Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story
Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story is a 2017 American biographical documentary film directed, written and co-edited by Alexandra Dean, about the life of actress and inventor Hedy Lamarr. It had its world premiere at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival and released theatrically on November 24, 2017. The film was broadcast in the United States on the PBS biography series American Masters in May 2018. As of AprilĀ 2020, it was also available on Netflix.
Theatrical poster
Hedy Lamarr was an Austro-Hungarian-born American actress and inventor. After a brief early film career in Czechoslovakia, including the controversial erotic romantic drama Ecstasy (1933), she fled from her first husband, Friedrich Mandl, and secretly moved to Paris. Traveling to London, she met Louis B. Mayer, who offered her a film contract in Hollywood. Lamarr became a film star with her performance in the romantic drama Algiers (1938). She achieved further success with the Western Boom Town (1940) and the drama White Cargo (1942). Lamarr's most successful film was the religious epic Samson and Delilah (1949). She also acted on television before the release of her final film in 1958. She was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960.
Lamarr, c. 1944
Lamarr in a 1934 publicity photo with the name "Heddie Kietzler"
Hedy Lamarr, 1944
Sigrid Gurie (left) and Hedy Lamarr (right) were Charles Boyer's leading ladies in Algiers (1938).