Inventors and Patents From the City of Hollywood

Hollywood is home to many innovators. Many of Hollywood’s most iconic celebrities and a few were even inventors themselves. Here are some of them: Hedy Lamarr, Harry Connick Jr., Samuel Gustman, and Steven Spielberg.

Hedy Lamarr was an inventor

Born in Vienna, Hedy Lamarr was the most sought after actress of her era. Despite having a very successful acting career, she also found time to create her own inventions. A new type of traffic light, and a fizzy tablet for making soda were just two of the items Lamarr invented. After her career in the movie industry ended, she turned to the inventor world and began to design new products.

Lamarr, who was also a talented pianist, co-invented a system for secret communication between two ships. She and pianist George Antheil received a patent for the invention on August 11, 1942. But they did not realize that it would benefit the military until 20 years later, when it was used on U.S. Navy ships during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Hedy Lamarr was considered one of the most beautiful actresses of the 1940s. In addition to acting, she was also a mathematician, physicist, and astronomer. She received a Hollywood Walk of Fame star in 1960 for her work. She also co-invented an early version of frequency-hopping spectrum communication, which is used in wireless communications today.

While working for Hughes, Hedy Lamarr was studying the earliest forms of flight and came up with a design for a swept-wing airplane. She also met the composer George Antheil, who worked as a government munitions inspector. Lamarr later confided in Antheil about the sinking of the SS City of Benares.

Harry Connick received a patent

The invention of electronic sheet music is the brainchild of Harry Connick Jr. The idea came to him when he was watching a big band perform outdoors. The band members were reading sheet music from the wind, but he wanted to do something better. He bought enough blue and white G3 Power Macs with rotatable screens to have the musicians read the music electronically.

In 2002, Connick received a U.S. patent for a system that synchronizes the music display of different players in an orchestra. In addition, he played the role of Leo Markus on the TV show Will & Grace from 2002 to 2006.

Connick has also performed on stage. His Broadway debut was in 2006 in “The Pajama Game.” He then appeared in “On a Clear Day You Can See Forever” in the 2011-12 season. He also founded the first multi-racial Mardi Gras krewe and helped rebuild New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. He has a wife and two children.

Connick has been in the music industry for many years. He released his first solo instrumental album in fifteen years, “Other Hours Connick on Piano” on the Marsalis Music label. He performed the album live on American Idol on May 2, 2013. He later appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show to discuss the album and the project. He also announced a tour of the United States this summer to promote the new album.

Steven Spielberg received a patent

Steven Allan Spielberg was born in 1946 in Cincinnati, Ohio, and is one of the most influential film personalities in the world. He has received numerous awards and is considered one of Hollywood’s most successful filmmakers. He has received over a dozen Oscar nominations, produced more than a dozen top-grossing films, and applied for several patents. Spielberg studied film at California State University, Long Beach, and was one of the youngest directors to sign a long-term contract with a major Hollywood studio.

The patent issued to Spielberg covers two distinct inventions. The first is for a switching device and the second is for an apparatus and method to annotate a line-based document. It allows multiple users to annotate the same document. Both patents were issued by the USPTO in January 2012.

Samuel Gustman received a patent

Samuel Gustman is an information technology (IT) expert with 28 years of experience. He has served as chief technology officer of the USC Shoah Foundation and is the associate dean of the USC Libraries. He also is the founder and chief technical officer of the USC Digital Repository.

He has two patents. One is related to switching devices and the other is related to a method and apparatus for annotating line-based documents. The latter allows multiple users to annotate a document. The USPTO issued the patent in January 2012 to Gustman.

C. Francis Jenkins received a patent

C. Francis Jenkins is the inventor of the motion-picture projector. He received the Scott Medal and the Elliott Cresson Medal for his inventions. In 1891, Jenkins began experimenting with motion pictures. He also invented the Phantoscope. His inventions included the Phantoscope and the high-speed camera. His inventions revolutionized the way people saw motion pictures and helped the film industry to grow.

Jenkins received the patent in 1898 for his invention after he published his first article in “The Photographic Times.” It was a book about the motion picture industry, and Jenkins was credited as the inventor. He also published numerous articles and books about his inventions, and even wrote a book about one of his inventions, “Animated Pictures.”

Jenkins also received a patent for his invention of motion picture sound. He also founded the Jenkins Television Corporation, the first television station in the U.S., which broadcast on 4.95 MHz with 5,000 watts. Jenkins died in 1934. Jenkins is one of the most influential people in the history of cinema and television.

The earliest version of the camera/projector was hand-cranked and passed unexposed film from reel to reel. The projector exposed the film by using a lens arrangement and fixed aperture. The reverse of this system was designed with an arc lamp behind the film. It also set the reels at the same speed as the original recording. Then, the film was exposed and the image projected through the aperture.

Frederick McKinley Jones received a design patent

A design patent is a patent that identifies an object as being the original creation of a person. Frederick McKinley Jones was an African American who was born and raised in Kentucky. His parents divorced when he was a young child, leaving him to care for himself. During this difficult period, Frederick learned to fix mechanical issues by working as a mechanic on various odd jobs around the Cincinnati area.

After receiving the patent, he continued to innovate. He designed a portable x-ray machine and a wireless broadcast transmitter. He also made a personal radio and fashioned surgical instruments. He also invented a snow machine, which enabled doctors to transport patients to them in winter.

Frederick McKinley Jones was an inventor who made a name for himself in the early 20th century. He patented sixty inventions between 1919 and 1945, including forty in the refrigeration industry. His most famous invention, however, was the self-starting gas motor. His invention also paved the way for the frozen-food industry.

After he received his first design patent, he started working with Joseph A. Numero. Numero, who owned a business called Cinema Supplies, hired him to improve his work. Eventually, he became the head of the company and sold his patent rights to RCA.