“I don’t know what to do. I have a husband and my family here, but the Nazis are taking power. I don’t know if I can stay here any longer. I have heard about good things happening in America, so maybe I will go there,” I explained to my family before I decided to leave my home country of Austria. This was really what I thought. I loved my family and I didn’t want to leave them, but I was sick of being scared every second of my life. I was proud of being who I was, and I wouldn’t wait for the Nazis to take that away from me. My goodbye to my family involved many tears and hugs.
I was sad to go, but I was ready to start my new life. So there I was, on America feeling anxious, excited, scared, and so many more emotions that words can’t describe. During my trip to America, a man came up to me and started a conversation. “My darling, how beautiful you are! What is your name? ” were the first words he said to me. I was flattered to have a stranger come up to me and say that. “My name is Hedwig Kiesler. What is your name? ” | responded, a little frightened, but at the same time excited. “I’m Louis B. Meyer, a movie mogul.
Have you ever been in a movie? Would you be interested in being a movie star? ” He asked me. I was shocked, and replied, “No I’ve never been in a movie before. ” I thought about how this could be a great way to start my life in America, so I added quickly, “I would be interested in being in a movie. ” After we had talked for quite some time, we arranged a contract that said I would be paid $600 a week and I would learn English “We’ll have to change your name, it doesn’t sound very American,” Louis told me. From then on, I was known as Hedy Lamarr.
After some time, I had learned English. I started making movies, all because of Louis and when we met. Without him | might not have been able to find a job. “Look, it’s Hedy Lamar! ” People shouted as I walked by. People were always coming up to me and telling me how amazing they thought my movies were. This wasn’t my only work, though. I was interested in many things. I was most interested in solving problems and fixing things. I even had an entire room in my house dedicated to inventing “Mom, why do you spend so much time in that room? ” My son asked me frequently.
I did spend much of my time in this room; it was my way to get away from the Hollywood world. “It’s just what I like to do,” I responded to my son, a bit mad that he asked me. It was just something I did to make the world better. I was doing this on the side of starring in movies, as a hobby. During this time, I was called “the most beautiful woman in the world. ” This did not change the fact that I thought about my home and the Nazis gaining more and more power. I wished there was some way for me to help. Since I was famous, I went to many special dinner parties.
I went to what I thought was just another dinner party, with my friend George Antheil. It turned out it wasn’t just any ordinary Hollywood dinner party, it gave me a great way to help defeat the Nazis. My idea would help steer torpedoes. Who would’ve thought that I got my idea from player pianos! I thought that if player pianos could change notes simultaneously, so could radio signals that were controlling torpedoes. During this, the transmitter and the receiver would hop at the same time.
This way, someone who was trying to jam the signal wouldn’t know here it was. “Thank you so much, George! This makes me feel so much better about helping my home and so many other places and people! ” I told him several times. With the help of George, this project not only made me feel better about helping the Jews, but also grabbed my interest. Since I wanted to help with the war, I proposed my idea to the Navy. I was excited to have a result of my hobby help people, but when I proposed my idea to the Navy, I didn’t get the response I thought I would. Being so famous, I thought they would think my idea was great.
Even without being famous, my idea was a fabulous way to help, but I didn’t get the response | thought I would. The Navy told me that my idea wouldn’t work and it was crazy. They also had the nerve to tell me I shouldn’t try to invent, that I should just raise money for the war. Because I was a famous movie star, people would donate to a cause that I was supporting. It would be an understatement to say I was angry. “But George, I don’t understand why they would reject my invention,” I said to George, who helped me throughout the process. Over time, my fame faded, just like any Hollywood star.
People stopped calling me “the most beautiful woman in the world. ” Because of this, I stopped feeling beautiful, and decided I would be more beautiful if I got plastic surgery. “Why would she do that to herself? ” Many people asked their friends, talking about my own choices I did to make myself feel better about how I looked. People never understood my life and all the difficulties that went on behind the scenes. In the end, the Navy did eventually use my idea. I got close to no credit for my invention. I hope that when I die, the world will remember me as someone who wasn’t just beautiful, but also smart.
