Everybody Needs a Hobby

While we know many celebrities for the roles they played in television or film, the books they wrote, or the music they sang, a fair few individuals went the extra step in productivity and became inventors as well. Not all of the inventions stuck, but a surprising number survived the test of time and even inspired a couple of modern creations. Here's a short list of celebrities who you may not have realized shared this trait, as well as the ideas they birthed. 

Hedy Lamarr

Along with fellow inventor George Antheil, this famous actress came up with what is now essentially known as Wi-fi. In 1940, a discussion between the two friends about radio-controlled torpedoes resulted in Lamarr's suggestion of "frequency hopping." This idea was patented as a "Secret Communication System" but the invention was largely ignored due to its use of player-piano technology to alternate frequencies (something Antheil feared stigmatized them to the military.) Eventually, someone else was able to replicate and improve the technology, and the military got its act together, realizing that music could be weaponized too, just in time for Lamarr and Antheil's old patent to run out. in any case, the next time you watch Samson and Delilah on your iPad or similarly wireless device, be sure to thank the leading lady who developed the technology to make it possible.  

Zeppo Marx

Zeppo, the youngest of the famed Marx brothers, invented both a "cardiac pulse rate monitor" and a "method and watch mechanism" to track and regulate the speed of a heartbeat. What's better is that it would sense the change in speed with an electric cell-powered magnet, and would sound an alarm if it sensed a dramatic increase in the user's heart rate. Zeppo also invented a "vapor delivery pad for distributing of moist heat," or more appealingly titled: the heating pad. Clearly heart rate monitors have been useful for health and exercise-related purposes, but the heating pad has been similarly successful. As opposed to the previous method of wringing out hot towels, the heating pad is a much more efficient way to soothe patients' muscles or injuries. 

Marlon Brando

Sometimes when you get older, you get bored. In 2002, actor Marlon Brando patented a "drumhead tensioning device and method," which is essentially an automatic drum tuner. That's actually pretty handy.

Robert A. Heinlein

Famous science fiction writer and inventor of: the waterbed. After spending extended time in a hospital bed for pulmonary tuberculosis in the 1930's, Heinlein decided he would have much rather enjoyed his stay in something more comfortable. He drew up detailed plans and began including waterbeds in his stories, though the first waterbed wasn't made until many years later.