Hedy Lamarr at Home: Inside the Private Life of the Golden Age Star (and Tech Pioneer!)

Hedy Lamarr understood the power of a beautiful home long before she was dubbed “the most beautiful woman in film.” She credited her mother with teaching her the importance of a well-decorated abode. “Early on I learned the value of pretty things,” Lamarr once said, according to the biography Beautiful: The Life of Hedy Lamarr by Stephen Michael Shearer, “to love the feel of soft fabrics against me; delicate laces, lush velvets, and fine linens. I loved always to have my rooms dainty around me, with flowers in them, smelling sweet. People called me ‘a fastidious little thing.’”Born Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler in Austria on November 9, 1914, Lamarr grew up surrounded by elegance in her family’s nine-room apartment in Vienna’s upscale Peter-Jordan-Strasse. That refined domestic world would be a constant in her life throughout her time as a professional actor, from the hilltop Hollywood bungalow that she filled with flowers and figurines to the grand Beverly Hills estates where she raised her children and displayed her eclectic art collection. Though she was celebrated as one of Hollywood’s most glamorous stars, she found joy in the quieter rituals of domestic life.Even more, she was a skilled inventor. As the story goes, she was interested in assisting the Allied forces during World War II, which inspired her to create a communication system known as frequency hopping, which laid the groundwork for future technologies like WiFi, GPS, and Bluetooth. Despite her towering achievements across two fields, the multitalented Lamarr remained modest; in her own words, “improving things comes naturally to me.”Below, we’ve rounded up 10 photos that offer a glimpse inside the polymath’s off-the-clock life.Lamarr in the garden of her Southern California home Photo: Imagno/Getty ImagesA budding Hollywood starLamarr moved to California in 1937 after signing a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The studio initially housed her at the Chateau Marmont before finding her a six-room hilltop bungalow at 1807 Benedict Canyon. In this circa-1930 photo she’s pictured in the garden of her home, which she filled with potted petunias and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs figurines, per Beautiful: The Life of Hedy Lamarr. The bungalow cost $100 a month, which was deducted from her MGM paycheck. Its lush grounds were home to rabbits, chickens, and other small barnyard animals.Lamarr and husband Gene Markey on the porch of their Southern California home Photo: Courtesy of Everett CollectionHedy’s Hedgerow FarmTwo years after her 1937 divorce from her first husband, Friedrich Mandl, Lamarr married screenwriter Gene Markey. The couple is pictured here on the porch of their marital home at 2727 Benedict Canyon Drive in Beverly Hills, California. The actor purchased the abode, known as Hedgerow Farm, years before their nuptials. “It’s a little house on a hill,” Lamarr once said about the space. “Gene and I will be happy forever.” Built on a sloping mountainside above Benedict Canyon, the nine-room farmhouse featured a swimming pool and a fireplace with an antique handcrafted mantel by Dutch woodcarver Grinling Gibbons. In the dining room, Lamarr displayed pieces from her collections of antique porcelain, copper, and pewter.Lamarr and her canine companion Photo: Courtesy of Everett CollectionWoman’s best friendIn this 1940 photo Lamarr is pictured at home with her beloved Great Dane. Though the pooch boasted a designated spot on the cushioned living room divan, the space certainly hadn’t gone to the dogs; the gathering space featured a fireplace with a handcrafted mantel as well as linen draperies and a large radio-phonograph.When she and Markey divorced in 1941, Lamarr was awarded full ownership of Hedgerow Farm. As part of the settlement, he was permitted to remove only the furnishings he owned before their marriage.Lamarr at the piano in 1942, the same year she and George Antheil patented their frequency-hopping communications system that helped lay the groundwork for modern WiFi, Bluetooth, and GPS technology. Photo: Courtesy of Everett CollectionA lifelong love of musicIn this 1942 photo Lamarr is pictured playing the piano at home, a scene that echoed her artistic upbringing in Vienna. Growing up, she stayed busy with ballet and piano lessons. Her mother, who gave up a career as a concert pianist to raise her, instilled in Lamarr a