# Fame.am profile — machine-readable export
# Canonical URL: https://fame.am/person/lee-de-forest
# Generated: 2026-09-02T06:09:06.586Z

schema: https://schema.org/Person
url: "https://fame.am/person/lee-de-forest"
name: "Lee de Forest"
slug: "lee-de-forest"
description: "He invented the vacuum tube that made the electronic age possible — radio, long-distance calls, talking pictures — then spent most of what he earned fighting in court and losing fortunes as fast as he made them."
tagline: "American inventor (1873–1961)"
image: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Formal_portrait_of_Lee_de_Forest.jpg"
gender: "male"
country:
  name: "United States"
  isoCode: "US"
category:
  name: "Scientists"
  slug: "scientists"
profileType:
  name: "Scientist"
  slug: "scientist"
  entityType: "https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q39631"
birthDate: "1873-08-26"
deathDate: "1961-06-30"
livingStatus: "DECEASED"
scores:
  popularity:           55.01
  momentum:             1.219954648526077
  historical:           24.150156
  currentAttention:     5.507774538386784
  sourceConfidence:     70
  profileCompleteness:  80
  trendDirection:       "FALLING"
ranks:
  global:   null
  country:  null
  category: null
tags:
  - name: "Scientists"
    slug: "scientists"
  - name: "Scientist"
    slug: "scientist"
  - name: "Physics"
    slug: "physics"
  - name: "Television"
    slug: "television"
  - name: "Film Directing"
    slug: "film-directing"
  - name: "Science"
    slug: "science"
  - name: "United States"
    slug: "united-states"
  - name: "Americas"
    slug: "americas"
platforms:
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    url:       "https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0208418/"
    handle:    "nm0208418"
  - platform:  "WEBSITE"
    url:       "http://www.leedeforest.org/"
sources:
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    title: "Wikipedia"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q354863"
    title: "Wikidata"
    type:  "WIKIDATA"
  - url: "https://pantheon.world/profile/person/Lee%20de%20Forest"
    title: "Pantheon 2.0"
    type:  "DATABASE"
  - url: "https://ast.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_De_Forest"
    title: "Lee De Forest"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://be_x_old.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9B%D1%96_%D0%B4%D1%8D_%D0%A4%D0%BE%D1%80%D1%8D%D1%81%D1%82"
    title: "Лі дэ Форэст"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "Lee De Forest"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "Lee de Forest"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "Lee De Forest"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "Lee De Forest"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "Λη ντε Φόρεστ"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eo.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_De_Forest"
    title: "Lee De Forest"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://et.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_de_Forest"
    title: "Lee de Forest"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_de_Forest"
    title: "Lee de Forest"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%84%DB%8C_%D8%AF%D9%81%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%B3%D8%AA"
    title: "لی دفارست"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "Lee De Forest"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "Lee De Forest"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "Lee De Forest"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "Lee De Forest"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "לי דה פורסט"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://hr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_de_Forest"
    title: "Lee de Forest"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_De_Forest"
    title: "Lee De Forest"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://io.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_de_Forest"
    title: "Lee de Forest"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Lee_De_Forest"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://musicbrainz.org/artist/1da85dd2-4fa3-4af3-89b3-b31b1ae5cdbc"
    title: "MusicBrainz"
    type:  "DATABASE"
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    title: "Lee De Forest"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "لي دي فورست"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://arz.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%84%D9%89_%D8%AF%D9%89_%D9%81%D9%88%D8%B1%D8%B3%D8%AA"
    title: "لى دى فورست"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1158312"
    title: "Lee De Forest"
    type:  "DATABASE"

# bio (long form, separated for readability)
bio: |
  Lee de Forest, born August 26, 1873, was an American electrical engineer who in 1908 invented the Audion triode vacuum tube, the first practical electronic amplifier. That three-element device enabled the electronic oscillator and opened the door to radio broadcasting, long-distance telephone lines, and talking motion pictures. He accumulated over 300 patents worldwide, but his career was a cycle of creation and collapse: he boasted of making and losing four fortunes, burned through money on major patent lawsuits, and was even tried for mail fraud (he was acquitted). The honours came anyway — the IEEE Medal of Honor in 1922, the Franklin Institute's Elliott Cresson Medal in 1923, the Edison Medal in 1946. He died June 30, 1961.