Gal Gadot to play Jewish actress and inventor Hedy Lamarr

Gal Gadot will portray Hedy Lamarr in a Showtime biopic.

By World Israel News Staff

Showtime announced that Wonder Woman actress Gal Gadot will portray Jewish actress Hedy Lamarr in a limited biopic series about Hedy Lamarr. The news was made official at the cabler’s portion of the Television Critics Assoc. summer press tour on Friday.

The yet-to-be-titled biopic about the famous actress/inventor comes from The Affair creator Sarah Treem, who will executive-produce alongside Gadot, Warren Littlefield (The Handmaid’s Tale, Fargo), Katie Robbins (The Last Tycoon) and Jaron Varsano (My Dearest Fidel).

“The life of Hedy Lamarr was a truly fascinating one. She stood at the forefront of many issues that challenge women and our society today,” Jana Winograde, Showtime’s Co-President of Entertainment, said in a statement.

“In Gal Gadot, we have found the transcendent actress to portray the deeply complex Lamarr. And with the award-winning talents of Sarah Treem and Warren Littlefield, this is going to be a special series.”

This will mark Gadot’s first major stateside TV project.

Hedy Lamarr, born Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler, was a Jewish Austrian-born American film actress. Leaving her husband, an Austrian ammunition maker, she met Hollywood studio mogul Louis B. Mayer when traveling to London, who offered the beautiful Lamarr a movie contract.

Lamarr was also an inventor and at the start of World War II developed a radio guidance system for Allied torpedoes together with composer George Antheil. The U.S. Navy didn’t adopt the technology until the 1960s, but Lamarr’s and Antheil’s techniques were incorporated into Bluetooth technology and Wi-Fi.

Their contribution was recognized with their induction into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2014.