"Housewife, artist, tomboy" – Hedy Lamarr 110

The exhibition presents the actress, inventor, Viennese Hedy Lamarr on what would be her 110th birthday and tells of her growing up in a middle-class Jewish Viennese family, her naked appearance in the movie "Ecstasy", her marriage to the notorious munitions dealer Fritz Mandl up to her escape from the golden cage to Hollywood. She thus changed her name, her identity and became an idolized movie star. Unhappy with the roles she was given, Hedy Lamarr withdrew into her private life and preferred to work on her inventions. During WWII she came up with a groundbreaking invention: Frequency hopping, a forerunner for Bluetooth. Only late in her life her invention found recognition, at a time when she had already been out of the spotlight, scarred by countless cosmetic surgeries and no longer left her apartment. Hedy Lamarr described her beauty as a curse. She would have preferred to be appreciated for her intellect and ingenuity.

The exhibition "Housewife, artist, tomboy. Hedy Lamarr 110" portrays the many different aspects in the life of this extraordinary woman. We trace the different stages and also her many places of residence.  Hedy Lamarr was ahead of her time. Her life would have been different today. The exhibition thus ties in with current debates about female empowerment, Me too and to constantly reinventing oneself.

The exhibition is accompanied by numerous events.

An exhibition by Danielle Spera and Stefan Fuhrer

Cover photo: © Anthony Loder Archive