How Barbara Cartland won the war and other celebrities became inventors

WE have Dame Barbara Cartland to thank for defeating the Nazis.

Before the popular romantic novelist set the record for the most novels penned in a year (a massive 23!), Barbara was also an innovator.

In 1931 she and two RAF officers designed the first aircraft-towed airmail delivery glider.

Eventually the gliders were used as troop transports during D-Day and were considered vital to the success of the Allied invasion of Normandy.

She was plucked from obscurity to become one of Hollywood’s most alluring stars.

And for more than a decade Hedy Lamarr shared a screen with legends such as Clark Gable and James Stewart.

But the Austrian-born actress was much more than just “the most beautiful woman in Europe” as she was dubbed.

She was also a super-smart inventor who helped develop a radio guidance system to stop the Nazis jamming torpedoes.

The frequency-hopping spectrum spread technology eventually became a critical part of modern-day Wi-fi and Bluetooth which keep our mobile phone and tablet devices connected.

Lamarr was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2014.

But when she died 16 years ago she was buried in an unmarked grace in her native Austria. Now Hollywood star Susan Sarandon is leading a campaign to pay for a fitting memorial.

Here are some other stars with surprisingly inventive claims to fame.

Queen of scream horror film star Jamie Lee Curtis developed and patented a nappy that had a pocket to keep disposable wipes at hand for harassed parents.

Despite great interest, however, she dismissed companies that wouldn’t agree to make them biodegradable.

Julie Newmar (Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)

Slinky Julie Newmar was a dad’s favourite when playing sexy villainess Catwoman on the camp 1960s TV version of Batman.

Wearing a slinky catsuit inspired Julie to come up with “pantyhose with shaping band for cheeky derriere relief”, according to the patent she filed.

Essentially, she invented knickers which help mould the shape of your bum!

Iconic crooner Bing Crosby had an easy-going screen presence in musicals such as White Christmas and his Road movies with Bob Hope.

However, he was often blindsided – by his blinds. He had problems getting them to open and sit just the way he wanted so he devised a Window Sash Holder – which he patented in 1976, just a year before his death.

The legendary actor Marlon Brando, star of On The Waterfront and Apocalypse Now, was passionate about a lot of things – acting, activism and literally eating peanut butter by the jar, for instance.

He was also an Afro-Cuban drumming enthusiast. In 2002 Brando created a special conga drum with an inbuilt device to tighten and tune the instrument.

Among Marx Brother Zeppo’s many brainwaves was a clamp that’s been used to connect fuel pipes on space flights and supported the atomic bomb which was dropped on Hiroshima.

He also devised a watch to monitor patients’ pulse and trigger an alarm. His s work away from Groucho, Chico, Harpo and Gummo helped make him a multi-millionaire.

One of the 20th Century’s coolest icons, and star of The Great Escape and Bullitt, was also secretly quite capable, too. In 1969 he created a patent for a bucket seat. McQueen was a huge fan of motorsports and the bucket seat could be used in high-powered “muscle cars”. The specially-designed seats stop drivers from shifting around at high speeds.

Harry Houdini had a vested interest in ensuring his trick went as easily and safely as possible.

So the man dubbed the world’s greatest escapologist invented a diving suit that not only improved his act but was such a safety improvement it was adopted much more widely.

Author Mark Twain took plenty of time out from creating characters such as Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn to come up with inventions, too.

He lost a fortune on ill-advised ventures but did come up with one success that has been a support for billions of women ever since – the bra strap.

Twain patented the elastic hook clasp in 1871 as an “improvement in adjustable and detachable straps for garments.”

In 2010 patent records revealed The King of Pop was an inventor – of a pair of gravity-defying shoes.

It sounds like Michael invented a pair of sci-fi flying boots, but this special footwear helped him execute a trademark dance move.

The shoes would hook on to a special part of the stage and allow him to lean back and forth as if defying gravity.

Rock legend Neil Young, the man behind classic 70s albums After The Goldrush and Harvest, has a son, Ben, affected by cerebral palsy.

Neil and his boy bonded over model train sets, but the complicated controls meant Ben struggled to work them.

Brainy Neil created and patented an electric switching system to help him operate the trains.

Debates over whether mobile phones pose a hazard to your health have raged for years.

But illusionist Uri Geller took a break from bending spoons and baffling audiences to devise a radiation shield to keep users safe from any potential hazard.

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