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Hedy Lamarr and George Antheil Invention Papers

Composer:
Antheil, George, 1900-1959  Search this
Actor:
Lamarr, Hedy (1914-2000)  Search this
Names:
National Inventors Council (U.S.)  Search this
Extent:
.25 Cubic feet (1 box)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Correspondence
Notebooks
Sketches
Date:
1932, 1940-1942
Summary:
Collection documents the invention work of Hedy Lamarr and George Antheil for a Secret Communication System (US Patent 2,292,387).
Content Description:
Collection consists of invention documents, primarily typescript correspondence and one notebook of hand drawn sketches and handwritten notes that relate to Hedy Lamarr and George Antheil's invention work on a Secret Communication System (US Patent 2,292,387), from 1940 to 1942.

The bulk of the correspondence is between Lammar/Antheil and their patent attorneys Lyon & Lyon of Los Angeles and the United States Patent Office. The correspondence details filing actions and how the patent might be of value to national defense. Also included is correspondence with the National Inventors Council detailing the invention's significance.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into one series.

Series 1: Invention Papers, 1932, 1940-1942
Historical:
Hedy Lamarr was born Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler in Vienna, Austria in 1914. She was the only child of Emil Kiesler, the director of a bank and Gertrud Kiesler, a concert pianist. Hedwig took ballet and piano lessons as a child and then studied acting under director Max Reinhardt in Berlin. In 1933, the Austrian munitions dealer Friedrich "Fritz" Mandl saw Hedwig perform in the play Sissy in Vienna, and they were married later that year. Hedy left Mandl in 1937 and went to England where she met Louis B. Mayer, a film producer and co-founder of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) studios who got her a ticket to Hollywood, where she starred in a roster of films including Algiers (1938), White Cargo (1942), Tortilla Flat (1942), and Samson and Delilah (1949).

George Antheil (1900-1959) was born in Trenton, New Jersey to Henry William Antheil and Wilhemine Huse Antheil. He studied music theory and composition with Constantin von Sternberg, in Philadelphia and composition with Ernest Bloch in New York City. While living in France in the 1920s, Antheil was part of the avant-garde scene and composed modern music, writing several operas and orchestral works. He patented "Appareil et papier pour l'inscription de la musique" (device and paper for recording music). The invention was an electrical apparatus that, through contact with a piano keyboard, recorded notes to be played on a moving roll of paper. He received French patent 578,777 on July 11, 1924. In 1933, Antheil returned to the United States and moved to Hollywood where he composed primarily film scores.

In 1940 at the home of actress Janet Gaynor and her husband, costume designer Gilbert Adrian, Lamarr met Antheil. She and Antheil began work on one of Lamarr's invention ideas, a radio-guided torpedo with synchronized anti-jamming frequency hopping. Hedy's idea was, "that if a radio transmitter and receiver are sychronized to change their tuning simultaneously, hopping together randomly from frequency to frequency, then the radio signal passing between them cannot be jammed," (Rhodes page 147). Lamarr brought to their partnership knowledge of munitions, gleaned from her years of marriage to Fritz Mandl, a munitions manufacturer, and Antheil brought experience with radio electronics and recording music, especially his knowledge of player pianos.

Lamarr and Antheil worked together from 1940 to 1942 with Lamarr explaining the basics of the idea and "the implemenation part came from George." (Rhodes page 148). Antheil had experience in making machines talk to each other in synchrony. He had tried and failed to synchronize sixteen player pianos in his early performances of his Ballet Mécanique. (Rhodes, page 153) Lamarr and Antheil worked together, along with the attorneys Lyon & Lyon to draft patent claims and explain their invention to both the National Inventors Council and the United States Patent Office. They were awarded U.S. Patent 2,292,387 in August 1942.

Source

Rhodes, Richard. Hedy's Folly, The Life and Breakthrough Inventions of Hedy Lamarr The Most Beautiful Woman in the World. New York: Doubleday, 2011.
Materials at Other Organizations:
Library of Congress

George and Böske Antheil papers, circa 1875-1984, (bulk 1920-1958)

Papers include holograph music manuscripts, printed music, published and unpublished writings, business and personal correspondence, subject files, photographs, programs and promotional materials, scrapbooks, artwork, biographical materials, and memorabilia.

Jewish Museum of Vienna

Collection contains memorabilia, photos, documents, magazines and newspaper clippings, and select artifacts with a a focus primarily on Hedy Lamarr's life in Vienna and Austria.
Provenance:
Collection donated by Denise Loder Deluca, daughter of Hedy Lamarr, 2023.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Topic:
Inventions -- 20th century  Search this
Inventors -- 20th century  Search this
Patents  Search this
Torpedoes  Search this
Women inventors -- 20th century  Search this
Genre/Form:
Correspondence -- 20th century
Notebooks -- 20th century
Sketches
Citation:
Hedy Lamarr and George Antheil Invention Papers, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Identifier:
NMAH.AC.1590
See more items in:
Hedy Lamarr and George Antheil Invention Papers
Archival Repository:
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep8df668c3e-b4e5-4f0d-bdb8-3605055f94cf
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-1590
Online Media:

First Meeting of the National Inventors Council

Creator:
Harris & Ewing  Search this
Subject:
Sparre, Fin 1879-1944  Search this
Jones, Webster N  Search this
Feiker, Frederick M (Frederick Morris) 1881-1967  Search this
Langner, Lawrence 1890-1962  Search this
Davis, Watson 1896-1967  Search this
Zeder, Frederick Morrell  Search this
Coe, Conway P  Search this
Kettering, Charles Franklin 1876-1958  Search this
Midgley, Thomas 1889-1944  Search this
Coolidge, William David 1873-1975  Search this
National Inventors Council (U.S.)  Search this
E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company  Search this
Carnegie Institute of Technology  Search this
George Washington University School of Engineering and Applied Science  Search this
Science Service  Search this
Chrysler Corporation  Search this
United States Patent Office  Search this
General Motors Corporation Research Laboratories  Search this
Ethyl Corporation  Search this
General Electric Company Research Laboratory  Search this
Physical description:
Gelatin silver prints
Type:
Black-and-white photographs
Date:
1940
August 6, 1940
Topic:
Inventors  Search this
Engineering  Search this
Local number:
SIA Acc. 90-105 [SIA2008-4787]
Restrictions & Rights:
No access restrictions Many of SIA's holdings are located off-site, and advance notice is recommended to consult a collection. Please email the SIA Reference Team at osiaref@si.edu
Copyright Not Evaluated
Data Source:
Smithsonian Institution Archives
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_arc_397899

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