Happy November Birthday to Classic Beauties

 

For the past few months, we’ve celebrated people born on the 14^th of that month because that’s the day I post. 

 

This month is an exception. Each of these classic beauties—talented and award-winning actresses—are November babies but none were born on the 14^th. 

 

I’m a big classic movies fan, and these women star in a few of my favorites. So let’s celebrate them together!

Happy 95^th Birthday to Grace Kelly

Princess Consort of Monaco (1956-1982)

Birth Name: Grace Patricia Kelly

Born: November 12, 1929 (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)

Died: September 14, 1982 (52 years old; Principality of Monaco)

 

She performed as:

• Amy Fowler Kane in High Noon with Gary Cooper (1952);
• Lisa Carol Fremont in Rear Window with Jimmy Stewart (1954);
• Frances Stevens in To Catch a Thief with Cary Grant (1955).

Ms. Kelly, an Academy Award-winning actress, starred in eleven feature films, including a few Alfred Hitchcock classics, and multiple television productions.

 

The American Film Institute named her the 13^th Greatest Female Star of Classic American Cinema in 1999.

"Hollywood amuses me. Holier-than-thou for the public and unholier-than-the-devil in reality" ~ Grace Kelly

 

Happy 104^th Birthday to Gene Tierney

 

Birth Name: Gene Eliza Tierney

Born: November 19, 1920 (Brooklyn, New York)

Died: November 6, 1991 (almost 71 years old; Houston, Texas)

 

She performed as:

• Laura Hunt in Laura with Dana Andrews (1944);
• Ellen Berent Harland in Leave Her to Heaven with Cornel Wilde (1945);
• Lucy Muir in The Ghost and Mrs. Muir with Rex Harrison (1947). In my opinion, this is one of those rare instances when the movie is more engaging than the book.

A talented artist and poet, Ms. Tierney loved to garden and was fluent in French and Italian. She received an Academy Award nomination in 1946 for Best Actress (Leave Her to Heaven), but Joan Crawford took home the Oscar that year for her leading role in Mildred Pierce. 

 

In 2006, Ms. Tierney was ranked 71^st on Premiere Magazine’s “100 Sexiest Movie Stars of All Time” list. 

"I have a role now that I think becomes me. I am a grandmother." ~ Gene Tierney

 

Happy 110^th Birthday to Hedy Lamarr

 

Birth Name: Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler

Born: November 9, 1914 (Vienna, Austria)

Died: January 19, 2000 (85 years old; Casselberry, Florida)

 

She performed as:

• Delilah in Samson and Delilah with Victor Mature (1949).

Ms. Lamarr was both beautiful and brilliant. Not only was she the inspiration for the character of Catwoman, from the Batman franchise, she also “co-invented frequency hopping spread spectrum technology, which laid the foundation for modern wireless communication systems like Bluetooth and Wi-Fi….During World War II, Hedy Lamarr and composer George Antheil developed a radio guidance system for Allied torpedoes, which used frequency hopping to prevent enemies from jamming the signals” (Profile).

"Hope & curiosity about the future seemed better than guarantees. The unknown was always so attractive to me...and still is." ~ Hedy Lamarr

 

Happy 111^th Birthday to Vivien Leigh

 

Birth Name: Vivian Mary Hartley

Born: November 5, 1913 (Darjeeling, India)

Died: July 8, 1976 (62 years old; London, England)

 

She performed as:

• Scarlett O’Hara in Gone with the Wind with Clark Gable (1939);
• Myra Lester in Waterloo Bridge with Robert Taylor (1940);
• Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire with Marlon Brando (1951).

British actress Vivien Leigh won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performances in Gone with the Wind and A Streetcar Named Desire. Before the latter was made into a movie, she’d performed the role of Blanche DuBois more than 300 times on stage.

 

Ms. Leigh has said that Waterloo Bridge, which was nominated for two Academy Awards, one for Best Music and one for Best Cinematography, was her favorite of all her films (Bean).

"Sometimes I dread the truth of the lines I say. But the dread must never show." ~ Vivien Leigh

 

Happy Half-Birthday to Me!

 

That’s right ~ my real birthday is May 14^th which makes today my half-birthday. Perhaps I’ll celebrate with half a cupcake and a half-scoop of ice cream!

