10 Famous People Who Invented Amazing Things On The Side

4. STEVE MCQUEEN

McQueen’s driving abilities extended far beyond his legendary racing scenes in The Great Escape and Bullitt. In fact, he was a pretty serious motorcycle and car racer who toyed with the idea of someday becoming a professional racer. He even competed in some big-name races, like the prestigious 12 Hours of Sebring. McQueen didn’t just drive his cars, though; he also liked to tinker with them. In 1969, he filed a design patent for an improved bucket seat, and that’s how he became the proud owner of patent number D219584.

5. GEORGE LUCAS

If you’ve ever played with a Star Wars toy, chances are George Lucas owns a patent on it. This Boba Fett action figure, which Lucas holds a patent on with co-inventors Joe Johnston and Ralph McQuarrie, was the first of 11 the director would come to hold; it was filed in 1979 and granted in 1982.

6. HEDY LAMARR

Lamarr’s name may not be so familiar now, but in the 1930s and 1940s, the Austrian-born MGM actress was one of the hottest things on the silver screen. She was quite the scientist, too. In 1942 Lamarr and composer George Antheil received a patent for a “secret communication system” that could use carrier waves of different frequencies to remotely control devices like zeppelins and torpedoes. Unfortunately, mechanical engineering wasn’t quite ready for Lamarr’s major breakthrough, and the technology didn’t come into use for over 20 years, at which point Lamarr’s patent had expired.