Sign in with Facebook
91st out of 163 books
—
25 voters
Ecstasy and Me: My Life as a Woman
by
Hedy Lamarr,
Leo Guild
From the coverflap:
"They called her 'the most beautiful woman of the century', and in a decade when Hollywood still had superstars, she was a legend. These are Hedy Lamarr's uninhibited memoirs in which she conceals little about her six marriages and is outspoken about her hundreds of lovers"
"They called her 'the most beautiful woman of the century', and in a decade when Hollywood still had superstars, she was a legend. These are Hedy Lamarr's uninhibited memoirs in which she conceals little about her six marriages and is outspoken about her hundreds of lovers"
Paperback, 256 pages
Published
1967
by Fawcett Crest Book
(first published 1966)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
190)
My heroine. Guess I like 'em superlative. Hedy was a film star, a technological genius, the most stunning woman of the age, a bisexual nymphomaniac, a kleptomaniac, blew thirty million dollars before she was fifty, had the first onscreen orgasm and was possibly an Allied spy.
I wanna thieve her beauty...
I wanna thieve her beauty...
view all 19 comments
Sick, sad, and depressing. The book begins with an introduction by Hedy Lamarr's psychiatrist and it's all downhill from there. Married six times and raped by men and women alike, this book will depress you like no other Hollywood bio. Lamarr started out as a trophy wife to a Nazi munitions tycoon and ended up penniless thirty-five years later in spite of offers of financial support from Frank Sinatra and Lucille Ball. Hedy Lamarr makes Asia Argento look jolly by comparison.
Being an old movie fan I am angry and shocked at myself for never watching a single Hedy Lamarr film. After reading her autobiography "Ectasy and Me: My Life as a Woman" I am eager to watch her more acclaimed films.
Hedy Lamarr was an actress known for her beauty, her sex appeal, and also her smarts. In fact, she even has an invention patent (which sadly wasn't even mentioned in her book!). She was married 6 times, addicted to sex (having love affairs with both males and females), and had her ch...more
Hedy Lamarr was an actress known for her beauty, her sex appeal, and also her smarts. In fact, she even has an invention patent (which sadly wasn't even mentioned in her book!). She was married 6 times, addicted to sex (having love affairs with both males and females), and had her ch...more
This book is not only atrociously written, it is also riddled with fiction. Miss Lamarr, whose autobiography this book purports to be, always vehemently denied the validity of the book's content. In fact, she sued the publisher and ghostwriters for libel. Lamarr had unfortunately trusted that the ghostwriters, Leo Guild and Cy Rice, would do an admirable job with her story and signed off on the completed manuscript without having actually read it. Instead of any normal biography, what she receiv...more
In her autobiography, Hedy Lamarr is a bit sketchy on details of her career and personal life (there is no mention of her mathematical/scientific talents, which led to her co-inventing with composer George Antheil, an early technique for spread spectrum communications and frequency hopping, which are necessary for wireless communication from the pre-computer age to present day technology), but if one reads between the lines, one can discover a great deal about her psychological make-up. If one i...more
Jan 03, 2011
Georgie
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
women and men
Recommended to Georgie by:
no one
I read this book oh so long ago but it's a story that intrigues me still today. The candor and no holes barred honesty of Ms. Lamar was addicting. So many biographies wrriten by celebrities are written with such guard that I felt I've only gotten part of the star's life; but she writes with such honesty that I was intrigued from start to finish. Loved it!Ecstasy and Me: My Life as a Woman
What a hoot!
