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Home Movie CraftsActors + Actresses Hedy Lamarr: Q&A with Author Patrick Agan

Hedy Lamarr: Q&A with Author Patrick Agan

Ramon Novarro biography Beyond Paradise

Author Patrick Agan, among whose books are Clint Eastwood: The Man Behind the Myth and The Decline and Fall of the Love Goddesses, has been working on a biography of MGM star Hedy Lamarr, at one point considered one of the most beautiful women this side of Orion.

The Austrian-born “exotic” import was brought to the studio in the late 1930s, and would remain at MGM well into the following decade. Though hardly one of the greatest actresses to come out of either Europe or Hollywood, Lamarr possessed an undeniable charisma that made her thoroughly watchable in both biblical and modern tales, whether well cast or totally miscast, whether fully clothed or fully naked (as in Gustav Machatý’s scandalous 1933 Czech drama Ecstasy).

A temptress with a heart, Hedy Lamarr was a young adulteress in Ecstasy; an unwitting Angel of Death in Algiers; the Other Woman in H.M. Pulham, Esq.; a Russian agent who discovers democracy, Clark Gable, and baseball in Comrade X; a Spanish-Californian in Tortilla Flat; swarthy siren Tondelayo in White Cargo; Joan of Arc (!) in The Story of Mankind; and most famously, a perfectly coiffed Delilah in Cecil B. DeMille’s highly entertaining atrocity Samson and Delilah.

 

Hedy LamarrWhat does your Hedy Lamarr manuscript cover – Lamarr’s films, her private life, both? – and how did you become interested in Lamarr as a book subject?

My book is an unauthorized biography even though it contains many quotes given me by Lamarr when we were talking over many hours about doing a book entitled “Beyond Ecstasy.” My book covers everything, including the movies, the woman, and the myth.

Personally, I always thought of Hedy as being an available, an accessible love goddess, unlike the aloof images of Greta Garbo and Marlene Dietrich, who were both still huge stars when she got to Hollywood in the fall of 1937 – even though their gloss had been tarnished when they’d both been recently labeled “box-office poison.” Hedy had her work cut out for her.

Aloofness was something Hedy didn’t – couldn’t — project after the publicity surrounding her running around naked for ten minutes in Ecstasy. That picture made her a sensation long before she sailed past Ellis Island on the Normandie. In fact, she was barely off the ship before reporters surrounded her with questions about it. She must have thought she was getting away from it, as she was so upset she had to take refuge at the Plaza until her train left for California.

As a kid from a town in Upstate New York, I didn’t know from Ecstasy but I sure knew from Hedy when I saw her on The Late Show in Boom Town and The Conspirators. Frankly, I’d never seen anything like her, and when Samson and Delilah was re-released in 1959 I stayed in the theater for three shows.

I could say she was underrated, but what I really think is that she was underappreciated, most likely because of her beauty. Surprisingly modest in person, Hedy nonetheless had a great sense of humor which I think came across best in My Favorite Spy. [MGM head Louis B.] Mayer briefly pushed her as a new Garbo but it was quickly apparent that she had more to offer than copycat glamour. She had her own brand of style and, when she had the chance, of acting. When she got to Hollywood and made Algiers, everybody was copying her. [Joan Bennett, in fact, went from cutesy blonde to Lamarr-ish brunette at that time.]

As an European star during World War II she had a lot stacked against her, but she became a big star and a household name nonetheless. She deserves to be remembered.

 

Hedy Lamarr, William Powell in The Heavenly Body
Hedy Lamarr, William Powell in The Heavenly Body

 

Clark Gable, Hedy Lamarr in Comrade XWhat would you say was Hedy Lamarr’s forte as an actress?

As an actress, I think Hedy’s forte was surprise. True, the reason she got butts into seats was her beauty, but once they were there she let them know there was more to her than the languid beauty of Algiers, much more than just soulful eyes and a hairdo.

After all, this woman had studied with Max Reinhardt and had starred on the Viennese stage in Sissi, giving a remarkable performance. Hollywood just looked at the face and thought that anyone who looked that good couldn’t possibly have talent, but when she needed it it was there. Her pal Clark Gable first helped show it off in Comrade X [right].

