Howard Hughes
Howard Hughes | |
---|---|
The Howard Hughes Corporation Founder of the Hughes Aircraft Company Founder and benefactor of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Owner of Hughes Airwest Airlines | |
Board member of | Hughes Aircraft Company Howard Hughes Medical Institute |
Spouses | |
Parent(s) | Howard R. Hughes Sr. (father) Allene Stone Gano (mother) |
Relatives | John Gano (ancestor) Rupert Hughes (uncle) Wright brothers (distant cousins) |
Awards | Harmon Trophy (1936, 1938) Collier Trophy (1938) Congressional Gold Medal (1939) Octave Chanute Award (1940) National Aviation Hall of Fame (1973) |
Aviation career | |
Famous flights | Hughes H-1 Racer, Transcontinental airspeed record from Los Angeles to Newark NJ (1937), round the world airspeed record (1938) |
Signature | |
Howard Robard Hughes Jr. (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976)
was an American aerospace engineer, business magnate, film producer, investor, philanthropist, and pilot.
As a film tycoon, Hughes gained fame in Hollywood beginning in the late 1920s, when he produced big-budget and often controversial films such as The Racket (1928),[3] Hell's Angels (1930),[4] and Scarface (1932). He later acquired the RKO Pictures film studio in 1948, recognized then as one of the Big Five studios of Hollywood's Golden Age, although the production company struggled under his control and ultimately ceased operations in 1957.
Through his interest in aviation and
During his final years, Hughes extended his financial empire to include several major businesses in Las Vegas, such as real estate, hotels, casinos, and media outlets. Known at the time as one of the most powerful men in the state of Nevada, he is largely credited with transforming Vegas into a more refined cosmopolitan city. After years of mental and physical decline, Hughes died of kidney failure in 1976. His legacy is maintained through the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the Howard Hughes Corporation.[8]
Early life
Howard Robard Hughes Jr. was the only child of Allene Stone Gano (1883–1922) and of
Hughes Sr. patented the two-cone roller bit in 1909, which allowed rotary drilling for petroleum in previously inaccessible places. The senior Hughes made the shrewd and lucrative decision to commercialize the invention by leasing the bits instead of selling them, obtaining several early patents, and founding the Hughes Tool Company in 1909.
Hughes's uncle was the famed novelist, screenwriter, and film director Rupert Hughes.[12]
A 1941 affidavit birth certificate of Hughes, signed by his aunt Annette Gano Lummis and by Estelle Boughton Sharp, states that he was born on December 24, 1905, in Harris County, Texas.[N 1] However, his certificate of baptism, recorded on October 7, 1906, in the parish register of St. John's Episcopal Church in Keokuk, Iowa, listed his date of birth as September 24, 1905, without any reference to the place of birth.[N 2]
At a young age, Hughes Jr. showed interest in science and technology. In particular, he had a great engineering aptitude, and built Houston's first "wireless" radio
After a brief stint at
His mother Allene died in March 1922 from complications of an ectopic pregnancy. Howard Hughes Sr. died of a heart attack in 1924. Their deaths apparently inspired Hughes to include the establishment of a medical research laboratory in the will that he signed in 1925 at age 19. Howard Sr.'s will had not been updated since Allene's death, and Hughes Jr. inherited 75% of the family fortune.[18] On his 19th birthday, Hughes was declared an emancipated minor, enabling him to take full control of his life.[19]
From a young age, Hughes became a proficient and enthusiastic golfer. He often scored near-par figures, playing the game to a two-three handicap during his 20s, and for a time aimed for a professional golf career. He golfed frequently with top players, including Gene Sarazen. Hughes rarely played competitively and gradually gave up his passion for the sport to pursue other interests.[20]
Hughes played golf every afternoon at LA courses including the Lakeside Golf Club,
Hughes withdrew from Rice University shortly after his father's death. On June 1, 1925, he married Ella Botts Rice, daughter of David Rice and Martha Lawson Botts of Houston, and great-niece of William Marsh Rice, for whom Rice University was named. They moved to Los Angeles, where he hoped to make a name for himself as a filmmaker.
They moved into the Ambassador Hotel, and Hughes proceeded to learn to fly a Waco, while simultaneously producing his first motion picture, Swell Hogan.[6]
Business career
Hughes enjoyed a highly successful business career beyond engineering, aviation and filmmaking; many of his career endeavors involved varying entrepreneurial roles.
Entertainment
Ralph Graves persuaded Hughes to finance a short film, Swell Hogan, which Graves had written and would star in. Hughes himself produced it. However, it was a disaster. After hiring a film editor to try to salvage it, he finally ordered that it be destroyed.[21] His next two films, Everybody's Acting (1926) and Two Arabian Knights (1927), achieved financial success; the latter won the first Academy Award for Best Director of a comedy picture.[6]: 45–46 The Racket (1928) and The Front Page (1931) were also nominated for Academy Awards.
