Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story Page #9

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That's part of living.

Yep.

I didn't expect that I'd come

here and fall apart either

but things happen.

She always talked about

writing her autobiography

and wanting to get

the story out

about who the real

Hedy Lamarr was,

not the Hedy Lamarr

in the movies,

which I think she often thought

movies were really trivial.

Now I'm becoming smart

all of a sudden.

Better late than never, right?

Absolutely.

Maybe someday

I'll become smart too.

I gave you a little lesson

there right now.

Yes ma'am.

I guess I should let you...

I guess you should.

...let you go, but...

I enjoyed talking.

I enjoyed talking to you

and perhaps I'll...

Maybe you can do some good.

I hope so.

The article I wrote,

I like to think that

that was really a part

of how she gained recognition.

So Forbes magazine,

May 1990,

this is the first time

the mainstream press

released the information

that Hedy was glamorous, yes,

stupid, no.

I called her and said, you know,

"Mom, people are interested

in what you thought of

back in '42."

She said, "It's about time."

The first to pick up

Hedy's story

were people

in the communications industry

because they realized

frequency hopping

was revolutionary.

It was already finding

its way into GPS,

Wi-Fi technology, Bluetooth,

and billion-dollar

military satellites.

Five, four, three,

Atlas engine ignition,

one, zero,

and liftoff

of Lockheed Martin...

The Milstar

satellite system provides

protected, secure communications

for the President

of the United States

and high priority

military users.

The work that Hedy Lamarr did

in her patent,

Milstar took that technology

in order to implement

frequency hopping

on the system.

And that's what we trust

our most important

nuclear command

and control messages with.

The Navy, Milstar,

and Lockheed Martin

actually gave Hedy an award

thanking her for coming up

with her idea.

And when I called her, I said,

"Mom, they're gonna give you

an award,"

but she just didn't want

to be seen.

The award I'm about to present

is in recognition

of a famous actress

turned inventor,

Hedy Lamarr.

I gave a talk

to about 800 people.

But right in the middle of it...

If I have seen farther...

Oh, my God.

Are you serious?

My mother's here too.

I'll tell you

a little bit later.

Hello?

How did it go?

I'm in the middle of it.

I just said, "Mom,

if you could say something,

what would you say?"

And this is what she said.

I'm happy that this invention

has been so successful.

I appreciate your

acknowledgement

of you honoring me

and that it was not done

in vain.

Thank you.

Perfect.

- Okay?

- Okay.

I love you!

Love you too.

Bye.

And they all stood up

and clapped.

I thought it was really great.

She would love to be remembered

as someone who contributed

to the well-being of humankind.

She did make her mark.

It's the one thing

she did for other people

that she's gonna be long,

long remembered for.

It was New Year's,

January 1st, 2000.

She called my sister and I

separately,

"Turn on the TV!

It's Vienna, Vienna!

You'll see Vienna!"

And so we turn on the TV

and the Viennese

Symphony Orchestra

was playing on TV.

She died a few days later.

She fell asleep

and she just didn't wake up.

I'll read you something pretty.

People are unreasonable,

illogical, and self-centered.

Love them anyway.

If you do good,

people will accuse you

of selfish alternative motives.

Do good anyway.

The biggest people

with the biggest ideas

can be shot down

by the smallest people

with the smallest minds.

Think big anyway.

What you spend years building

may be destroyed overnight.

Build anyway.

Give the world

the best you have

and you'll be kicked

into the teeth.

Give the world

the best you've got anyway.

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