1 00:00:02,600 --> 00:00:06,040 Speaker 1: Hey, Happy Saturday, everybody. Today is the seventy six the 2 00:00:06,040 --> 00:00:09,760 Speaker 1: anniversary of Hetty Lamar and h. K Mark being awarded 3 00:00:09,760 --> 00:00:12,560 Speaker 1: a patent for what they described as a quote secret 4 00:00:12,640 --> 00:00:16,720 Speaker 1: communication system. Lamar, of course, was a film star described 5 00:00:16,720 --> 00:00:19,680 Speaker 1: as the world's most beautiful woman. I would back that up. 6 00:00:19,720 --> 00:00:23,320 Speaker 1: She was absolutely stunning. And this secret communication system connects 7 00:00:23,360 --> 00:00:26,400 Speaker 1: to all kinds of technology that we are using today, 8 00:00:26,640 --> 00:00:30,280 Speaker 1: from WiFi to GPS, So today seemed like a good 9 00:00:30,360 --> 00:00:33,680 Speaker 1: day to share. This episode from the Archive was originally 10 00:00:33,680 --> 00:00:38,920 Speaker 1: released in twenty eleven from hosts Sarah and Bablina Enjoy 11 00:00:40,200 --> 00:00:43,400 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class from how 12 00:00:43,479 --> 00:00:53,160 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot Com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 13 00:00:53,280 --> 00:00:55,560 Speaker 1: I'm Sarah Dowdy and I'm to bla a chalk re Bardy. 14 00:00:55,800 --> 00:00:58,600 Speaker 1: And when you think about old Hollywood and the most 15 00:00:58,600 --> 00:01:01,600 Speaker 1: beautiful actresses of all time time, there are probably a 16 00:01:01,640 --> 00:01:04,320 Speaker 1: lot of well known names that immediately come to mind. 17 00:01:04,800 --> 00:01:09,440 Speaker 1: For example, maybe Ava Gardner, Elizabeth Taylor Grace, Kelly Audrey 18 00:01:09,440 --> 00:01:12,080 Speaker 1: Heffburne is my personal favorite. And I just saw a 19 00:01:12,160 --> 00:01:15,640 Speaker 1: Roman holiday, a great one and so pretty in that 20 00:01:16,080 --> 00:01:18,560 Speaker 1: it's like the first thing you notice, but it was 21 00:01:18,600 --> 00:01:22,720 Speaker 1: actually an actress who's probably lesser known today, Hetty Lamar, 22 00:01:22,959 --> 00:01:25,399 Speaker 1: who was billed as the most beautiful girl in the 23 00:01:25,400 --> 00:01:30,000 Speaker 1: world during the nineteen thirties. In the introduction to Stephen 24 00:01:30,040 --> 00:01:33,600 Speaker 1: Michael Shear's recent biography Beautiful, The Life of Hetty Lamar, 25 00:01:34,319 --> 00:01:37,800 Speaker 1: there's a description of the author's mother's experience seeing Lamar's 26 00:01:37,840 --> 00:01:41,880 Speaker 1: first American film, which was Algiers. Came out in ninety eight, 27 00:01:42,200 --> 00:01:44,640 Speaker 1: and she saw in a theater in Illinois, and she 28 00:01:44,959 --> 00:01:48,040 Speaker 1: described the experience of the first moment in the movie 29 00:01:48,040 --> 00:01:51,120 Speaker 1: when Lamar kind of steps out of the shadows and 30 00:01:51,200 --> 00:01:53,480 Speaker 1: you see her face for the first time, And the 31 00:01:53,480 --> 00:01:58,040 Speaker 1: author's mother says that the whole audience just gasped her beauty. 32 00:01:58,080 --> 00:02:00,560 Speaker 1: It was an audible experience. And I don't know if 33 00:02:00,560 --> 00:02:02,720 Speaker 1: many of us have had an experience like that in 34 00:02:02,760 --> 00:02:06,800 Speaker 1: a movie theater. No a uniform gasp like that. But 35 00:02:06,960 --> 00:02:10,679 Speaker 1: even though Lamar's star may have faded a bit since then, 36 00:02:11,240 --> 00:02:14,360 Speaker 1: many people realized in the late nineteen nineties, just a 37 00:02:14,360 --> 00:02:17,840 Speaker 1: few years before her death, that she was probably a 38 00:02:17,919 --> 00:02:21,120 Speaker 1: lot more than just a pretty face. Yeah, definitely, it 39 00:02:21,200 --> 00:02:23,840 Speaker 1: came to light at that time that many years ago 40 00:02:23,919 --> 00:02:29,080 Speaker 1: she actually invented something called spread spectrum technology, which was 41 00:02:29,200 --> 00:02:31,760 Speaker 1: used by the military and has become a component of 42 00:02:31,800 --> 00:02:36,360 Speaker 1: modern mobile phone technology, so definitely relevant to what we 43 00:02:36,400 --> 