Hughes spent $3.5 million to make the flying film
He produced another hit, Scarface (1932), a production delayed by censors' concern over its violence.[6]: 128
The Outlaw premiered in 1943, but was not released nationally until 1946. The film featured Jane Russell, who received considerable attention from industry censors, this time owing to her revealing costumes.[6]: 152–160
RKO
From the 1940s to the late 1950s, the Hughes Tool Company ventured into the film industry when it obtained partial ownership of the
In 1948, Hughes gained control of RKO, a struggling major Hollywood studio, by acquiring the 929,000 shares owned by Floyd Odlum's Atlas Corporation, for $8,825,000 ($107,165,160 in 2023). Within weeks of acquiring the studio, Hughes dismissed 700 employees. Production dwindled to 9 pictures during the first year of Hughes's control; previously RKO had averaged 30 per year.[6]: 234–237
That same year, 1948, he was able to arrange for his previous films with
After his acquisition of RKO, Hughes shut down production at the studio for six months, during which time he ordered investigations into the political leanings of every remaining RKO employee. Only after ensuring that the stars under contract to RKO had no suspect affiliations would Hughes approve completed pictures to be sent back for re-shooting. This was especially true of the women under contract to RKO at that time. If Hughes felt that his stars did not properly represent the political views of his liking or if a film's anti-communist politics were not sufficiently clear, he pulled the plug. In 1952, an abortive sale to a Chicago-based five-man syndicate, two of whom had a history of complaints about their business practices and none with any experience in the movie industry, disrupted studio operations at RKO even further.[24]
In 1953, Hughes became involved with a high-profile lawsuit as part of the settlement of the
By the end of 1954, Hughes had gained near-total control of RKO at a cost of nearly $24 million, becoming the first sole owner of a major Hollywood studio since the
Real estate
According to Noah Dietrich, "Land became a principal asset for the Hughes empire". Hughes acquired 1200 acres in Culver City for Hughes Aircraft, bought 7 sections [4,480 acres] in Tucson for his Falcon missile-plant, and purchased 25,000 acres near Las Vegas.[6]: 103, 254 In 1968, the Hughes Tool Company purchased the North Las Vegas Air Terminal.
Originally known as Summa Corporation, the Howard Hughes Corporation formed in 1972 when the oil-tools business of Hughes Tool Company, then owned by Howard Hughes Jr., floated on the New York Stock Exchange under the "Hughes Tool" name. This forced the remaining businesses of the "original" Hughes Tool to adopt a new corporate name: "Summa". The name "Summa"—Latin for "highest"—was adopted without the approval of Hughes himself, who preferred to keep his own name on the business, and suggested "HRH Properties" (for Hughes Resorts and Hotels, and also his own initials). In 1988 Summa announced plans for Summerlin, a master-planned community named for the paternal grandmother of Howard Hughes, Jean Amelia Summerlin.[26]
Initially staying in the
Aviation and aerospace
Another portion of Hughes's commercial interests involved aviation, airlines, and the aerospace and defense industries. A lifelong aircraft enthusiast and pilot, Hughes survived four airplane accidents: one in a
The H-1 Racer featured a number of design innovations: it had retractable landing gear (as
Hughes Aircraft
In 1932 Hughes founded the
Shortly after founding the company, Hughes used the alias "Charles Howard" to accept a job as a baggage handler for American Airlines. He was soon promoted to co-pilot. Hughes continued to work for American Airlines until his real identity was discovered.[30][31][32]
During and after World War II Hughes turned his company into a major defense contractor. The Hughes Helicopters division started in 1947 when helicopter manufacturer Kellett sold their latest design to Hughes for production. Hughes Aircraft became a major U.S. aerospace- and defense contractor, manufacturing numerous technology-related products that included spacecraft vehicles, military aircraft, radar systems, electro-optical systems, the first working laser, aircraft computer systems, missile systems, ion-propulsion engines (for space travel), commercial satellites, and other electronics systems.[33][34][35]
In 1948 Hughes created a new division of Hughes Aircraft: the
Round-the-world flight
On July 14, 1938, Hughes set another record by completing a flight around the world in just 91 hours (three days, 19 hours, 17 minutes),
In 1938 the William P. Hobby Airport in Houston, Texas—known at the time as Houston Municipal Airport—was renamed after Hughes, but the name was changed back due to public outrage over naming the airport after a living person. Hughes also had a role in the financing of the Boeing 307 Stratoliner for TWA, and the design and financing of the Lockheed L-049 Constellation.[5]
Other aviator awards include: the Bibesco Cup of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale in 1938, the Octave Chanute Award in 1940, and a special Congressional Gold Medal in 1939 "in recognition of the achievements of Howard Hughes in advancing the science of aviation and thus bringing great credit to his country throughout the world".[43][44]
President Harry S. Truman sent the Congressional medal to Hughes after the F-11 crash. After his around-the-world flight, Hughes had declined to go to the White House to collect it.[6]: 196
Hughes D-2
Development of the D-2 began around 1937, but little is known about its early gestation because Hughes' archives on the aircraft have not been made public. Aircraft historian René Francillon speculates that Hughes designed the aircraft for another circumnavigation record attempt, but the outbreak of
Fatal crash of the Sikorsky S-43
In the spring of 1943 Hughes spent nearly a month in
Hughes XF-11
Acting on a recommendation of the president's son, Colonel
Near-fatal crash of the XF-11
Hughes was almost killed on July 7, 1946, while performing the first flight of the XF-11 near Hughes Airfield at
When the XF-11 finally came to a halt after destroying three houses, the fuel tanks exploded, setting fire to the aircraft and a nearby home at 808 North Whittier Drive owned by Charles E. Meyer.