Though it’s endlessly dismissed as a Ninotchka rip-off, the movie is a hilarious take-off on wartime prejudices and sensibilities, and Hedy surprised everyone with her comic sense. Stripped of glamour, she exuded a slap-on-the-shoulder charm she rarely got to exercise. She wasn’t funny again until the much calmer The Heavenly Body three years later.

Hedy Lamarr in Tortilla Flat
Hedy Lamarr in Tortilla Flat

Do you have a favorite Hedy Lamarr film and/or performance?

As for a favorite Lamarr performance, I would have to say Tortilla Flat is right up there. Her performance as the Mexican girl, Dolores, was amazing in its simplicity and clarity, and Karl Freund’s cinematography brought out an earthiness that she’d never shown before. This was a girl who knew she was beautiful, but she also knew there was much more to life than that and wasn’t ready to settle for anything less than a faithful husband with a job. Hedy had to go to the front office to get that part. The chemistry between her and John Garfield is great. It was strong between her and Spencer Tracy, too, but for the wrong reason as she disliked him intensely. Whether Hedy and Garfield’s characters lived happily ever after remains to be seen, but we can easily visualize Tracy’s Pilon carrying on as usual, looking for a bottle of wine and a free place to drink it in.

Personally, I like Hedy as The Strange Woman where she chews up the scenery as she’s chewing up co-stars Louis Hayward and George Sanders. She produced it, hired her co-stars, helped design her costumes, and even oversaw the musical score, generally running herself ragged trying to make this a hit. She learned the hard way that putting your own money on the line wasn’t a good idea. Not being a major studio release [United Artists handled the distribution in the U.S.], it didn’t have the theater spread that would have made it a moneymaker.

Hedy Lamarr in White CargoAnd then there are two of the movies’ most famous temptresses, Tondelayo and Delilah. Hedy knew White Cargo [right] for what it was, and enjoyed her romp in the jungle. [Director] Richard Thorpe just stood back and let her go to town. Hedy’s biggest complaint was that she practiced her sexy dance all summer long and then it was mostly cut out by the censors.

Samson and Delilah was Hedy’s high water mark, giving her the superstardom she’d long deserved, plus [it was] in Technicolor. Mayer was nuts not to have put her in a color picture, although he did have one planned, Quo Vadis, which was cancelled by the war. Hedy was to play the slave girl Eunice, which was later played by Marina Berti [in the 1951 MGM release, starring Robert Taylor and Deborah Kerr. Samson and Delilah was made at Paramount. By that time, Lamarr was no longer under contract to MGM.] It would have been a revelation for Hedy, as she exploded in color, but it took [director Cecil B.] DeMille to make that happen. The results were a breathtaking success as we all know, even out-grossing Gone with the Wind for a time. Hedy knew it was crucial for her and devoted herself to it. DeMille understood pampered beauties, since he’d practically invented them so he knew just how to tease, cajole, and encourage a terrific performance out of her.

I also think she was equally matched with Bob Hope in 1951’s My Favorite Spy. She combined sex appeal and slapstick in what was, oddly, her last major movie. DeMille wanted her for The Greatest Show on Earth, but Betty Hutton got that part as Hedy decided it was just too physical for her, and, she’d laugh, “all that dirt and noise and exercise. I said no.” Hutton claims she was the only one ever considered for the part, but I have proof to the contrary. In a strange way, Betty’s lucky. As the only survivor she gets to rewrite history any way she wants to.

And finally, I think she’s terrific in 1957’s The Female Animal, bringing a perfect poignancy at age 44 to aging movie star [Vanessa Windsor]. Like many an actress of her age, Hedy’s Vanessa had a habit of falling for the wrong man, in this case movie extra George Nader. Throw in Jane Powell as her adopted daughter and you have quite a stew of emotions. Hedy limned the responsibilities of the forties-into-fifties star perfectly, especially in the scene where she wants to announce her engagement to Nader and has to decide who to give it to, [gossip columnist] Hedda Hopper or Louella Parsons. Like Scarlett at the barbecue choosing who’s to get her dessert, she pauses and says “this
story, I think this should go to … Hedda” – odd, considering that Hedda, unlike Parsons, had never been much of a Lamarr supporter. Sadly, Universal chopped it up and Hedy disowned [The Female Animal]. A flop but, seen today, a fascinating one.