00:02:38,680 Speaker 1: do every day. But what we want to look at 44 00:02:38,680 --> 00:02:42,399 Speaker 1: in this episode is how did a Hollywood starlett pull 45 00:02:42,440 --> 00:02:44,720 Speaker 1: off a contribution of this caliber in the first place 46 00:02:45,200 --> 00:02:48,520 Speaker 1: and why? And of course take a look at her glamorous, 47 00:02:48,600 --> 00:02:52,120 Speaker 1: sort of bizarre life. She led a very fascinating life 48 00:02:52,120 --> 00:02:54,840 Speaker 1: and we can't even begin to touch on all of 49 00:02:54,880 --> 00:02:58,400 Speaker 1: the details of it here. Again, the Sheer biography that 50 00:02:58,440 --> 00:03:00,639 Speaker 1: I mentioned it actually came out last year along with 51 00:03:01,080 --> 00:03:05,360 Speaker 1: another biography, and I would definitely recommend picking that up 52 00:03:05,360 --> 00:03:07,560 Speaker 1: if you find her life of interest at all, because 53 00:03:07,600 --> 00:03:11,720 Speaker 1: it is fascinating. Yeah, but we'll give you basics. Well, 54 00:03:11,840 --> 00:03:13,920 Speaker 1: we'll take you back to the beginning like we usually do, 55 00:03:14,040 --> 00:03:17,400 Speaker 1: and kind of, I guess, show you how the seeds 56 00:03:17,440 --> 00:03:21,639 Speaker 1: of this innovation began. So Hetty Lamar was born head 57 00:03:21,760 --> 00:03:26,880 Speaker 1: vig Eva Maria Keisler on November nine, nine fourteen in Vienna, Austria, 58 00:03:27,000 --> 00:03:30,760 Speaker 1: and she couldn't say head VIGs, so she called herself Hetty, 59 00:03:30,840 --> 00:03:34,480 Speaker 1: which was actually pronounced Haiti. Over there, we're going to 60 00:03:34,560 --> 00:03:38,280 Speaker 1: go with the more anglicize. Yeah, the anglicize better known 61 00:03:38,400 --> 00:03:41,720 Speaker 1: version of her name Hetty, But that little nickname stuck, 62 00:03:41,960 --> 00:03:45,080 Speaker 1: and I say she's kind of lucky for that. Um. 63 00:03:45,160 --> 00:03:48,440 Speaker 1: She had a nice, a nice enough childhood. Definitely. Her 64 00:03:48,440 --> 00:03:53,120 Speaker 1: family was pretty well to do. They weren't extremely super wealthy, 65 00:03:53,240 --> 00:03:55,800 Speaker 1: but they were well off. Her dad, Emil, was a 66 00:03:55,840 --> 00:03:58,640 Speaker 1: prominent Jewish banker, and her mother, grew Trude, was a 67 00:03:58,680 --> 00:04:02,680 Speaker 1: talented pianist. Gertrude had given up her dreams of having 68 00:04:02,720 --> 00:04:04,560 Speaker 1: a career in music when she got married, and she 69 00:04:04,600 --> 00:04:07,560 Speaker 1: got pregnant very quickly after that, but she still helped 70 00:04:07,560 --> 00:04:10,720 Speaker 1: to instill a love of the arts and Hetty, who 71 00:04:11,040 --> 00:04:13,520 Speaker 1: learned to dance and play the piano from a very 72 00:04:13,560 --> 00:04:16,080 Speaker 1: young age. And because she was an only child too, 73 00:04:16,240 --> 00:04:20,440 Speaker 1: Hetty grows up basically like this little princess and her 74 00:04:20,440 --> 00:04:23,880 Speaker 1: parents were out socializing quite a bit, but her dad 75 00:04:24,040 --> 00:04:27,159 Speaker 1: really doated on her when he was around and played 76 00:04:27,200 --> 00:04:31,279 Speaker 1: make believe with her, told her stories, and according to Shearer, 77 00:04:31,480 --> 00:04:36,320 Speaker 1: he would also spend hours explaining how things worked to her, 78 00:04:36,440 --> 00:04:41,240 Speaker 1: everything from que printing presses to street cars. Um, that's 79 00:04:41,680 --> 00:04:43,680 Speaker 1: that's the first thing that sort of stands out in 80 00:04:43,680 --> 00:04:48,320 Speaker 1: this early biography. This careful attention to detail. Yep, her 81 00:04:48,400 --> 00:04:51,760 Speaker 1: curiosity is sparked at this point, but her first love, 82 00:04:51,920 --> 00:04:55,479 Speaker 1: even from a young age, is acting. Her parents, however, 83 00:04:55,760 --> 00:04:58,320 Speaker 1: were dad set against it. They did not want her 84 00:04:58,360 --> 00:05:01,360 Speaker 1: to be an actress, so she to actually trick her 85 00:05:01,400 --> 00:05:05,440 Speaker 1: mom into signing a slip and cut school to get 86 00:05:05,480 --> 00:05:07,679 Speaker 1: her first movie job as a