Despite his physical injuries, Hughes took pride that his mind was still working. As he lay in his hospital bed, he decided that he did not like the bed's design. He called in plant engineers to design a customized bed, equipped with hot and cold running water, built in six sections, and operated by 30 electric motors, with push-button adjustments.[68] Hughes designed the hospital bed specifically to alleviate the pain caused by moving with severe burn injuries. He never used the bed that he designed.[69] Hughes's doctors considered his recovery almost miraculous.
Many attribute his long-term dependence on opiates to his use of codeine as a painkiller during his convalescence.[70] Yet Dietrich asserts that Hughes recovered the "hard way—no sleeping pills, no opiates of any kind".[6]: 195 The trademark mustache he wore afterward hid a scar on his upper lip resulting from the accident.[71]
H-4 Hercules
The War Production Board (not the military) originally contracted with Henry Kaiser and Hughes to produce the gigantic HK-1 Hercules flying boat for use during World War II to transport troops and equipment across the Atlantic as an alternative to seagoing troop transport ships that were vulnerable to German U-boats. The military services opposed the project, thinking it would siphon resources from higher-priority programs, but Hughes's powerful allies in Washington, D.C. advocated it. After disputes, Kaiser withdrew from the project and Hughes elected to continue it as the H-4 Hercules. However, the aircraft was not completed until after World War II.[72][73]
The Hercules was the world's largest flying boat, the largest aircraft made from wood,[74] and, at 319 feet 11 inches (97.51 m), had the longest wingspan of any aircraft (the next-largest wingspan was about 310 ft (94 m)). (The Hercules is no longer the longest nor heaviest aircraft ever built - surpassed by the Antonov An-225 Mriya produced in 1985.)
The Hercules flew only once for one mile (1.6 km), and 70 feet (21 m) above the water, with Hughes at the controls, on November 2, 1947.[75][6]: 209–210
Critics nicknamed the Hercules the Spruce Goose, but it was actually made largely from
On November 4, 2017, the 70th anniversary of the only flight of the H-4 Hercules was celebrated at the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum with Hughes's paternal cousin Michael Wesley Summerlin and Brian Palmer Evans, son of Hughes radio technology pioneer Dave Evans, taking their positions in the recreation of a photo that was previously taken of Hughes, Dave Evans, and Joe Petrali on board the H-4 Hercules.[77]
Airlines
In 1939, at the urging of
Hughes is commonly credited as the driving force behind the Lockheed Constellation airliner, which Hughes and Frye ordered in 1939 as a long-range replacement for TWA's fleet of Boeing 307 Stratoliners. Hughes personally financed TWA's acquisition of 40 Constellations for $18 million, the largest aircraft order in history up to that time. The Constellations were among the highest-performing commercial aircraft of the late 1940s and 1950s and allowed TWA to pioneer nonstop transcontinental service.[80] During World War II Hughes leveraged political connections in Washington to obtain rights for TWA to serve Europe, making it the only U.S. carrier with a combination of domestic and transatlantic routes.[78]
After the announcement of the
The financing of TWA's jet orders precipitated the end of Hughes's relationship with Noah Dietrich, and ultimately Hughes's ouster from control of TWA. Hughes did not have enough cash on hand or future cash flow to pay for the orders and did not immediately seek bank financing. Hughes's refusal to heed Dietrich's financing advice led to a major rift between the two by the end of 1956. Hughes believed that Dietrich wished to have Hughes committed as mentally incompetent, although the evidence of this is inconclusive. Dietrich resigned by telephone in May 1957 after repeated requests for stock options, which Hughes refused to grant, and with no further progress on the jet financing.[83] As Hughes's mental state worsened, he ordered various tactics to delay payments to Boeing and Convair; his behavior led TWA's banks to insist that he be removed from management as a condition for further financing.[79]
In 1960, Hughes was ultimately forced out of the management of TWA, although he continued to own 78% of the company. In 1961, TWA filed suit against Hughes Tool Company, claiming that the latter had violated antitrust law by using TWA as a captive market for aircraft trading. The claim was largely dependent upon obtaining testimony from Hughes himself. Hughes went into hiding and refused to testify. A default judgment was issued against Hughes Tool Company for $135 million in 1963 but was overturned by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1973,[84] on the basis that Hughes was immune from prosecution.[85] In 1966, Hughes was forced to sell his TWA shares. The sale of his TWA shares brought Hughes $546,549,771.[6]: 299–300
Hughes acquired control of Boston-based Northeast Airlines in 1962. However, the airline's lucrative route authority between major northeastern cities and Miami was terminated by a CAB decision around the time of the acquisition, and Hughes sold control of the company to a trustee in 1964. Northeast went on to merge with Delta Air Lines in 1972.[86]