Johnnie Alexander writes “Stories Past and Present” in multiple genres. A fan of classic movies, stacks of books, and road trips, she shares a life of quiet adventure with Rugby, her racoon-treeing papillon. Visit her at johnnie-alexander.com.

 

Photos ~ all photos are in the public domain and posted images were created with Canva.

 

Sources

 

Bean, Kendra. Vivien Leigh: An Intimate Portrait. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Running Press, 2013, pg. 71. 

 

Profile ~ https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/hedy-lamarr-6139.php (accessed 29 October 2024).

Hedy Lamarr - More Than A Pretty Face

By Kathy Kovach

Who do we have to thank for the cell phone that has become an extra appendage? Could it have been a dusty old electronics enthusiast with a scraggly goatee? Or a buttoned-up scientist who has made inroads in the field of technology? Surprisingly, the person we have to thank for the cell phone that’s taken over our lives is the exquisite actress and producer Hedy Lamarr.

Born in Vienna, Austria on November 9, 1914, Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler became interested in acting at an early age. By the time she turned eighteen, she had starred in two German films, catching the eye of Hollywood producers which led to her signing on with MGM. She changed her name, and from there, she costarred with some of the most popular leading men in the Golden Age of Hollywood. Charles Boyer, Spencer Tracy, Clark Gable, Jimmy Stewart among others. She soon earned her moniker as “the most beautiful woman in film” and would go on to star in thirty productions and produce two movies.

All very impressive, but there was so much more to the Austrian-born actress.

Her intelligence exceeded that of her peers. While hitting her stride in Hollywood, Lamarr met with other brilliant minds. In particular, Howard Hughes, who helped her set up equipment in her trailer on her movie sets to conduct experiments in her down time. In 1942, she and composer George Antheil, teamed up to patent what they called the “Secret Communication System.”

“The original idea, meant to solve the problem of enemies blocking signals from radio-controlled missiles during World War II, involved changing radio frequencies simultaneously to prevent enemies from being able to detect the messages. While the technology of the time prevented the feasibility of the idea at first, the advent of the transistor and its later downsizing made Hedy’s idea very important to both the military and the cell phone industry.” -Biography – Hedy Lamarr

The frequency-hopping technology prevented Allied torpedoes from being detected by Nazis. Sadly, neither Lamarr nor Antheil received any compensation for the life-saving multi-billion-dollar invention. They were, however, finally honored in 1997 with the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) Pioneer Award. That same year Lamarr became the first female to receive the BULBIE™ Gnass Spirit of Achievement Award. This award is considered the "Oscars" of inventing. Hedy Lamarr would only enjoy this honor for three years as she passed away in 2000 at the age of 86.

The invention eventually led to ground-breaking future technology, making Bluetooth and Wi-Fi possible for those of us who wear our cell phones on the end of our sleeves. Yes, we have a beautiful actress and a talented composer to thank for moving our communications into the 21st Century.

My novella "Riders of the Painted Star" is set at the dawn of the Golden Age of Hollywood when singing cowboys were heroes and their horses held a special place in their hearts. Royce Rutger was the exception. An actor who merely pretended to be a cowboy could never win Zadie Fitzpatrick's love, especially knowing how much stock she put into the idols of the big screen. Can she see past his deception to get to know the real man inside?

MissAdventure Brides Collection
Seven daring damsels don’t let the norms of their eras hold them back. Along the way these women attract the attention of men who admire their bravery and determination, but will they let love grow out of the adventures? Includes:

"Riders of the Painted Star" by Kathleen E. Kovach

1936 Arizona
Zadie Fitzpatrick, an artist from New York, is commissioned to go on location in Arizona to paint illustrations for an author of western novels and falls for the male model.

Kathleen E. Kovach is a Christian romance author published traditionally through Barbour Publishing, Inc. as well as indie. Kathleen and her husband, Jim, raised two sons while living the nomadic lifestyle for over twenty years in the Air Force. Now planted in northeast Colorado, she's a grandmother, though much too young for that. Kathleen is a longstanding member of American Christian Fiction Writers. An award-winning author, she presents spiritual truths with a giggle, proving herself as one of God's peculiar people.

Website

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Hedy Larmarr, More than a Beautiful Face

Susan Page Davis here.