script runner for Sasha 87 00:05:07,720 --> 00:05:10,920 Speaker 1: Film Studio in Vienna, and it was through this connection 88 00:05:10,920 --> 00:05:13,080 Speaker 1: that she picked up her first bit part as an 89 00:05:13,120 --> 00:05:16,280 Speaker 1: extra in the film guild alfter Strassa, which translates to 90 00:05:16,320 --> 00:05:18,440 Speaker 1: money in the Street, and it was I think originally 91 00:05:18,480 --> 00:05:20,920 Speaker 1: a silent film, but they added sound into it later, 92 00:05:21,200 --> 00:05:23,320 Speaker 1: so she was just a I think a person sitting 93 00:05:23,320 --> 00:05:25,200 Speaker 1: on a stool or something like that in that movie. 94 00:05:25,360 --> 00:05:28,680 Speaker 1: But a start nonetheless, And at that point she realized 95 00:05:28,720 --> 00:05:31,719 Speaker 1: that she if she was going to be a serious actor, 96 00:05:31,880 --> 00:05:34,200 Speaker 1: she needed to learn a little bit more about her craft. 97 00:05:34,279 --> 00:05:38,760 Speaker 1: So she enrolled at the legendary theatrical producer Max Reinhardt's 98 00:05:39,120 --> 00:05:43,640 Speaker 1: prestigious Berlin based drama school in about nineteen thirty and 99 00:05:43,800 --> 00:05:47,560 Speaker 1: initially she got some bit parts in reinhart shows and 100 00:05:47,720 --> 00:05:51,279 Speaker 1: followed him to Vienna and started to take on larger roles, 101 00:05:51,400 --> 00:05:54,760 Speaker 1: and it was he who told the press quote, Hetty 102 00:05:54,880 --> 00:05:57,640 Speaker 1: Keisler is the most beautiful girl in the world, so 103 00:05:57,800 --> 00:06:01,080 Speaker 1: sort of making that reputation and for her early on, 104 00:06:02,040 --> 00:06:04,560 Speaker 1: But it wasn't until two that she got her really 105 00:06:04,560 --> 00:06:07,320 Speaker 1: big break in a check film called Ecstasy, and this 106 00:06:07,360 --> 00:06:10,479 Speaker 1: is something that she's still famous for because it was 107 00:06:10,600 --> 00:06:14,000 Speaker 1: very controversial at the time for the fact that she 108 00:06:14,040 --> 00:06:17,719 Speaker 1: appeared new in it. Um this was very scandalous, especially 109 00:06:17,760 --> 00:06:21,080 Speaker 1: it would have been very scandalous to say an American 110 00:06:21,160 --> 00:06:25,600 Speaker 1: because Hollywood was comparatively very conservative at the time. So 111 00:06:26,320 --> 00:06:28,719 Speaker 1: the fact that she is naked in it, and there's 112 00:06:28,720 --> 00:06:31,280 Speaker 1: also a very racy sex scene kind of put her 113 00:06:31,320 --> 00:06:33,120 Speaker 1: on the map in a lot of ways, sometimes not 114 00:06:33,160 --> 00:06:36,560 Speaker 1: necessarily good ways, but there it was. So at this 115 00:06:36,640 --> 00:06:39,320 Speaker 1: point her star is definitely on the rise. But the 116 00:06:39,360 --> 00:06:42,480 Speaker 1: next step she takes in her personal life, which is marriage, 117 00:06:42,640 --> 00:06:44,680 Speaker 1: kind of puts her acting career on the back burner 118 00:06:44,720 --> 00:06:47,679 Speaker 1: for a little while. Yeah, she had a reputation for 119 00:06:48,400 --> 00:06:51,920 Speaker 1: maybe not picking the best of guys, and she ended 120 00:06:51,960 --> 00:06:55,360 Speaker 1: up getting married six times, but her first marriage is 121 00:06:55,400 --> 00:06:58,200 Speaker 1: the one we're going to focus on. It's very significant 122 00:06:58,240 --> 00:07:02,880 Speaker 1: because it probably planned to the seed for her eventual invention. 123 00:07:03,480 --> 00:07:07,320 Speaker 1: So she married this millionaire arms stealer named Fritz Mondel 124 00:07:07,520 --> 00:07:10,960 Speaker 1: in nineteen thirty three, and at first the two were, 125 00:07:11,120 --> 00:07:12,920 Speaker 1: as you put it earlier, they're just kind of playing 126 00:07:12,920 --> 00:07:16,720 Speaker 1: house with each other. Yeah, they're wealthy. As we mentioned, 127 00:07:17,080 --> 00:07:20,840 Speaker 1: she he's just buying jewels for her, and she's traveling 128 00:07:20,880 --> 00:07:23,000 Speaker 1: on his arm, on his work trips and everywhere that 129 00:07:23,080 --> 00:07:25,760 Speaker 1: he goes. And she's sort of happy because of this, 130 00:07:25,920 --> 00:07:30,640 Speaker 