In 1970, Hughes acquired San Francisco-based Air West and renamed it
Business with David Charnay
Hughes made numerous business partnerships through his friend, the industrialist and producer David Charnay, [88][89] beginning with their work on the film The Conqueror (1956).[90][91] Though the film made money at the box office, its themes, dialogue, and casting were ridiculed. It was shot in St. George, Utah, which had been badly affected by the testing of more than 100 nuclear bombs. Many of the cast and crew were later diagnosed with cancer, leading it to be called an "RKO Radioactive Picture". Hughes eventually bought every copy of the film he could, and is reported to have watched the film at home every night in the years before he died.[92]
Charnay later bought Four Star, the film and television production company that produced The Conqueror.[93][94]
Hughes and Charnay's most published dealings were with a contested AirWest leveraged buyout. Charnay led the buyout group that involved Howard Hughes and their partners acquiring Air West. Hughes, Charnay, as well as three others, were indicted.[95][96][97][98] The indictment, made by U.S. Attorney DeVoe Heaton, accused the group of conspiring to drive down the stock price of Air West in order to pressure company directors to sell to Hughes.[99][95] The charges were dismissed after a judge had determined that the indictment had failed to allege an illegal action on the part of Hughes, Charnay, and all the other accused in the indictment. Thompson, the federal judge that made the decision to dismiss the charges, called the indictment one of the worst claims that he had ever seen. The charges were filed a second time by U.S. Attorney DeVoe Heaton's assistant, Dean Vernon. The Federal Judge ruled on November 13, 1974, and elaborated to say that the case suggested a "reprehensible misuse of the power of great wealth," but in his judicial opinion, "no crime had been committed."[100][101][102] The aftermath of the Air West deal was later settled with the SEC by paying former stockholders for alleged losses from the sale of their investment in Air West stock.[103] As noted above, Air West was subsequently renamed Hughes Airwest. During a long pause between the years of the dismissed charges against Hughes, Charnay, and their partners, Howard Hughes mysteriously died mid-flight while on the way to Houston from Acapulco. No further attempts were made to file any indictments after Hughes died.[104][105][106]
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
In 1953, Hughes launched the
In 1954, Hughes transferred Hughes Aircraft to the foundation, which paid Hughes Tool Co. $18,000,000 for the assets. The foundation leased the land from Hughes Tool Co., which then subleased it to Hughes Aircraft Corp. The difference in rent, $2,000,000 per year, became the foundation's working capital.[6]: 268
The deal was the topic of a protracted legal battle between Hughes and the Internal Revenue Service, which Hughes ultimately won. After his death in 1976, many thought that the balance of Hughes's estate would go to the institute, although it was ultimately divided among his cousins and other heirs, given the lack of a will to the contrary. The HHMI was the fourth largest private organization as of 2007[update] and one of the largest devoted to biological and medical research, with an endowment of $20.4 billion as of June 2018[update].[109]
Glomar Explorer and the taking of K-129
In 1972, during the cold war era, Hughes was approached by the CIA through his longtime partner, David Charnay, to help secretly recover the Soviet submarine K-129, which had sunk near Hawaii four years earlier.[110] Hughes's involvement provided the CIA with a plausible cover story, conducting expensive civilian marine research at extreme depths and the mining of undersea manganese nodules. The recovery plan used the special-purpose salvage vessel Glomar Explorer. In the summer of 1974, Glomar Explorer attempted to raise the Soviet vessel.[111][112] However, during the recovery, a mechanical failure in the ship's grapple caused half of the submarine to break off and fall to the ocean floor. This section is believed to have held many of the most sought-after items, including its code book and nuclear missiles. Two nuclear-tipped torpedoes and some cryptographic machines were recovered, along with the bodies of six Soviet submariners who were subsequently given formal burial at sea in a filmed ceremony. The operation, known as Project Azorian (but incorrectly referred to by the press as Project Jennifer), became public in February 1975 after secret documents, obtained by burglars of Hughes's headquarters in June 1974, were released.[113] Although he lent his name and his company's resources to the operation, Hughes and his companies had no operational involvement in the project. The Glomar Explorer was eventually acquired by Transocean, and was sent to the scrap yard in 2015 during a large decline in oil prices.[114]
Personal life
Early romances
In 1929, Hughes's wife of four years, Ella, returned to Houston and filed for divorce.