 

Hedy Lamarr, Judy Garland, Lana Turner in Ziegfeld Girl
Hedy Lamarr, Judy Garland, Lana Turner in Ziegfeld Girl

 

What was Hedy Lamarr’s relationship with MGM mogul Louis B. Mayer like? Mayer was the one who brought her into the MGM stable, but once Lamarr was in, Mayer didn’t seem to know what to do with her.

First of all, L. B. Mayer had never met a lady like Hedy. Though notorious for her ten minutes of on-screen nudity [in Ecstasy], she was nonetheless from the Jewish aristocracy of Vienna and, despite her conversion to Catholicism, was a woman well out of his class. He was used to fashioning stars out of chorus girls and shopkeeper’s daughters – and the occasional Swedish shampoo girl – but he rarely got his hands on an opinionated upper-class lady. He loved the idea he was getting an international star for only $500 a week, but once he got home he was at a loss.

(By the way, Hedy [whose real name was Hedwig Kiesler] always took credit for her new last name, Lamarr, “la mer, the sea.” It was on a list that Mayer and his brain trust came up with on the Normandie, but she said she made the final decision.) [Mayer was a huge fan of exotic, dark-haired, silent-screen siren Barbara La Marr. La Marr, who led an unhappy life, died at age 29 in 1926.]

Hollywood was a comedown for Hedy after the life she’d lived in Europe, and Mayer was intimidated by that. He didn’t know how to handle her either personally or professionally, especially when she began haunting his office demanding a script. After meeting her fellow female stars, and her initial walk down the length of Mayer’s imperial office, she was sent home with little more than promises. L. B.’s secretary, Ida Koverman, became both her supporter and friend, probably because Hedy was bombarding her bosses’ office with phone calls and Ida recognized there was something to Hedy that her boss had yet to recognize.

At the same time Hedy was looking for a part, the [censor at the] Hays Office was declaiming Ecstasy [above] as a “story of illicit love and frustrated sex” whose only purpose was to “arouse lustful feelings in those who see it.” What a quandary Mayer was in! Stashing her away in Beverly Hills with [Budapest-born] Ilona Massey so they could learn English together proved a bad idea. Ilona quickly got [a supporting role in the 1937 Eleanor Powell vehicle] Rosalie, while Hedy fumed.

I think part of Mayer’s problem about Hedy was that she was out of place in the climate of 1938. European sex symbols were box office poison and here he was trying to launch one, renaming her after a tragic silent movie star to boot. Plus, he was very interested in her but she wasn’t about to play the doting daughter as other women did.

After a number of screen tests, L. B. loaned her to Walter Wanger for Algiers and the rest is history. Mayer not only shut her up, but he made money on the deal as well. She came back to the MGM lot as the most publicized movie star in the world, but he still didn’t know what to do with her. An American Cinderella was his answer – and that was a disaster despite Mayer’s obsessive interest in it.

He hired Josef von Sternberg, Dietrich’s Svengali, to direct Cinderella, now called I Take This Woman, but that quickly proved to be a mistake. Mayer’s movie factory was not a place where von Sternberg could leisurely shine, plus Mayer was insistent on advising von Sternberg on his “Hedy Lamarr picture” and this made the whole thing a disaster. Also, Mayer had assigned Spencer Tracy as Hedy’s co-star and their lack of chemistry was immediately apparent. After two weeks there were only a couple of Hedy’s close-ups that were salvageable. Von Sternberg was fired and Frank Borzage took over, but after a long and expensive production the picture was shut down to the tune of $800,000.

Before I Take This Woman was resumed, Hedy was in Lady of the Tropics but as good as it was, it didn’t match Mayer’s expectations and he thought of putting her in the ensemble cast of The Women, most likely in the Paulette Goddard part. Perhaps that would have been a good idea, as Hedy’s sense of on-screen humor could have been exposed before Comrade X.

