Washington, Aug 22 : Nazi leader Adolf Hitler overlooked the fact his one-time lover Hedy Lamarr was born Jewish, because her beauty made it difficult for him to pass up a sex tryst with her.

The famous silver screen actress, born Hedwig Kiesler, fled Austria to embark on an acting career in Hollywood after she was forced to make love to Hitler by her first husband, Austrian munitions dealer Fritz Mandl.

Lamarr took the shame of the three-way sex tryst to the grave with her, according to biographer Devra Hill.

And she died in 2000 still disbelieving she had briefly romanced the man behind the Holocaust.

"Hitler knew she was Jewish - her real name was Hedwig Kiesler, which was an obvious Jewish name," Contactmusic quoted Hill, as saying.

"I think he overlooked this because he wanted to get all those munitions from her husband. He also wanted to be with Hedy - she was beautiful," Hill added.

Hill insists the tryst only took place once after one of Mandl's lavish parties in the mid-1930s.

ANI