Hughes dated many famous women, including Joan Crawford, Debra Paget, Billie Dove, Faith Domergue, Bette Davis, Yvonne De Carlo, Ava Gardner, Olivia de Havilland, Katharine Hepburn,[115] Hedy Lamarr, Ginger Rogers, Pat Sheehan,[116] Gloria Vanderbilt,[117] Mamie Van Doren and Gene Tierney.
He also proposed to Joan Fontaine several times, according to her autobiography No Bed of Roses. Jean Harlow accompanied him to the premiere of Hell's Angels, but Noah Dietrich wrote many years later that the relationship was strictly professional, as Hughes disliked Harlow personally. In his 1971 book, Howard: The Amazing Mr. Hughes, Dietrich said that Hughes genuinely liked and respected Jane Russell, but never sought romantic involvement with her. According to Russell's autobiography, however, Hughes once tried to bed her after a party. Russell (who was married at the time) refused him, and Hughes promised it would never happen again. The two maintained a professional and private friendship for many years. Hughes remained good friends with Tierney who, after his failed attempts to seduce her, was quoted as saying "I don't think Howard could love anything that did not have a motor in it". Later, when Tierney's daughter Daria was born deaf and blind and with a severe learning disability because of Tierney's exposure to rubella during her pregnancy, Hughes saw to it that Daria received the best medical care and paid all expenses.[118]
Luxury yacht
In 1933, Hughes made a purchase of a luxury steam yacht named the Rover, which was previously owned by Scottish shipping magnate James Mackay, 1st Earl of Inchcape. Hughes stated that "I have never seen the Rover but bought it on the blueprints, photographs and the reports of Lloyd's surveyors. My experience is that the English are the most honest race in the world."[119] Hughes renamed the yacht Southern Cross and later sold her to Swedish entrepreneur Axel Wenner-Gren.[120]
1936 automobile accident
On July 11, 1936, Hughes struck and killed a pedestrian named Gabriel S. Meyer with his car at the corner of 3rd Street and Lorraine in Los Angeles.[121] After the crash, Hughes was taken to the hospital and certified as sober, but an attending doctor made a note that Hughes had been drinking. A witness to the crash told police that Hughes was driving erratically and too fast and that Meyer had been standing in the safety zone of a streetcar stop. Hughes was booked on suspicion of negligent homicide and held overnight in jail until his attorney, Neil S. McCarthy, obtained a writ of habeas corpus for his release pending a coroner's inquest.[122][123] By the time of the coroner's inquiry, however, the witness had changed his story and claimed that Meyer had moved directly in front of Hughes's car. Nancy Bayly (Watts), who was in the car with Hughes at the time of the crash, corroborated this version of the story. On July 16, 1936, Hughes was held blameless by a coroner's jury at the inquest into Meyer's death.[124] Hughes told reporters outside the inquiry, "I was driving slowly and a man stepped out of the darkness in front of me".
Marriage to Jean Peters
On January 12, 1957, Hughes married actress Jean Peters at a small hotel in Tonopah, Nevada.[125][126] The couple met in the 1940s, before Peters became a film actress.[127] They had a highly publicized romance in 1947 and there was talk of marriage, but she said she could not combine it with her career.[128] Some later claimed that Peters was "the only woman [Hughes] ever loved",[129] and he reportedly had his security officers follow her everywhere even when they were not in a relationship. Such reports were confirmed by actor Max Showalter, who became a close friend of Peters while shooting Niagara (1953).[130] Showalter told an interviewer that because he frequently met with Peters, Hughes's men threatened to ruin his career if he did not leave her alone.[130]
Connections to Richard Nixon and Watergate
Shortly before the 1960 Presidential election, Richard Nixon was alarmed when it was revealed that his brother, Donald, had received a $205,000 loan from Hughes. It has long been speculated[131] that Nixon's drive to learn what the Democrats were planning in 1972 was based in part on his belief that the Democrats knew about a later bribe that his friend Bebe Rebozo had received from Hughes after Nixon took office.[132]
In late 1971, Donald Nixon was collecting intelligence for his brother in preparation for the upcoming presidential election. One of his sources was John H. Meier, a former business adviser of Hughes who had also worked with Democratic National Committee Chairman Larry O'Brien.[133]
Meier, in collaboration with former Vice President
Last years
Physical and mental decline
Hughes was widely considered eccentric
Dietrich wrote that Hughes always ate the same thing for dinner: a
While directing The Outlaw, Hughes became fixated on a small flaw in one of Jane Russell's blouses, claiming that the fabric bunched up along a seam and gave the appearance of two nipples on each breast. He wrote a detailed memorandum to the crew on how to fix the problem. Richard Fleischer, who directed His Kind of Woman with Hughes as executive producer, wrote at length in his autobiography about the difficulty of dealing with the tycoon. In his book Just Tell Me When to Cry, Fleischer explained that Hughes was fixated on trivial details and was alternately indecisive and obstinate. He also revealed that Hughes's unpredictable mood swings made him wonder if the film would ever be completed.
