Suzy Klein on Hedy Lamarr
Great Lives
BBC
4.2 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 22 May 2018
⏱️ 30 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Hedy Lamarr was described by her studio as the most beautiful woman in the world. A recent film, called Bombshell, argued that she was a brilliant inventor as well. But what was going on behind that wonderful face? Suzy Klein, host of the BBC Proms, tells Matthew Parris that this was an intriguing woman who continually reinvented herself. She left her native Austria before the Second World War but, despite a successful Hollywood career, what she really wanted was to be known for being clever. Recent newspaper headlines - including 'Sex Symbol by Day, Scientific Trailblazer by Night' - suggest her wishes may have finally come true. But Professor Hans-Joachim Braun isn't so sure. Film critic Antonia Quirke joins Matthew Parris in the studio to discuss a truly extraordinary life.
The producer in Bristol is Miles Warde.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey, it's Doleepa, and I'm at your service. |
| 0:04.7 | Join me as I serve up personal conversations with my sensational guests. |
| 0:08.8 | Do a leap interviews, Tim Cook. |
| 0:11.2 | Technology doesn't want to be good or bad. |
| 0:15.0 | It's in the hands of the creator. |
| 0:16.7 | It's not every day that I have the CEO of the world's biggest company in my living room. |
| 0:20.7 | If you're looking at your phone more than you're looking in someone's eyes, you're doing the wrong thing. |
| 0:26.0 | Julie, at your service. |
| 0:28.0 | Listen to all episodes on BBC sales. |
| 0:31.5 | This is the BBC. Earlier this year, various British newspapers ran some eye-catchingly similar headlines. |
| 0:41.0 | Sex symbol by day, scientific trailblazer by night, said the telegraph. |
| 0:46.3 | The 1940s bombshell who helped invent Wi-Fi, added the Guardian. |
| 0:51.0 | Heddie Lamar, fled Hitler, had the first on-screen orgasm, wrote The Sun. |
| 0:57.2 | But who was, who really was, the world famous screen actress, Eddie Lamar? |
| 1:02.4 | We're about to find out. |
| 1:04.0 | My guest here in the studio is the writer and broadcaster, |
| 1:07.0 | Susie Klein, Radio 3 host and presenter of the proms. |
| 1:11.0 | Susie, tell us why you've chosen the remarkable Hede Lamas. |
| 1:15.0 | Well, you've summed it up pretty well with the headlines. |
| 1:19.0 | She was this traffic stopping, heart racingly beautiful woman. |
| 1:24.0 | She was the inspiration for Walt Disney Snow White, |
| 1:27.0 | the inspiration for Catwoman. |
... |
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