Hedy Lamarr, the famous actress and inventor, was born in 1914 in Vienna, Austria, to Gertrud and Emil Kiesler. Her father, Emil, was a successful electrical engineer, and her mother, Gertrud, was a pianist. The family had a well-to-do background, which provided Hedy with a comfortable upbringing.
As Hedy navigated her early career in film, the political landscape in Europe began to shift dramatically. In the late 1930s, as the Nazis rose to power in Germany and began exerting influence in Austria, Hedy’s family faced an increasingly dangerous situation. In 1938, when Austria was annexed by Nazi Germany, Hedy managed to escape to the United States to pursue her acting career, but her parents remained in Europe for some time.
Tragically, Emil Kiesler, Hedy’s father, died in the early 1940s, and Gertrud, Hedy’s mother, was later sent to a concentration camp due to her Jewish heritage. Hedy was deeply affected by her parents’ fate, and although she achieved great success in Hollywood, the pain of her family’s struggle during the Holocaust left a lasting impact on her life. Hedy’s experience highlights not only her personal story but also the broader tragedies faced by many families during that tumultuous period in history.