In 1958, Hughes told his aides that he wanted to screen some movies at a film studio near his home. He stayed in the studio's darkened screening room for more than four months, never leaving. He ate only chocolate bars and chicken and drank only milk and was surrounded by dozens of boxes of Kleenex that he continuously stacked and re-arranged.[141] He wrote detailed memos to his aides giving them explicit instructions neither to look at him nor speak to him unless spoken to. Throughout this period, Hughes sat fixated in his chair, often naked, continuously watching movies. When he finally emerged in the summer of 1958, his hygiene was terrible. He had neither bathed nor cut his hair and nails for weeks; this may have been due to allodynia, which results in a pain response to stimuli that would normally not cause pain.[70]
After the screening room incident, Hughes moved into a bungalow at the
Hughes began purchasing restaurant chains and four-star hotels that had been founded within the state of Texas. This included, if for only a short period, many unknown franchises currently out of business. He placed ownership of the restaurants with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and all licenses were resold shortly after.[142][143]
He became obsessed with the 1968 film Ice Station Zebra, and had it run on a continuous loop in his home. According to his aides, he watched it 150 times.[144][145] Feeling guilty about the failure of his film The Conqueror, a commercial and critical flop, he bought every copy of the film for $12 million, watching the film on repeat. Paramount Pictures acquired the rights of the film in 1979, three years after his death.[146]
Hughes insisted on using tissues to pick up objects to insulate himself from germs. He would also notice dust, stains, or other imperfections on people's clothes and demand that they take care of them. Once one of the most visible men in America, Hughes ultimately vanished from public view, although tabloids continued to follow rumors of his behavior and whereabouts. He was reported to be terminally ill, mentally unstable, or even dead.[147]
Injuries from numerous aircraft crashes caused Hughes to spend much of his later life in pain, and he eventually became addicted to codeine, which he injected intramuscularly.[70] He had his hair cut and nails trimmed only once a year, likely due to the pain caused by the RSD/CRPS, which was caused by the plane crashes.[70] He also stored his urine in bottles.[148][149]
Later years in Las Vegas
The wealthy and aging Hughes, accompanied by his entourage of personal aides, began moving from one hotel to another, always taking up residence in the top floor penthouse. In the last ten years of his life, 1966 to 1976, Hughes lived in hotels in many cities—including
On November 24, 1966 (Thanksgiving Day),
Hughes wanted to change the image of Las Vegas to something more glamorous. He wrote in a memo to an aide, "I like to think of Las Vegas in terms of a well-dressed man in a dinner jacket and a beautifully jeweled and furred female getting out of an expensive car."[155] Hughes bought several local television stations (including KLAS-TV).[156]
Eventually, the brain trauma from Hughes's previous accidents, the effects of
As an owner of several major Las Vegas businesses, Hughes wielded much political and economic influence in Nevada and elsewhere. During the 1960s and early 1970s, he disapproved of underground nuclear testing at the Nevada Test Site. Hughes was concerned about the risk from residual nuclear radiation and attempted to halt the tests. When the tests finally went through despite Hughes's efforts, the detonations were powerful enough that the entire hotel in which he was living trembled from the shock waves.[164] In two separate, last-ditch maneuvers, Hughes instructed his representatives to offer bribes of $1 million to both Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard Nixon.[165]
In 1970, Jean Peters filed for divorce. The two had not lived together for many years. Peters requested a lifetime alimony payment of $70,000 a year, adjusted for inflation, and waived all claims to Hughes's estate. Hughes offered her a settlement of over a million dollars, but she declined it. Hughes did not insist on a confidentiality agreement from Peters as a condition of the divorce. Aides reported that Hughes never spoke ill of her. She refused to discuss her life with Hughes and declined several lucrative offers from publishers and biographers. Peters would state only that she had not seen Hughes for several years before their divorce and had dealt with him only by phone.[citation needed]
Hughes was living in the Intercontinental Hotel near
Autobiography hoax