1: but that doesn't last. Mondel was really controlling. He kept 131 00:07:30,680 --> 00:07:33,320 Speaker 1: her from acting and even tried to buy up all 132 00:07:33,320 --> 00:07:36,080 Speaker 1: the copies of Ecstasy in existence because he was so 133 00:07:36,160 --> 00:07:39,960 Speaker 1: jealous about it after he saw it. He paid figures 134 00:07:40,000 --> 00:07:43,960 Speaker 1: like up to sixty dollars per copy to get all 135 00:07:43,960 --> 00:07:47,520 Speaker 1: of these, and rumor has it that even Mussolini had 136 00:07:47,520 --> 00:07:50,560 Speaker 1: a copy of Ecstasy, but he refused to sell it 137 00:07:50,560 --> 00:07:53,400 Speaker 1: to Mondel for any price that he would pay. Ye 138 00:07:53,640 --> 00:07:57,120 Speaker 1: don't marry Starlet's if you don't like their movies. Yeah, 139 00:07:57,120 --> 00:08:11,200 Speaker 1: it's you tell them, Sarah. But Hetty really lost all 140 00:08:11,240 --> 00:08:14,080 Speaker 1: her respect for Mondel when she found out that he 141 00:08:14,200 --> 00:08:18,320 Speaker 1: was making arms agreements with the Nazis, and this seemed 142 00:08:19,320 --> 00:08:22,080 Speaker 1: especially wrong to her. It's it's not just she that's 143 00:08:22,080 --> 00:08:26,240 Speaker 1: of Jewish heritage, but Mandel was himself of Jewish heritage, 144 00:08:26,600 --> 00:08:30,280 Speaker 1: and according to Shearer, he had become an honorary Arian, 145 00:08:30,720 --> 00:08:35,160 Speaker 1: which was special status created for Jewish people who served 146 00:08:35,240 --> 00:08:40,559 Speaker 1: Hitler personally, it seemed like the ultimate betrayal to Hetty absolutely, 147 00:08:40,600 --> 00:08:43,400 Speaker 1: and towards the end of their marriage she was very 148 00:08:43,440 --> 00:08:46,400 Speaker 1: displeased with him and was practically a prisoner in her 149 00:08:46,440 --> 00:08:49,839 Speaker 1: own home. Mondel was afraid that she would flee, so 150 00:08:49,960 --> 00:08:53,960 Speaker 1: he made the servants watcher and she couldn't leave. But 151 00:08:54,600 --> 00:08:57,880 Speaker 1: actually him forcing her to attend these meetings with technicians 152 00:08:57,960 --> 00:09:01,160 Speaker 1: and his munitions business partners while they were married is 153 00:09:01,200 --> 00:09:03,240 Speaker 1: part of how she got the idea and the knowledge 154 00:09:03,240 --> 00:09:07,160 Speaker 1: to help create spread spectrum technology. Yeah, but to do 155 00:09:07,240 --> 00:09:09,160 Speaker 1: anything with all this knowledge she had, she had to 156 00:09:09,200 --> 00:09:11,520 Speaker 1: get away from her husband. But what she really wanted 157 00:09:11,559 --> 00:09:13,679 Speaker 1: to do was get back into acting at that time, 158 00:09:14,200 --> 00:09:16,240 Speaker 1: So she got a maid to help her escape from 159 00:09:16,280 --> 00:09:19,320 Speaker 1: Londell's house and she was able to meet up with 160 00:09:19,480 --> 00:09:23,040 Speaker 1: Hollywood producer Louis B. Meyer, who she had met previously 161 00:09:23,160 --> 00:09:26,640 Speaker 1: through Reinhardt, and she got signed to MGM Studios. It 162 00:09:26,679 --> 00:09:28,959 Speaker 1: wasn't a great deal, but she was signed at least 163 00:09:28,960 --> 00:09:31,200 Speaker 1: and back on track with her career, and so in 164 00:09:31,280 --> 00:09:33,480 Speaker 1: ninety seven she was on her way to the States, 165 00:09:33,520 --> 00:09:36,960 Speaker 1: where she became known as Hetty Lamar for the first time. Yeah, 166 00:09:37,040 --> 00:09:40,280 Speaker 1: and she did a few Hollywood movies that did reasonably 167 00:09:40,360 --> 00:09:43,560 Speaker 1: well at the box office. Al Jeers nineteen thirty eight, 168 00:09:43,559 --> 00:09:48,880 Speaker 1: which you mentioned earlier, H M. Pullman, Esquire nineteen forty one, 169 00:09:48,920 --> 00:09:52,240 Speaker 1: Tortilla Flat in nineteen forty two, White Cargo also in 170 00:09:52,320 --> 00:09:56,360 Speaker 1: nineteen forty two. The most commercially successful film she was 171 00:09:56,400 --> 00:10:00,560 Speaker 1: in there with Samson and Delilah in nineteen forty nine. Um. 172 00:10:00,600 --> 00:10:03,040 Speaker 1: But even though you know this is a certain amount 173 00:10:03,080 --> 00:10:07,120 Speaker 1: of success, she probably never reached her full potential as 174 00:10:07,160 --> 00:10:11,040 Speaker 1: a Hollywood glamorous actress, right. I think most people think 175 00:10:11,080 --> 00:10:13,520 Speaker 1: that she probably doesn't get the credit that she deserves. 