Hedy Lamarr in 1940

Public Domain photo

Hedy Lamarr is best known as an actress, but she had many other talents, too. In fact, she contributed to wireless communication technology that helped win World Wars and has been used in many other applications, including cell phones.

Hedy in Lady Without a Passport, 1950, public domain photo

Born in Austria in 1914, Hedy lived in Vienna during the time when Nazi Germany was on the rise. Her original name was Hedwig Kiesler, and she became an actress in the 1920s. She was taken to Berlin for training in theater, then returned to Vienna. She acted both on stage and in films.

In 1933, she married Friedrich Mandl, a wealthy Austrian arms dealer and munitions manufacturer. She was 18, and Mandl was fifteen years older. Hedy later described him as extremely controlling and said she was a prisoner in their luxurious home. Mandl took her to all his business meetings, and it was there that Hedy paid attention and learned about advanced weaponry.

Hedy grew to hate the Nazis. After four years of marriage, she escaped to London. There she met Louis B. Mayer, and he brought her to the United States and gave her a movie contract and a new name (Lamarr).

Clark Gable and Hedy Lamarr in Comrade X, 1940

Public domain

After she came to the United States, Lamarr forged an illustrious career in Hollywood. Among other credits, she starred with Clark Gable in Boom Town and Comrade X, with Spencer Tracy in I Take This Woman and Tortilla Flat, opposite Bob Hope in My Favorite Spy, and Jimmy Stewart in Ziegfeld Girl and Come Live with Me. She appeared in about thirty films during her career.

She met American composer George Antheil, and with him devised a plan to help the war effort. They developed a communications system that could be used in radio-controlled torpedoes to help defeat the Nazis. This worked by manipulating radio frequencies at irregular intervals. This system could also prevent the enemy from intercepting messages. They received a patent in 1941.

Unfortunately, when Hedy offered her invention to the U.S. government, they rejected it.  They did not realize how important this invention could be. The pair donated their invention to the war effort. Hedy was encouraged to stick with her successful acting career. One of her many patriotic efforts was to sell war bonds, which she did very successfully.

Hedy in 1939 film Lady of the Tropics

Public domain photo

The communications idea wasn’t used until the navy implemented it on blockade ships during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. After that, its significance was acknowledged, and it was used in many military applications. However, it was first used three years after the Lamarr-Antheil patent expired, and they did not receive any compensation for their patent.

In addition to its usefulness to the armed forces, the technology was a big step forward in digital communications. Cell phones, fax machines, and other modern devices are possible in part because of this system.

In 1997, Lamarr and Anthiel were finally honored with the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) Pioneer Award. The same year, Lamarr became the first female recipient of the BULBIE™ Gnass Spirit of Achievement Award, a lifetime accomplishment prize for inventors that is referred to as the Oscar of inventing.

Leave a comment below to be entered in a drawing to win your choice of one of my novels. Pick an old favorite like Frasier Island or a new release such as Seven Brides for Seven Texas Rangers.

Susan Page Davis is the award-winning author of more than eighty novels and novellas in the historical, romance, mystery, and suspense genres. She’s always interested in unusual events of the past. A Maine native, she now lives in western Kentucky.

GIVE-AWAY AND LADY SPIES DURING WW11 PART TWO

Anne Greene here: As stated on the 14th of last month I discussed American women who were spies during WW11. If you missed that discussion, please check out the archives. Today, I’ll tell the true tale of other women spies.

Two main oversight organizations were responsible for intelligence activities in World War II for the Allies. These were the American OSS, or Office of Strategic Services and the British SOE, or Special Operations Executive. In addition to traditional spies, these organizations employed many ordinary men and women to covertly provide information about strategic locations and activities while leading apparently normal lives.

OSS receiving spy transmissions

READ THE CAPTIONS FOR THE NAMES OF FEMALE SPIES

Violette Reine Elizabeth Bushell – 1921-1942 Violette was sent to France as an operative. Caught giving cover to a Maquis leader, she killed several German soldiers before being captured. Despite torture she refused to give the Gestapo any classified information and was sent to Ravensbruck. There she was executed.

 

Josephine Baker

Amy Elizabeth Thorpe 1910-1963 Amy, whose code name was Cynthia and who later used the name Betty Pack, worked for the OSS in Vichy France. OSS sometimes used her as a swallow, a female agent used to seduce people to get secret information. She also participated in break-ins. One daring raid involved taking secret naval codes from a locked and guarded room. She also infiltrated the Vichy French Embassy in Washington DC and took important code books. 