In 1972, author Clifford Irving caused a media sensation when he claimed he had co-written an authorized Hughes autobiography. Irving claimed he and Hughes had corresponded through the United States mail and offered as proof handwritten notes allegedly sent by Hughes. Publisher McGraw-Hill, Inc. was duped into believing the manuscript was authentic. Hughes was so reclusive that he did not immediately publicly refute Irving's statement, leading many to believe that Irving's book was genuine. However, before the book's publication, Hughes finally denounced Irving in a teleconference attended by reporters Hughes knew personally: James Bacon of the Hearst papers, Marvin Miles of the Los Angeles Times, Vernon Scott of UPI, Roy Neal of NBC News, Gene Handsaker of AP, Wayne Thomas of the Chicago Tribune, and Gladwin Hill of the New York Times.[168]
The entire hoax finally unraveled.[169] The United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) got a subpoena to force Irving to turn over samples of his handwriting. The USPIS investigation led to Irving's indictment and subsequent conviction for using the postal service to commit fraud. He was incarcerated for 17 months.[170] In 1974, the Orson Welles film F for Fake included a section on the Hughes autobiography hoax, leaving a question open as to whether it was actually Hughes who took part in the teleconference (since so few people had actually heard or seen him in recent years). In 1977, The Hoax by Clifford Irving was published in the United Kingdom, telling his story of these events. The 2006 film The Hoax, starring Richard Gere, is also based on these events.[171]
Death
Hughes is reported to have died on April 5, 1976, at 1:27 p.m. on board an aircraft,
His reclusiveness and possibly his drug use made him practically unrecognizable. His hair, beard, fingernails, and toenails were long—his tall 6 ft 4 in (193 cm) frame now weighed barely 90 pounds (41 kg), and the FBI had to use fingerprints to conclusively identify the body.[174] Howard Hughes's alias, John T. Conover, was used when his body arrived at a morgue in Houston on the day of his death.[175]
An
Hughes is buried next to his parents at Glenwood Cemetery in Houston.[178]
Alleged survival
Following his death, Hughes was subject to several widely rebuked
Estate
Approximately three weeks after Hughes's death, a handwritten will was found on the desk of an official of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City, Utah. The so-called "Mormon Will" gave $1.56 billion to various charitable organizations (including $625 million to the Howard Hughes Medical Institute), nearly $470 million to the upper management in Hughes's companies and to his aides, $156 million to first cousin William Lummis, and $156 million split equally between his two ex-wives Ella Rice and Jean Peters.
A further $156 million was endowed to a gas station owner,
Hughes's $2.5 billion estate was eventually split in 1983 among 22 cousins, including William Lummis, who serves as a trustee of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. The
In 1984, Hughes's estate paid an undisclosed amount to Terry Moore, who claimed she and Hughes had secretly married on a yacht in international waters off Mexico in 1949 and never divorced. Moore never produced proof of a marriage, but her book, The Beauty and the Billionaire, became a bestseller.
Awards
- Harmon Trophy (1936 and 1938)
- Collier Trophy (1938)
- Congressional Gold Medal (1939)
- Octave Chanute Award (1940)
- National Aviation Hall of Fame (1973)
- International Air & Space Hall of Fame (1987)[182]
- Motorsports Hall of Fame of America (2018)[183]
Archive
The moving image collection of Howard Hughes is held at the Academy Film Archive. The collection consists of over 200 items including 35mm and 16mm elements of feature films, documentaries, and television programs made or accumulated by Hughes.[184]
Filmography
Year | Title | Director | Producer | Writer |
---|---|---|---|---|
1927 | Two Arabian Knights | No | Yes | No |
1930 | Hell's Angels | Yes | Yes | No |
1931 | The Front Page | No | Yes | No |
1932 | Sky Devils | No | Yes | No |
Scarface | No | Yes | No | |
1943 | The Outlaw
|
Yes | Yes | No |
Behind the Rising Sun | No | Yes | No | |
1947 | The Sin of Harold Diddlebock | No | Uncredited | No |
1950 | Vendetta | No | Yes | No |
1951 | His Kind of Woman | No | Executive | Uncredited |
1952 | Macao | No | Yes | No |
1955 | Son of Sinbad | No | Executive | No |
1956 | The Conqueror | No | Yes | No |
1957 | Jet Pilot | No | Yes | No |
In popular culture
Film
- In The Carpetbaggers (1964), the main character Jonas Cord (played by George Peppard) is loosely based on Howard Hughes.
- The The Landmark Hotel and Casino, which was owned by Hughes at the time.
- mini-series on the CBS network, made a year after Hughes's death and based on Noah Dietrich's book Howard: The Amazing Mr. Hughes. Tommy Lee Jonesplays Hughes.
