George Antheil

The Profile

George Antheil (1900–1959) was an American composer famed for the brash modernism of Ballet Mécanique and later for Hollywood film scores. Nicknamed the “Bad Boy of Music,” he collaborated with actor-inventor Hedy Lamarr on a WWII-era frequency‑hopping spread‑spectrum patent.

Born in Trenton, New Jersey; active in 1920s Paris avant‑garde; authored the autobiography “Bad Boy of Music”; composed film scores including The Pride and the Passion; co-invented frequency-hopping spread spectrum with Hedy Lamarr; died in 1959.

Reviews circle around Ballet Mécanique and its riot of player pianos, propellers, and bells, casting Antheil as a fearless avant-gardist from Trenton to Paris. One review ties his mechanized rhythms to his WWII-era frequency-hopping invention with Hedy Lamarr. Overall tone: admiring but wary—volume up, neighbors beware.