Maria Gulovich fled Czechoslovakia when Hitler invaded her country and went to Hungary. She worked with OSS teams to assist downed pilots, refugees and resistance members. KGB arrested her. She maintained her OSS cover under fierce interrogation.

Brenda Marshall

Claire Maybelle Snyder 1907-1960, Claire, also known as Clara Fuentes, Claire Philips, Dorathy Fuentes as well as High Pockets, spy, entertainer, club owner, and author. She was awarded the Medal of Freedom. She joined the resistance in the Philippines, arranged forged papers, created a new identity, and established a gentleman’s club popular with Japanese officers in Manila. Phillips built an extensive spy ring which harvested information from the Japanese officers who patronized the club. She transmitted information she collected to American forces in the Pacific to counter Japanese force movements. She worked with the guerrilla movement to smuggle food, medicines, supplies and information to prisoners of war where she became known as High Pockets. She acquired the name because of her method of smuggling messages hidden in her brassiere.
On May 23, 1944, Japanese military police captured Claire. Inside a Japanese prison, they tortured her for information. Despite the torture, Claire refused to talk. Held in solitary confinement for six months, she was to be executed for espionage. In January 1945, liberated from the prison by American forces, she was close to starving to death.

Marlene Dietrich

Marlene Dietrich became an American citizen in 1939. She volunteered for the OSS and served by entertaining troops on the front lines and by broadcasting nostalgic songs as propaganda to battle weary German troops. She received the Medal of Freedom for her work.

Hedy Lamarr Actress Hedy Lamarr contributed to the OSS by co-producing an anti-jamming device for torpedoes. She also devised a clever way of frequency hopping that prevented the enemy from intercepting American military messages. Famous for the Road movies with Bob Hope, everyone knew she was an actress but few knew she was a spy.

Barbara Lauwers-Cpl. Barbara Lauwers, Women's Army Corps, received a Bronze Star for her OSS work. She cobbled fake passports and papers for other spies. Instrumental in Operation Sauerkraut, she used German prisoners to spread black propaganda about Adolf Hitler behind enemy lines. She created the League of Lonely War Women, or VEK in German. She used this mythical organization to demoralize German troops by spreading the belief that any soldier on leave could display a VEK symbol and get a girlfriend. One of her operations was so successful that 600 Czechoslovak troops defected behind Italian lines.

Spy Mavis Baity with Enigma Machine

Rochelle Hudson 1916 – 1972)Rochelle was an American actress from the 1930s through the 1960s. She married Harold Thompson, head of the Storyline Department at Disney Studios. She and her husband posed as a vacationing couple in Mexico to detect if there was any German activity in the different areas. One vacation they uncovered a supply of high test aviation gas hidden by German agents in Baja, California.

Some of the other women who served America during WW11: Mary Louise Prather, Juliana Mickwitz, Elizabeth P. McIntosh, Genevieve Feinstein, Mary Louise Prather, and many, many other women.

Spy FiFi- One of the most decorated

The OSS was active in every country in Europe, aiding the resistance groups and monitoring enemy activity, and also had spies in enemy countries as well as in the Pacific theater. Eventually the OSS became the CIA, Central Intelligence Agency.

I hope you enjoyed this glimpse into the world of women spies and look for my book, SPIES LIKE HER, when it releases in 2016.

 

LEAVE A COMMENT FOR A CHANCE TO WIN ANGEL WITH STEEL WINGS.

 

Do you prefer historical romance or suspense/mystery romance?

ANGEL WITH STEEL WINGS is a World War II romance where Steel Magnolias meet Band of Brothers. While doing her part test flying planes, Mandy McCabe escapes her dead-end life in Hangman’s Hollow, Tennessee as a Woman Air Service Pilot, WASP. Can she escape from her past? Major Harvey Applegate lost his wife to the WASP program, and he’s convinced Yankee Doodle Gals have no place flying in the war effort. He determines to protect the remaining ladies by sending them packing back to the home front. Both Mandy and Harvey experience immediate attraction, which increases Harvey’s desire to send Mandy home to safety. Can a man burdened with memories of death undertake added danger? Will their new love survive the test? One love. Two goals. Someone has to give.