7 world celebrities who became inventors and received patents

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Thousands of patents for a variety of inventions are issued worldwide every year. Many patents have been awarded to the most real inventors who have been doing this all their lives. But in the list of people who have documented their rights to create something new, you can find the names of famous actors, performers and musicians. In our today's review, we will focus on celebrities who became inventors.

Marlon Brando

One of the most famous American actors of the twentieth century, Marlon Brando was fond of playing the drums all his life. At the end of his life, the famous actor was preoccupied with obtaining a patent for a new "conga" drum that could be tuned with one screw from the bottom instead of the five or six usually located at the top. From 2002 to 2004, Marlon Brando received four patents for his drum tuning system, but he simply did not have time to introduce his invention into mass production.

One of the famous congeiro Poncho Sanchez played the unique drum of Marlon Brando in 2011. According to him, the sound of this drum is very good, but he doubts the practicality of this invention. A cool idea would have required too much money to implement.

Julie Newmar

She became famous back in the 1960s after playing Catwoman in the Batman films. In 1974, the actress patented women's tights with a special shaping tape "for a daring buttocks relief." At the same time, the tights invented by the actress were immediately produced under the Nudemar brand.

Lawrence Welk

An American musician, television impresario and host of his own popular show, included in the list of the 50 greatest TV stars of all history, in the 1960s he patented the design of an ashtray invented by him. His ashtray began to bear the name "Velkskaya" and outwardly resembled an accordion, an instrument that Lawrence Welk was fluent in.

Jamie Lee Curtis

The actress gained recognition and the unofficial title of "Scream Queen" thanks to her filming in a large number of horror films, including "Halloween", "School Ball", "Fear Train", released in the late 1970s and early 1980s. And in 1987, the actress, who had become a mother by that time, patented her own design of diapers, adding moisture-proof baby panties with a moisture-resistant pocket for napkins used only on one side. At one time, the actress categorically refused an offer to sell her invention to a company that produces biodegradable diapers. True, Jamie Lee Curtis's patent expired 13 years ago and now her invention is considered public domain.

Gary Burghoff

The famous Broadway actor, who became widely known after the musical "You are a good man, Charlie Brown" and starred in several television series, in 1992 received a patent for the invention of an improved device for attracting fish. A special container located on the surface of the water, with the help of a sound or lighting generator, attracts fish at a certain time, making sounds or illuminating the reservoir, and flexible antennas immersed in the water and amplifying the effect of the attractor imitate algae.

Hedy Lamarr

The Austrian and American actress was at her peak in popularity in the 1930s and 1940s. In addition to filming films, Hedy Lamarr was engaged in scientific activities and was a keen inventor. In 1941, the actress received a patent for the invention of a system that allows remote control of torpedoes. True, the value of the technology could be appreciated only after many years. The actress has created a communication system in which it is impossible to calculate from the outside the channel that transmitted the command with the coordinates of the torpedo, respectively, the lethal charge cannot be redirected by re-registering the command. They began to use this system only 20 years later, and after half a century, the invention of Hedy Lamarr began to be widely used. This system is used in mobile phones and Wi-Fi.

Florence Lawrence

She was called the first movie star, because she started acting back in 1906, she soon worked with director D. V. Griffith and very quickly became the most recognizable actress of that time. At the same time, no one would have been able to name her then. There were two passions in her life: cinema and cars. She loved driving and even invented a turn signal brake light for a car. She herself said: "I have invented an alarm lever for a car, which, being placed on the rear of the fender, can be raised or lowered using electric buttons." It is worth noting that the mother of the actress, Charlotte Bridgewood, invented and patented the electric windshield wiper in 1917.

History knows many examples when artists and musicians showed talents in completely different areas. It is even more surprising that many of them came up with really useful and non-trivial innovations without any formal technical training or knowledge of the sciences. Houdini, McQueen, Jackson and other talents can rightfully bear the proud title of inventors.