176 00:10:13,600 --> 00:10:15,720 Speaker 1: And she had a tough time coming in And there 177 00:10:15,760 --> 00:10:18,880 Speaker 1: were three possible reasons for that. One was that when 178 00:10:18,920 --> 00:10:22,760 Speaker 1: she initially came to the US language, the language barrier 179 00:10:22,800 --> 00:10:26,400 Speaker 1: and the accent, they were both problems for her when 180 00:10:26,400 --> 00:10:28,920 Speaker 1: it came to certain roles. It's been said that she 181 00:10:29,000 --> 00:10:31,920 Speaker 1: often didn't know what she was saying, and she recited 182 00:10:31,920 --> 00:10:35,200 Speaker 1: her alliance phonetically, so in her earliest film, that would 183 00:10:35,240 --> 00:10:38,080 Speaker 1: be really tough. And her beauty was one of her 184 00:10:38,080 --> 00:10:41,440 Speaker 1: greatest assets. But Meyer and MGM really didn't know what 185 00:10:41,480 --> 00:10:43,600 Speaker 1: to do with her. By most accounts, they saw her 186 00:10:43,640 --> 00:10:47,480 Speaker 1: as a casting challenge, which seems so strange considering that 187 00:10:47,559 --> 00:10:50,520 Speaker 1: she was so beautiful and so marketable. But they had 188 00:10:50,520 --> 00:10:53,320 Speaker 1: to end up putting her mostly in I Candy type 189 00:10:53,320 --> 00:10:56,240 Speaker 1: of roles rather than really substantive ones, because they thought 190 00:10:56,240 --> 00:10:58,800 Speaker 1: that she was basically too beautiful to be playing someone 191 00:10:58,840 --> 00:11:01,120 Speaker 1: who was normal. She couldn't be a real person. Yeah, 192 00:11:01,120 --> 00:11:03,640 Speaker 1: she couldn't be a department store clerk or someone who 193 00:11:03,720 --> 00:11:05,920 Speaker 1: was serving you coffee because she was just so gorgeous. 194 00:11:06,000 --> 00:11:07,960 Speaker 1: They thought that no one would believe it. Yeah, And 195 00:11:08,000 --> 00:11:11,040 Speaker 1: it wasn't just the bosses who saw her beauty as 196 00:11:11,040 --> 00:11:14,560 Speaker 1: a hindrance. She herself viewed her beauty as a weakness. 197 00:11:14,600 --> 00:11:18,280 Speaker 1: She's quoted as saying, my face has been my misfortune, 198 00:11:18,440 --> 00:11:21,360 Speaker 1: a mask I cannot remove, I must live with it. 199 00:11:21,640 --> 00:11:24,320 Speaker 1: I curse it. Yeah. I never thought I'd feel sorry 200 00:11:24,360 --> 00:11:27,760 Speaker 1: for someone who's so gorgeous, But that sounds awful. And 201 00:11:27,920 --> 00:11:31,079 Speaker 1: she really thought that a girl should have brains as 202 00:11:31,120 --> 00:11:33,640 Speaker 1: well as a body, and she wanted people to know 203 00:11:33,760 --> 00:11:36,560 Speaker 1: her for that. UM. One of her role models I 204 00:11:36,559 --> 00:11:39,040 Speaker 1: read somewhere was Mota Harri. One of she really admired 205 00:11:39,040 --> 00:11:42,200 Speaker 1: Mata Harry, who was a World War One spy. Admired 206 00:11:42,200 --> 00:11:44,640 Speaker 1: her because she was Mada Harry was both a military 207 00:11:44,679 --> 00:11:50,920 Speaker 1: expert and a seductress, So she used the mind body connection. Yeah, 208 00:11:50,960 --> 00:11:54,040 Speaker 1: and Henny Lamar also had just some plain bad luck 209 00:11:54,120 --> 00:11:57,199 Speaker 1: or maybe bad choices with her film roles. She had 210 00:11:57,240 --> 00:12:00,120 Speaker 1: an opportunity for some to star in some real a 211 00:12:00,200 --> 00:12:05,160 Speaker 1: memorable films. The main one is the lead in Casablanca. Um, 212 00:12:05,200 --> 00:12:08,200 Speaker 1: either she turns it down or MGM wouldn't loan her out, 213 00:12:08,240 --> 00:12:11,760 Speaker 1: but she doesn't take the role. I mean that's you 214 00:12:11,800 --> 00:12:14,880 Speaker 1: almost think her career could have been entirely different if 215 00:12:14,920 --> 00:12:17,040 Speaker 1: she had taken that role. But I guess, I guess 216 00:12:17,040 --> 00:12:20,000 Speaker 1: you never know. Maybe Casablanca just would