acting career at the age of 16. Very young, at 18, she married a wealthy arms merchant, and then fled from her controlling husband to Paris. During a trip to London, she met the head of MGM studios who offered her a movie contract in Hollywood. It was there that Lamarr found fame and success. She became a big star during Hollywood’s Golden Era, between the late ’30s and ’50s. Her beauty was such that Snow White was modelled on Lamarr.
Deemed the most beautiful woman in the world, Hedy Lamarr appeared in movies such as Samson and Delilah and BoomTown alongside Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy.
But what people didn’t know was that in her free time, the most beautiful woman in the world was a self-taught inventor, and we have her to thank for Wi-FI. Gorgeous AND a genius? Yes, my dear, sometimes life isn’t that fair.
During World War II, the actress developed a system to radio-guide Allied torpedos in a manner that the Germans wouldn’t be able to jam and set them out of course. She patented this system that used frequency hopping, something that was used much later in cellular phones, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS.
Despite all her efforts to shake off the pinup image, it was only when Lamar was 82 years old that she was recognised for her achievement and received the Bulbie Gnass Award; which is the “Oscars of inventors”. She died a reclusive, three years later.
The legacy of the actress and inventor is honoured though the Hedy Lamarr Awards for Women in Entertainment & Technology, established by DEG in 2017. In Austria, the city of Vienna created in 2018 the Hedy Lamarr Prize for innovative women researchers.
Since we’ve already watched the 10 best Netflix series, we can’t wait to binge-watch Gal Gadot’s new series that will surely be fascinating!
CS