An easy read, she's no literary genius, but you have to admire her charming ambition, the innate confidence and the inflated ego.... if this was written in the Naughties there'd be alot more detail... her nymphomania, bisexuality, kleptomania, art collection, husband collection, psychiatric turbulence, burgeoning acting talents and behind-the-scenes Hollywood stories leave much to the readers imagination. However, in the late sixties this autobiography was considered a revelation, s...more
An easy read, she's no literary genius, but you have to admire her charming ambition, the innate confidence and the inflated ego.... if this was written in the Naughties there'd be alot more detail... her nymphomania, bisexuality, kleptomania, art collection, husband collection, psychiatric turbulence, burgeoning acting talents and behind-the-scenes Hollywood stories leave much to the readers imagination. However, in the late sixties this autobiography was considered a revelation, s...more
Lamarr is pretty frank about her life and her sexuality throughout most of the book She also comes off has having a lot of self awareness and being seemingly more modern than you would expect a classic Hollywood star to be. Her book also provides an interesting look at how movies were made under the studio system.
I was hoping that the book would touch on her patent but it didn't mention it at all, I guess because that wasn't really in the spirit of the book that she was writing and maybe it was...more
I was hoping that the book would touch on her patent but it didn't mention it at all, I guess because that wasn't really in the spirit of the book that she was writing and maybe it was...more
Like many autobiography, "Ecstasy and Me" starts really well, and then peters out in its second half. At first the writing is vivid and witty, and it's good fun to follow Hedi's rise to stardom and games of oneupmanship with Louis B. Mayer. However, later there's a great deal of obfuscation and she is very vague about why her career and her personal life unravelled so completely.
so much about what it is like to really be pretty instead of just think you are because you need it to get through the day. she was the original winona ryder (shoplifter/band guy dater). really weak, writing wise. she relies on transcripts from therapists for a few chapters and then just verbatim newspaper articles. it's almost like the last half is just "flanders sucks."
It was ok. She didn't name people in most of the "juicy" parts which would have made it more interesting.
Racy and ILLUMINATING! Now I want to watch Hedy Lamarr movies...
As with many autobiographies of this time in Hollywood, Hedy Lamarr's story is tragic and painful. What women had to deal with to be Hollywood stars back then is disgusting and so sad. Unfortunately, on top of her sad story, Hedy is also a terrible writer. Every paragraph is like a staccato of short, sharp sentences. "This happened. It hurt. Then I did this. No one liked it." There's no place to rest in this story. It's just bullet shot after bullet shot of heartache. Amazing photos, though!
Hedy Lamarr, actress and inventor of frequency hopping! ...Though that isn't mentioned at all in this book. Neither is much in the way of the craft of acting or behind the scenes anecdotes with your favorite stars. The focuses of this book are movies as a series of business deals and Lamarr's lively love and sex life. She doesn't name many names outside of her 6 husbands, but offers other details with remarkable candor.
Ok this started off entertaining, but it's just not funny anymore. I should probably read the new biography that came out instead of this phony book. But that's the appeal,I suppose - did Hedy really write this or not? Seems doubtful!
This book is so wonderfully silly. A great before-bedtime treat.
Great book, campy - quick, fun read.
May 07, 2013
Sourav Goyal
marked it as to-read
May 03, 2013
Sandy
marked it as to-read
May 02, 2013
Julia Murz
marked it as to-read
May 02, 2013
Cheryl Porter
marked it as to-read
Apr 27, 2013
Nivedita Dogra
marked it as to-read
Apr 22, 2013
Nicolas Tupégabet
marked it as to-read
Apr 06, 2013
Pablo Sáiz bueno
marked it as to-read
Apr 04, 2013
Mandie
marked it as to-read
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Hedy Lamarr (November 9, 1913 – January 19, 2000) was an Austrian-born American actress and scientist. Though known primarily for her acting (she was a major MGM contract star), she also co-invented an early form of spread spectrum communications technology, a key to modern wireless communication.
Lamarr was born as Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler in Vienna, Austria-Hungary, the daughter of Jewish parents...more
More about Hedy Lamarr...
Lamarr was born as Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler in Vienna, Austria-Hungary, the daughter of Jewish parents...more
Share This Book
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
“I would tell anyone who wants something from someone else to feign not wanting it. People are perverse. If you show great affection to them, they'll run the other way.”
—
3 people liked it
More quotes…