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21 comments

Howard Karr -

Hope your book is available soon. I have read everything that there is on the life of Hedy Lamarr and STILL come out confused. There are so many comments that may or may not have been attributed to her. Her reponse to Merv Griffin about a glamrous, rich image and her answer of “I never lived that way”, is not true as we all know. she lived in a castle and had servants, maids, jewels etc. Even her short time in Hollywood was a life filled with glamour and riches. At times I see her as a victim and feel bad for her and at times I dislike her very much. I just wish, once and for all, a demonstrative , comprehensive, truthful book will come out based on fact that sets the record straight. Thank you.

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Kevin Sanderson -

“I never lived that way” was more appropriate probably to her life as Hedy Lamarr. When she lived in the castle with lots of servants when married to Mandl pre-Lamarr, it became a bore to her as she had no freedom as a young woman. She was spied on, etc. Her life in Hollywood at Hedgerow Farm was more of a country girl as she fought the glamour girl image. She raised chickens! When she was out from her MGM contract in 1945 she pulled in her spending and made John Loder pay for things like dinner. After Delilah she had less and less money coming in and had to sell things a few times. I’ve never found a reason to dislike her, especially from all the made up stuff and you can smell that from most gossip writers. She was early at getting plastic surgery but not before her late 40 forties at the earliest from what I’ve found. Dr. Feelgood’s drug injections as Vitamin B were bad as well but she invested in his work as she didn’t know nor did JFK know how bad they were for them. You have to comb many sites, books, video, etc. In a 2006 documentary the shoplifting charges were weak drummed up for the first, and a companion putting stuff in her bag for the second. Some of the best is from Alexandra Dean who did the recent documentary that was on PBS. Find Robert Osborne’s quotes, he knew Hedy and they were friends. Ruth Barton is a little half baked at times, but has some good info. Stephen Michael Shearer is not bad and has a new book out in December, Richard Rhodes is good and George Antheil’s short chapter in his book is great. I too wish Patrick Agan’s book had been released.

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Roy Norris -

Will your book on Hedy Lamarr ever be published? There is no detailed biography that tells her story truthfully or deals with the real woman. Do it for her and her memory. There are thousands of us waiting and time is running out for both you and us!

Best regards –

Roy Norris

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keshav -

Hedy is one of the most beautiful lady we never might have seen. But when it comes to her personal life people used her like anything. if you still have any other information and photos or movies. please help me.

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RENA SCHARLOW -

I HAVE A FRIEND THAT COULD BE HER TWIN,SHE HAS AN EXCITING BACK GROUND,I AM 84yrs,I HAVE SEEN ALL HER MOVIES,I HAVE THEM IN TAPE’S,DVD’S,IS THERE ANY DVD’S MADE OF HER LIFE? THANK YOU,RENA

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Susan Taft -

Can anyone direct me to a photograph that Heddy Lamarr and Joan Bennett were merged half faces, cut down the middle for their likeness to be noted?

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Don Pippin -

Hedy Lamarr is missed. She was an original. Many have tried to copy her magic. None have had success. May her history always be read. May her films be viewed Her memory lingers on and on and rightfully should, Long live the magic of Lamarr. Thank you Hedy Lamarr.

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Michael Sweeney -

Hi Patrick,

What is the current status on the book? I tried sending you a few emails but they came back, what gives?

Reply
cst -

Oops… You have to click on “CST”…

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cst -

THE FILMS OF HEDY LAMARR: Since this title is out of print for a loooong time, unavailable and Lamarr and Christopher Young (who wrote it) are both deceased, I’ve decided to scan & OCR the first pages of this very interesting book about this fascinating woman… Enjoy!

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william French -

Hello
I ‘fell’ in love with Hedy Lamarr at age 10 when I saw her play Delilah. A more beautiful woman I have yet to see to this day.At my age I was not fully aware of acting abilities but just knocked out by her beauty. I became a fan but sadly she did little work after deMille’s masterpiece. I started a scrap book on her and featuring ‘Delilah.’ I still collect and read anything about her. I am now 69 years and can’t get enough. So amongst Lamarr fans I am certainly happy to read this interview, agree with your comments and most importantly learn that you are doing a book. I encourage you to finish it so I can enjoy more of what you will have to tell us. It will take pride of place amongst my collection and very much look forward to doing so.