love of music and creativity. “My parents did not know any actors,” Lamarr once said. “They did not often take me to theatres, but mostly to concerts and to operas. There were never any theatrical people in our home.”Lamarr and Loder hanging some artwork in 1944. Photo: Courtesy of Everett CollectionHedy and JohnLamarr married her third husband, actor John Loder, in 1943. In this 1944 photo they’re pictured decorating their home. The couple lived at Hedgerow Farm, and biographer Shearer noted that they kept separate bedrooms that matched their aesthetic sensibilities. Hers featured gray wood paneling, a matching gray carpet, and a tufted headboard and valance upholstered in rose-patterned fabric. Loder’s bedroom, meanwhile, was more ornate, with red plaid wallpaper and royal blue carpet.Lamarr, her husband, and a furry friend relaxing in the yard of their property, which offered a sweeping view of the hills. Photo: Courtesy of Everett CollectionA lively abodeLamarr took pride in creating a warm and lively home. She often kept the radio on, listening to comedians Bob Hope and Fred Allen, while Loder frequently read aloud to her. Some of her favorite authors were John Steinbeck, Daphne du Maurier, and William Somerset Maugham. The couple also owned two cats, one of which is pictured here.When they wanted an escape from everyday life, Lamarr and Loder retreated to a log cabin in Big Bear Lake, a resort in the San Bernardino Mountains where they had spent their honeymoon. About the home, Lamarr told columnist Edwin Schallert, “It is very secluded—no telephones, no visitors, not even servants. John and I spend our time there absolutely alone. It is sort of a shrine for us.”Lamarr and Loder lounging in their living room in February 1944. Photo: Courtesy of Everett CollectionHomebodyAfter marrying Loder, Lamarr set out to reshape her public image. She reflected on that period in Ecstasy and Me: My Life as a Woman, the memoir ghostwritten by Cy Rice and Leo Guild. “I was working on a new public image for myself, one that would make me more comfortable. We stopped going to parties and nightclubs. Instead of the ‘Heavenly Body,’ I was the homebody,” she said, referring to her 1944 romantic comedy The Heavenly Body. “I honestly wasn’t a night person anyway. I wanted a husband, house, and children as well as a career, and I didn’t need all the froth that went with it.”Lamarr with a jigsaw puzzle in 1944 Photo: Courtesy of Everett CollectionKeeping busyIn this 1944 photo Lamarr is pictured working on a jigsaw puzzle at home. Her hobbies also included collecting art and antiques for her abode. Her art collection featured pieces from Grandma Moses, Amedeo Modigliani, Georges Rouault, Pierre Bonnard, and Maurice Utrillo. According to a 2000 AD feature, she embraced the simple pleasures of domestic life, like shopping for antiques, decorating her home, tending to her flower beds, and feeding her chickens.Lamarr and Loder with their three-month-old daughter Photo: Toronto Star Archives/Toronto Star via Getty ImagesBaby makes threeIn this 1945 photo Lamarr and Loder are pictured with their three-month-old daughter, Denise Hedwig Loder. In Ecstasy and Me, she reflected on giving birth to her first child. “I was still in semi-consciousness,” she said. “In the anesthetic fog I heard a squeak. My God, I thought, I gave birth to a mouse. But the doctor said, ‘It’s a beautiful baby girl. Another famous actress!’ That sweet baby girl that I held there in my arms for the first time was never to cause me a whit of trouble.”Lamarr and son Anthony Loder in 1948 Photo: Courtesy of Everett CollectionA fresh startIn this 1948 photo Lamarr is pictured with her son, Anthony Loder. Having grown up as an only child, she wanted her daughter, Denise, to have a sibling. “I loved Denise so much, and for her sake I didn’t want her to be an only child,” she said in Ecstasy and Me. “I remember the loneliness of my childhood. It’s difficult to be a child in an adult world, and that’s what happens to you when you’re an only child.”By the time Anthony was born she and Loder had already separated, and they divorced in 1947. Afterward she sold Hedgerow Farm to Hollywood couple Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall for $97,500 and purchased a two-story Spanish-style mansion at 919 North Roxbury Drive for $75,000. Towards the end of her life Lamarr relocated to Casselberry, Florida, and purchased a house at 968 Wesson Drive for $130,000 in 1999. She later died there on January 19, 2000.