have been entirely 217 00:12:20,000 --> 00:12:24,199 Speaker 1: different and not as memorable. But still that that looks 218 00:12:24,280 --> 00:12:27,800 Speaker 1: like a one to regret. Well. Lamar did finally get 219 00:12:27,840 --> 00:12:30,200 Speaker 1: the chance to put her brains to work a little 220 00:12:30,240 --> 00:12:33,240 Speaker 1: bit more when she met avant garde pianist and composer 221 00:12:33,280 --> 00:12:37,839 Speaker 1: George aunt hyle at a Hollywood dinner party. Now, an 222 00:12:37,960 --> 00:12:41,360 Speaker 1: Hyla was known for his hit Ballet Mechanique, a music 223 00:12:41,440 --> 00:12:44,600 Speaker 1: piece that was intended to be performed by several synchronized 224 00:12:44,600 --> 00:12:48,679 Speaker 1: player pianos. He also shared Lamar's hatred of the Nazis 225 00:12:49,320 --> 00:12:51,880 Speaker 1: and they started chatting about World War Two, which had 226 00:12:51,920 --> 00:12:54,679 Speaker 1: just begun at that time in Europe, and Lamar shared 227 00:12:54,720 --> 00:12:58,760 Speaker 1: with him her idea for a problem with torpedo control 228 00:12:59,080 --> 00:13:02,480 Speaker 1: that she'd seen Mondel struggle with. She proposed creating a 229 00:13:02,559 --> 00:13:06,319 Speaker 1: system in which the torpedo and the controller were constantly 230 00:13:06,320 --> 00:13:09,840 Speaker 1: switching frequencies so that the enemy couldn't intercept or jam 231 00:13:09,920 --> 00:13:13,680 Speaker 1: the signal. Yeah, which is a pretty intense conversation to 232 00:13:13,679 --> 00:13:19,080 Speaker 1: be having at this Hollywood dinner party. Definitely, um, heavy 233 00:13:19,160 --> 00:13:23,040 Speaker 1: dinner conversation. But aunt Hall was intrigued with this concept 234 00:13:23,080 --> 00:13:25,800 Speaker 1: and they met many times after that to refine this 235 00:13:26,000 --> 00:13:30,280 Speaker 1: frequency hopping technique that she had proposed and apply the 236 00:13:30,320 --> 00:13:33,680 Speaker 1: concepts of from his work, from his player piano work 237 00:13:34,120 --> 00:13:45,719 Speaker 1: and sound synchronization to to what she had suggested. So 238 00:13:45,760 --> 00:13:48,880 Speaker 1: before we go any further, because this all gets pretty technical, 239 00:13:49,200 --> 00:13:51,079 Speaker 1: and um, if you're like me, you need a little 240 00:13:51,120 --> 00:13:55,439 Speaker 1: simplification of it. So just a little explanation of frequency hopping. 241 00:13:55,520 --> 00:13:59,080 Speaker 1: And this is from a Georgia tech engineering professor, Ian 242 00:13:59,440 --> 00:14:04,000 Speaker 1: Killed his quoted in The Atlantic, and sorry Ian if 243 00:14:04,040 --> 00:14:06,760 Speaker 1: we have mispronounced your name, because it's a tough one. 244 00:14:07,280 --> 00:14:10,160 Speaker 1: He says, suppose you're setting something on channel five. When 245 00:14:10,200 --> 00:14:12,920 Speaker 1: an intruder finds out that you're sending the entire information 246 00:14:13,000 --> 00:14:15,640 Speaker 1: on channel five, then he or she can take everything 247 00:14:15,640 --> 00:14:18,440 Speaker 1: you're sending off channel five and reconstructed. But when you 248 00:14:18,480 --> 00:14:22,200 Speaker 1: hop around, the intruder cannot capture this hopping and he 249 00:14:22,240 --> 00:14:27,080 Speaker 1: cannot reconstruct the information. So from a security perspective, it's perfect. Yeah. 250 00:14:27,120 --> 00:14:31,200 Speaker 1: And the way that Lamar and Auntill figured out this system, 251 00:14:31,280 --> 00:14:35,480 Speaker 1: the way they conceptualized it involved paper rolls that were 252 00:14:36,440 --> 00:14:40,960 Speaker 1: perforated with a random pattern to delineate the frequency path. 253 00:14:41,400 --> 00:14:44,520 Speaker 1: So rolls with the same pattern would be installed in 254 00:14:44,600 --> 00:14:47,600 Speaker 1: the transmitter and in the receiver, and then just like 255 00:14:47,640 --> 00:14:51,160 Speaker 1: a conventional player piano, there would be eight rolls of 256 00:14:51,240 --> 00:14:56,480 Speaker 1: perforations for keys, and the system allowed for the use 257 00:14:56,520 --> 00:15:00,360 Speaker 1: of a eight different frequencies that could be changed different 258 00:15:00,360 --> 00:15:04,000 Speaker 1: intervals so they couldn't be intercepted. So everything was on 259 00:15:04,040 --> 00:15:07,840 Speaker 1: the move constantly and it was all radio controlled. So 260 00:15:07,880 --> 00:15:10,560 Speaker 1: they filed for and they received a patent for the system, 261 00:15:10,560 --> 00:15:15,080 Speaker 1: which they called Secret Communications System. But the Navy, basically 262 00:15:15,520 --> 00:15:17,920 Speaker 1: they weren't into this idea at all, so the patent 263 00:15:18,280 --> 00:15:21,640 Speaker 1: lay dormant basically after that for several years until the 264 00:15:21,720 --> 00:15:24,800 Speaker 1: nineteen fifties, and that was after the invention of the 265 00:15:24,800 --> 00:15:28,040 Speaker 1: transistor and others began to experiment with the concepts that 266 00:15:28,520 --> 00:15:32,000 Speaker 1: basically Lamar had laid out in the patent, but they 267 00:15:32,120 --> 00:15:36,400 Speaker 1: replaced the paper rolls with transistor based digital system. So 268 00:15:36,440 --> 00:15:40,480 Speaker 1: there were all these subsequent patents on frequency hopping, but 269 00:15:40,560 --> 00:15:43,520 Speaker 1: they did refer to the Lamar ont Heel one as 270 00:15:43,640 --> 00:15:48,600 Speaker 1: the generic patent, even though unfortunately it had since expired, 271 00:15:49,000 --> 00:15:53,560 Speaker 1: and we see the applications of their research all over 272 00:15:53,600 --> 00:15:56,359 Speaker 1: the place after that. By nineteen sixty two, the military 273 00:15:56,520 --> 00:15:59,680 Speaker 1: was using the same principles that Lamar and aunt Hyle 274 00:16:00,120 --> 00:16:03,760 Speaker 1: had used for secure communications. For example, I think they 275 00:16:03,800 --> 00:16:06,200 Speaker 1: used it during the Cuban Missile crisis that was mentioned. 276 00:16:06,640 --> 00:16:09,960 Speaker 1: And now frequency hopping is known as spread spectrum technology 277 00:16:10,000 --> 00:16:13,120 Speaker 1: as we mentioned before, and it's used in everything from 278 00:16:13,120 --> 00:16:16,880 Speaker 1: cell phones to wireless networking systems for example, c d 279 00:16:17,120 --> 00:16:20,000 Speaker 1: M A cell phone networks like Sprint and Verizon use them. 280 00:16:20,200 --> 00:16:22,360 Speaker 1: So we're gonna have to go back through the tech 281 00:16:22,400 --> 00:16:25,280 Speaker 1: stuff archives to see if we can find anything more 282 00:16:25,520 --> 00:16:30,239 Speaker 1: on spread spectrum. Yeah, the current uses of this Glamorous 283 00:16:30,320 --> 00:16:34,560 Speaker 1: Starlets technology definitely. As Sarah mentioned, Lamar and ant Hile's 284 00:16:34,560 --> 00:16:37,080 Speaker 1: original patent expired and they never made a dime off 285 00:16:37,120 --> 00:16:39,840 Speaker 1: of this, which is kind of sad. Yeah, no money, 286 00:16:39,840 --> 00:16:44,800 Speaker 1: no recognition until later, much later, recognition much later, not 287 00:16:44,840 --> 00:16:47,520 Speaker 1: too long after creating her invention, which didn't go anywhere 288 00:16:47,560 --> 00:16:50,560 Speaker 1: at the time that they actually created it, Lamar's Hollywood 289 00:16:50,600 --> 00:16:53,840 Speaker 1: career took kind of a downward turn. She sort of 290 00:16:53,840 --> 00:16:57,200 Speaker 1: flamed out at that point. Soon after that, she left 291 00:16:57,320 --> 00:17:01,040 Speaker 1: MGM of her own volition in nineteen pretty six, her 292 00:17:01,120 --> 00:17:04,040 Speaker 1: last big hit with Samson and Delilah in ninety nine. 293 00:17:04,119 --> 00:17:06,720 Speaker 1: She does movies after that, but that was kind of 294 00:17:06,720 --> 00:17:10,280 Speaker 1: her big role that she's remembered for. She retires from 295 00:17:10,320 --> 00:17:14,040 Speaker 1: acting entirely in nineteen fifty eight, and after retiring, she 296 00:17:14,480 --> 00:17:16,760 Speaker 1: moved to Florida and lived out the rest of her 297 00:17:16,840 --> 00:17:20,760 Speaker 1: days there. But she keeps a lot of drama in 298 00:17:20,800 --> 00:17:25,280 Speaker 1: her life, even though she's retired from the movies. As 299 00:17:25,320 --> 00:17:31,040 Speaker 1: we mentioned, six husbands, divorced six times, three kids to biological, 300 00:17:31,119 --> 00:17:36,359 Speaker 1: one adopted who she later disowns. She's arrested twice for shoplifting, 301 00:17:36,440 --> 00:17:40,280 Speaker 1: once in nineteen sixty six once in nineteen nine. Both 302 00:17:40,320 --> 00:17:43,399 Speaker 1: times the charges don't stick. Yeah, she was cleared. And 303 00:17:43,440 --> 00:17:46,600 Speaker 1: then she gets into it with a lot of people. 