HEDY LAMARR was a Hollywood film star between the 1930s and 1950s, and an icon of beauty and glamour, but her greatest achievement is all around us, as her work as a scientist and inventor laid the grounds for much of our digital and internet technology.
The life and work of the Austrian born actress will be explored in HEDY! The Life & Inventions of Hedy Lamarr, which will be performed in the Galway Mechanics Institute, Middle Street, tomorrow [July 21] and Saturday [July 22], and from Tuesday July 25 to Saturday 29 at 7pm. Written and performed by Heather Massie, the show is part of the Galway Fringe Festival and this is it's international debut.
Lamarr's best known films were Algiers (1938 ), I Take This Woman (1940 ), Comrade X (1940 ), Come Live With Me (1941 ), HM Pulham, Esq (1941 ), and Samson and Delilah (1949 ). However, at the beginning of World War II, Lamarr and composer George Antheil developed a radio guidance system for Allied torpedoes, which used spread spectrum and frequency hopping technology, to make them more accurate. Although the US navy did not adopt it until the 1960s, the principles of their work have since been incorporated into modern Wi-Fi, CDMA, and Bluetooth technology, as well as into military satellites.
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Heather Massie is an award-winning NYC based actor and writer who originally studied astrophysics and had dreams of becoming an astronaut. HEDY! The Life & Inventions of Hedy Lamarr has performed to critical acclaim in the US.
"In Hedy, I find a perfect subject in which to marry art and science in a way that inspires audiences to work each day to make the world a better place," said Heather, "and to inspire young women to pursue scientific endeavorus."
“In a balance of high energy and poise, Heather Massie is no less than captivating," said The Huffington Post; “Richly realized...Both convincingly real and larger than life," said Blogcritics; “Magnetic performance and inventive writing...Fresh and bold," said TheaterScene.net; “Highly entertaining," declared Splash; while the Sarasota Herald-Tribune called the show "lively and enlightening".
For tickets see www.galwayfringe.ie See also www.heathermassie.com/hedy
