The Deepwater Horizon oil spill has finally been plugged, but the remaining oil in the Gulf of Mexico requires a wide and concerted clean up effort. Various methods of removal have been activated, and a technique garnering much attention is Ocean Therapy Solutions's (OTS) oil separation turbines, which spin affected seawater to separate it from oil at a rate of about 2,000 gallons a day. BP ordered 32 of these machines, which have already been deployed around the Gulf.

One of the most interesting — and surprising — aspects of this solution is that OTS is owned by Kevin Costner. The actor Kevin Costner. While he didn't invent OTS's oil separation turbines, he does own the patent and funneled $20 million of his own money into their development.

"It may seem an unlikely scenario that I am the one delivering this technology in this moment in time," Costner told CNN.com. "But from where I'm sitting, it's equally inconceivable that these machines are not already in place."

As part of our celebration of National Inventors' Month, we take a look at some other famous folks who also dabbled in inventing.

Michael Jackson, Patent #5,255,452
The late King of Pop dazzled fans in the music video for "Smooth Criminal" when he and his dancers performed a move that seemed to defy the laws of physics. In unison, MJ and the dancers all leaned past their center of gravity before returning to an upright position. Jackson, Michael L. Bush and Dennis Tompkins had designed shoes (patented in 1993) with special grooves and ankle supports that would hook to hitches in the floorboard, allowing the dancers to complete the feat. As for the moonwalk, that was all Michael.

Abraham Lincoln, Patent #6469
The Great Emancipator held several jobs before his presidency, including Congressman, shop owner and lawyer. As a lawyer, he argued in many trials for riverboat interests, and developed a fascination with the industry itself. In 1849, he applied for a patent for his "Method of Buoying vessels over shoals." Lincoln figured that if a crew added a bellows system to a ship's hull, they could fill the bellows with air to add buoyancy to the vessel and glide over rocky waters. Lincoln never produced the device, and it's now known that it wouldn't have been feasible anyway: the bellows system would have been too heavy to work.

Jamie Lee Curtis, Patent #4,753,647
Actress Jamie Lee Curtis refuses to manufacture her infant garment device, a diaper with an external pocket for holding baby wipes, until she can find a biodegradable and environmentally friendly material to use. She has held the patent for over 22 years at this point.

Mark Twain, Patent #140,245
Samuel Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, was famous for his satirical works, but he also had experience as a Mississippi steamboatman, a journalist and an investor. Most of his investments were ill-advised (the typing machine on which he spent $300,000 [over $7 million in today's dollars] was released just after a better-designed competitor), but it didn't stop his interest in new technology. Among other patents he held, one was for a new type of scrapbook he invented featuring self-adhesive pages. The scrapbook was so popular he was able to offer over 50 different styles, and it was his only invention that made money.

Marlon Brando, Patent #6,812,392
After early successes like On the Waterfront and The Godfather, Marlon Brando's work became more sporadic and his behavior became, well, more erratic. But the two-time Academy Award winner didn't slow down in his personal interests, working on several techniques for improving drums, including a drumhead tensioning device and method.

Julie Newmar, Patents #3,914,799 and #4,003,094
Julie Newmar is best remembered as one of three actresses who portrayed Catwoman in the 1960s Batman TV show, and her experience in the Catwoman outfit probably helped in inventing her specialized pantyhose. The structure of the garment was designed to specifically "delineate the wearer's derriere in cheeky relief."

Herbert Manfred "Zeppo" Marx, Patent #3,473,526
Although his brothers swore he was the funniest offstage, Zeppo Marx could never compete with the other Marx Brothers' onstage personae, and ended up leaving the limelight to do work behind the scenes as a theatrical agent. He also became an entrepreneur, investing in carriage technology for planes carrying bombs. Reportedly, the two atomic bombs dropped on Japan during World War II were held by his company's bomb clamps. Later, he worked with a team that developed a heart monitor, which detected pulse problems.

Hedy Lamarr, Patent #2,292,387
The popular 30s and 40s actress didn't only experience drama onscreen: she had to escape Nazi Austria and a domineering husband in a daring nighttime flight. After settling in America, she pursued other interests to supplement her acting career, such as working with her avant-garde composer neighbor George Antheil on a secret communication system. The device used frequency hopping to prevent eavesdropping and was controlled by piano rolls similar to those used in player pianos. The invention was ahead of its time in the 1940s, but was eventually used by the U.S. military during the blockade of Cuba in 1962.


Did we leave out any of your favorite celebrity inventors? Let us know in the comments section below. And stay tuned for IMT's special "Inventions" issue next Tuesday.