In a conversation with author Stephen Birmingham which appeared in the New York Times on August 23, 1970, Hedy Lamarr gave an account of the origin of her stage name. Aboard the "Normandie," the ship on which she and MGM boss Louis B. Mayer sailed from England to America in September 1937, Howard Strickland, MGM's executive in charge of public relations, presented her with a list of possible names. Because she happened to be on the high seas at the moment, she selected the name "Lamarr." According to another widely-circulated version, Mayer chose the name as an allusion to Barbara La Marr, a legendary silent film actress whom he greatly admired.