Regards,
William French

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Monique K. -

I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed this interview! Finally someone is out to tell the truth about the Lovely Ms. Lamarr! Mr. Agan sounds like he truly has Ms. Lamarr’s best interest at heart and isn’t out to spread idle gossip. When telling someone’s life story you must include the good with the bad and I really feel that Mr. Agan will tell the Truth, the Whole Truth and Nothing but the Truth! I am highly anticipating the book!

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Allan Jirikovec -

ANXIOUSLY WAITING FOR HEDY’S BIOGRAPHY. . .HOW LONG WILL WE HAVE TO WAIT???

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Clement Concodora -

Wonderful article. Has the book been published yet?
Mr. Agan may be the last important writer to have known Miss Lamarr and thus his work may have the greatest value. Is there any way of knowing the status of the book. Hedy was as great a Myth as well as a true flesh and blood legend in her own time as Flynn, Garbo and even Brooks…but like everything else about her work…she is underrated and thus undervalued. I hope Mr Agan can change that for the rest of the world.

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Michael Sweeney -

I have followd Patrick’s career since I met the man in West Hollywood and he gave me a signed copy of “The Decline & Fall of the Love Godesses” His biography on Dustin Hoffman was frist rate!

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Anthony Bruno -

Looking foreward to your book on HL. When will it be available. Surprised you mentioned nothing in your interview about her co- invention? I guess it would be in the book. Also, do you know if the german movie documentary with Mickey Rooney ever be available to be seen in USA?

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Kevin Sanderson -

It’s on YouTube – search for Hedy Lamarr: Secrets of a Hollywood Star (2006) – Documentary…a professional genealogist I know explained the problem with Hedy’s adopted son James birth certificate shown in the film. An adopted person’s birth record is sealed by the court and it takes a court order to open with restrictions. The baby’s name and birth date is allowed but the parents’ name is sealed. What James probably had was what is called a secondary birth certificate that was released when John Loder adopted him around the time Hedy and John bought the house on Roxbury Drive – around 1946 after they moved from Hedgerow Farm. That’s why the later Roxbury Drive is on the certificate. It still has Hedy Lamarr Markey which she hadn’t been since her marriage to Loder. James real parents according to Hedy in an interview in March 1940 Movie Mirror magazine were dead. James’ natural father was Irish and died in an accident before he was born and his mother died shortly after. The adoption took a while to complete. He was allowed in the Markey home when his room was completed in 1939 which was a couple months after Hedy first saw him at the Children’s Society and she had to fight them when she divorced Gene Markey as they wanted James back. Hedy and James were estranged later when he was about 11 or 12. He had gotten in trouble at Chadwick Military School when he was about 8 and was not allowed to stay there anymore. His teacher Ingrid Gray and her husband agreed to let James stay with them and he could go to school in the daytime as that’s what James wanted. Hedy didn’t like it but finally agreed and gave James a trust fund. It was his choice to leave. When James contested Hedy’s will and lost (Anthony and Denise gave him a $50,000 settlement out of the $3.3 Million estate…mostly stocks) he talked about the birth certificate and raised the issue in the tabloids. After the ruckus settled down Denise insisted they all get a DNA test (she talks about it after a screening of the Alexandra Dean Bombshell documentary) and the test proved that James was not related biologically and really was adopted.

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Vincent -

Fascinating. Based upon what I read here, this promises to be a splendid book on one of the more misunderstood actresses of the Golden Age.

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George Gharibians -

I’m very happy that Mr. Agan finally decided to do his book on The Legendary Hedy Lamarr. I have read some of his articles on Miss Lamarr years ago, and I’ve always enjoyed it. I’m sure that we (Hedy Lamarr fans) will finally get the chance to read the true Hedy Lamarr Story. Thank you Mr. Agan.

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Allan Jirikovec -

At long last, we will be able to hear the real story of “the fairest of them all!” We look forward to Patrick Agan’s biography of Hedy, and just know it will be a best seller.

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David Shelton -

Great interview! Can’t wait to read the whole book on Hedy Lamarr!

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