Screen Classics
Screen Classics is a series of critical biographies, film histories, and analytical studies focusing on neglected filmmakers and important screen artists and subjects, from the era of silent cinema to the golden age of Hollywood to the international generation of today. Books in the Screen Classics series are intended for scholars and general readers alike. The contributing authors are established figures in their respective fields. This series also serves the purpose of advancing scholarship on film personalities and themes with ties to Kentucky.
SERIES EDITOR
Patrick McGilligan
BOOKS IN THE SERIES
Von Sternberg John Baxter
The Marxist and the Movies: A Biography of Paul Jarrico Larry Ceplair
Warren Oates: A Wild Life Susan Compo
Being Hal Ashby: Life of a Hollywood Rebel Nick Dawson
Some Like It Wilder: The Life and Controversial Films of Billy Wilder Gene D. Phillips
Claude Rains: An Actor's Voice David J. Skal with Jessica Rains
Buzz: The Life and Art of Busby Berkeley Jeffrey Spivak
Hedy Lamarr
The Most Beautiful Woman in Film
Ruth Barton
THE UNIVERSITY PRESS OF KENTUCKY
Copyright © 2010 by The University Press of Kentucky
Scholarly publisher for the Commonwealth, serving Bellarmine University, Berea College, Centre College of Kentucky, Eastern Kentucky University, The Filson Historical Society, Georgetown College, Kentucky Historical Society, Kentucky State University, Morehead State University, Murray State University, Northern Kentucky University, Transylvania University, University of Kentucky, University of Louisville, and Western Kentucky University.
All rights reserved.
Editorial and Sales Offices: The University Press of Kentucky 663 South Limestone Street, Lexington, Kentucky 40508–4008 www.kentuckypress.com
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Barton, Ruth.
Hedy Lamarr : the most beautiful woman in film / Ruth Barton.
p. cm.—(Screen classics)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978–0–8131–2604–3 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Lamarr, Hedy, 1913–2000. 2. Actors—United States—Biography. I. Title.
PN2287.L24B37 2010
791.430'28092–dc22
[B]
2010013914
This book is printed on acid-free recycled paper meeting the requirements of the American National Standard for Permanence in Paper for Printed Library Materials.
Manufactured in the United States of America.
For Willie, Conal, Eoin, and Paddy
Contents
2. The Most Beautiful Girl in the World
5. The Most Beautiful Woman in the World
8. The Siren of the Picture Show
9. The Rather Unfeminine Occupation of Inventor
16. A Filthy, Nauseating Story
Appendix: Lichtwitz Family Tree
Acknowledgments
Without the persistent advice and encouragement of Patrick McGilligan, this book would never have been finished. I would also like to thank the University Press of Kentucky—Leila Salisbury and Anne Dean Watkins and my anonymous readers—for their many and helpful comments along the way. I am particularly grateful to Chris Horak, without whose advice this would have been a lesser book; I haven't acknowledged his interventions on every occasion but they are threaded through everything I have written. Like everyone who has ever conducted archival research, I am indebted to the expertise of librarians. For their generous assistance, I wish to thank Ned Comstock at USC Special Collections and the staff at the Columbia University Archives, Margaret Herrick Library, Kiesler Stiftung Wien, New York Public Library, the UCLA and USC archives, and the Wien Bibliothek. Most of all, I would like to thank Rick Berg at USC for his enthusiasm, comments, and DVDs.
Many others also helped with answers to personal queries and assistance with research. Special thanks to Charles Amirkhanian; Marie-Theres Arnbom; Susanne Bach; Thomas Balhausen; Marlis Schmidt and Peter Spiegel, Austrian Film Archive Vienna; Matthew Bernstein;