Hedy Lamarr's Final Photos Prove Her Iconic Beauty Stood The Test Of Time

Decades after her passing, Hedy Lamarr is still considered one of the most beautiful women to have graced the screen. Sadly for her fans, the star stopped acting long before her death in 2000, but one thing that never changed was her striking appearance. 

Lamarr is often quoted as having written in her autobiography (which might not be the most accurate term for it), "Ecstasy and Me," "My face has been my misfortune. It has attracted six unsuccessful marriage partners. It has attracted all the wrong people into my boudoir and brought me tragedy and heartache for five decades. My face is a mask I cannot remove ... I curse it" (via Los Angeles Times). Strong words, and we wouldn't rule out the possibility that she may have felt that way at some point (sure enough, those sentiments were brought up in the trailer of the 2017 documentary "Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story"). That said, Lamarr famously sued her publisher, writers, and others involved in the book's production and claimed its contents were false. So, again, "autobiography" might not be the most apt classification, and the sentiments might not have been entirely true either. After all, she certainly didn't sound like she was trying to downplay her legendary looks when Forbes spoke to her in the late 1980s. Lamarr was quoted as having said that while she wouldn't do a photoshoot for the outlet's story on her and George Antheil's frequency hopping invention, "I still look good" (via the Los Angeles Times).

Well, looking at the above picture of Lamarr from the 1990s, we'd have to agree on that. In fact, we may even argue that the actor-turned-inventor became even more beautiful as she aged, with her features still striking as a 70-something. When you've got it, you've got it!

Given her reputation as one of Hollywood's most attractive faces when she was young, it should probably come as no surprise that Hedy Lamarr's haters were quick to run stories about her losing her looks as she aged. Unfortunately, there were two factors that made the rumors all the more juicy. For one, like we said, the actor had stepped away from her acting career young, her last film credit being in the late 1950s. On top of that, she'd also stepped back from public life, which meant the world hadn't seen what she looked like and couldn't contest the claims made. However, once Lamar saw a particularly cruel barb (and a goat named in her honor), she called it out in no uncertain terms. 

Back in 1979, both the National Enquirer and San Francisco Chronicle took major digs at Lamarr, the former labeling her "old and ugly" (as well as a recluse) and the latter sharing pictures of a two-headed goat named after her. Yes, really. Enter, Lamarr and her legal team, who sued the outlets for going too far and accused them of tarnishing her public image, which was held "as the very personification, essence and epitome of beauty" (via The Baltimore Sun). Yas, queen.

In the years since Lamarr's death, she's regained recognition as both a star and an inventor, and in 2017, she was the subject of the Susan Sarandon-produced "Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story." She's since been reframed as an icon of all-around excellence, and the possibility that her beauty was something of a curse revisited. "I hope that we can begin to challenge the myth that you have to choose to either be beautiful and sexy and desirable or smart," Sarandon told Celebrity Page of what she wanted the documentary to achieve. Amen to that.