304 00:17:47,080 --> 00:17:51,240 Speaker 1: She has a strange love for litigation in her later life. 305 00:17:52,160 --> 00:17:56,320 Speaker 1: Collaborators on her nineteen sixty six autobiography Ecstasy in Me, 306 00:17:56,600 --> 00:18:02,000 Speaker 1: she sues them from misrepresentation. Um director mel Brooks. Many 307 00:18:02,000 --> 00:18:04,960 Speaker 1: people I'm sure have seen the film Blazing Saddles. It's 308 00:18:04,960 --> 00:18:08,439 Speaker 1: a Western spoof and there's a character in that movie 309 00:18:08,800 --> 00:18:12,320 Speaker 1: called Headley Lamar, and they sort of turned that name 310 00:18:12,359 --> 00:18:15,080 Speaker 1: into a prank throughout the film, and it's it's a 311 00:18:15,160 --> 00:18:17,760 Speaker 1: very funny film. But apparently Lamar did not find it 312 00:18:17,800 --> 00:18:20,119 Speaker 1: to be very funny, so she sued him for that 313 00:18:20,160 --> 00:18:23,200 Speaker 1: and they settled out of court. But despite all this drama, 314 00:18:23,560 --> 00:18:27,960 Speaker 1: she's finally recognized for her invention in when she receives 315 00:18:28,000 --> 00:18:31,720 Speaker 1: a Pioneer Award from the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and she 316 00:18:31,760 --> 00:18:35,679 Speaker 1: also gets some other recognition from other professional engineering groups 317 00:18:35,720 --> 00:18:40,760 Speaker 1: as well, but she wasn't too impressed by this attention. 318 00:18:40,800 --> 00:18:43,520 Speaker 1: I don't think her only comment on being honored was 319 00:18:43,680 --> 00:18:47,760 Speaker 1: it's about time. So sassy to the end, he Lamar 320 00:18:48,680 --> 00:18:53,240 Speaker 1: so Hetty. Lamar died in two thousand and people close 321 00:18:53,320 --> 00:18:56,600 Speaker 1: to her say that she continued to make little inventions 322 00:18:56,640 --> 00:19:01,800 Speaker 1: throughout her life, including a pocket for issue Kleenex boxes 323 00:19:01,840 --> 00:19:05,960 Speaker 1: where you could put your used tissues. Um, none of 324 00:19:06,000 --> 00:19:09,480 Speaker 1: these little inventions really took off, and certainly not to 325 00:19:09,840 --> 00:19:13,200 Speaker 1: the extent of her most famous invention. She can still 326 00:19:13,240 --> 00:19:16,520 Speaker 1: kind of be an inspiration to future inventors. The Boeing 327 00:19:16,560 --> 00:19:19,200 Speaker 1: Corporation actually launched a series of ads in two thousand 328 00:19:19,240 --> 00:19:22,760 Speaker 1: three that featured Lamar's image as a woman of science, 329 00:19:22,880 --> 00:19:26,440 Speaker 1: and the title for the ad campaign was don't let 330 00:19:26,520 --> 00:19:29,479 Speaker 1: history happen without you, and we can only assume they 331 00:19:29,480 --> 00:19:37,639 Speaker 1: waited until after her death for fear of laws. So true. 332 00:19:38,200 --> 00:19:41,680 Speaker 1: Thank you so much for joining us for this Saturday classic. 333 00:19:41,960 --> 00:19:44,120 Speaker 1: Since this is out of the archive, if you heard 334 00:19:44,160 --> 00:19:46,480 Speaker 1: an email address or a Facebook U r L or 335 00:19:46,520 --> 00:19:49,400 Speaker 1: something similar during the course of the show, that may 336 00:19:49,440 --> 00:19:52,680 Speaker 1: be obsolete now. So here is our current contact information. 337 00:19:53,080 --> 00:19:55,960 Speaker 1: We are at History Podcast at how Stuffworks dot com. 338 00:19:56,000 --> 00:19:58,800 Speaker 1: And then we're at missed in the history all over 339 00:19:58,880 --> 00:20:02,960 Speaker 1: social media. Is our name on Facebook, Twitter, Tumbler, Pinterest, 340 00:20:03,240 --> 00:20:08,960 Speaker 1: and Instagram. Thanks again for listening. For more on this 341 00:20:09,119 --> 00:20:18,560 Speaker 1: and thousands of other topics, visit how staff works dot com.