- Melvin and Howard (1980), directed by Jonathan Demme and starring Jason Robards as Howard Hughes and Paul Le Mat as Melvin Dummar. The film won Academy Awards for Best Original Screenplay (Bo Goldman) and Best Supporting Actress (Mary Steenburgen). The film focuses on Melvin Dummar's claims of meeting Hughes in the Nevada desert and subsequent estate battles over his inclusion in Hughes's will. Critic Pauline Kael called the film "an almost flawless act of sympathetic imagination".[185]
- The film Creepshow from 1982 has a segment entitled "They're Creeping Up on You!". The reclusive, paranoid, tycoon Upson Pratt, played by E. G. Marshall appears to be loosely based upon Hughes.
- In Tucker: The Man and His Dream, (1988), Hughes (played by Dean Stockwell) figures in the plot by telling Preston Tucker to source steel and engines for Tucker's automobiles from a helicopter manufacturer in New York. Scene occurs in a hangar with the Hercules.
- In period superhero film from Walt Disney Pictures, the title character attracts the attention of Howard Hughes (played by Terry O'Quinn) and the FBI, who are hunting for a missing jet pack, as well as Nazioperatives.
- "Howard Hughes Documentary", broadcast in 1992 as an episode of the Time Machine documentary series, was introduced by Peter Graves, later released by A&E Home Video.[186]
- In Conspiracy Theory (1997), the character Jerry Fletcher (played by Mel Gibson) mentions one of his theories to a street vendor by saying, "Did you know that the whole Vietnam War was fought over a bet that Howard Hughes lost to Aristotle Onassis?" referring to his (Fletcher's) thoughts on the politics of that conflict.
- In The Aviator (2004), directed by Martin Scorsese, Hughes is portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio. The film focuses on Hughes's personal life from the making of Hell's Angels through his successful flight of the Hercules or Spruce Goose. Critically acclaimed, it was nominated for 11 Academy Awards, winning five for Best Cinematography; Best Film Editing; Best Costume Design; Best Art Direction; and Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Cate Blanchett.
- Howard Hughes: The Real Aviator documentary was broadcast in 2004 and went on to win the Grand Festival Award for Best Documentary at the 2004 Berkeley Video & Film Festival.[187]
- In the 2005 animated film Robots, the character Mr Bigweld (voiced by Mel Brooks), a reclusive inventor and owner of Bigweld Industries, is loosely based on Howard Hughes.
- In the 1973 episode of the Partridge Family, John Astin plays a reclusive millionaire in "Diary of a Mad Millionaire"[188] who was readily recognized as a reference to Howard Hughes who was famous for being a recluse at that time.
- The American Aviator: The Howard Hughes Story was broadcast in 2006 on the Biography Channel. It was later released to home media as a DVD with a copy of the full-length film The Outlaw starring Jane Russell.[189]
- Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), the character Howard Stark (played by Dominic Cooper), a wealthy inventor of futuristic technology, clearly embodying Hughes's persona and enthusiasm. His subsequent appearances in the TV series Agent Carter further this persona, as well as depicting him as sharing the real Hughes's reputation as a womanizer. Stan Lee has noted that Howard's son Tony Stark (Iron Man), who shared several of these traits himself, was based on Hughes.[190]
- Rules Don't Apply (2016), written and directed by Warren Beatty, features Beatty as Hughes from 1958 through 1964.
- In the Dark Knight Trilogy, director Christopher Nolan's characterization of Bruce Wayne is heavily inspired by Hughes's perceived lifestyle – from a playboy in Batman Begins to a recluse in The Dark Knight Rises. Nolan is reported to have integrated his original material intended for a shelved Hughes biopic into the trilogy.[191]
- In The Hoax (2006) - in what would cause a fantastic media frenzy - Clifford Irving sells his bogus biography of Howard Hughes to a premiere publishing house in the early 1970s.[192]
Games
- The character of Andrew Ryan in the 2007 video game BioShock is loosely based on Hughes. Ryan is a billionaire industrialist in post-World War II America who, seeking to avoid governments, religions, and other "parasitic" influences, ordered the secret construction of an underwater city, Rapture. Years later, when Ryan's vision for Rapture falls into dystopia, he hides himself away and uses armies of mutated humans, "Splicers", to defend himself and fight against those trying to take over his city, including the player-character.[193]
- In L.A. Noire, Hughes makes an appearance presenting his Hercules H-4 aircraft in the game opening scene. The H-4 is later a central plot piece of DLC Arson Case, "Nicholson Electroplating".[194]
- In Fallout: New Vegas, the character of Robert Edwin House, a wealthy business magnate and entrepreneur who owns the New Vegas strip, is based on Howard Hughes and closely resembles him in appearance, personality and background. A portrait of Mr. House can also be found in the game which strongly resembles a portrait of Howard Hughes standing in front of a Boeing Army Pursuit Plane.[195]
Literature
- Stan Lee repeatedly stated he created the Marvel Comics character Iron Man's civilian persona, Tony Stark, drawing inspiration from Howard Hughes's colorful lifestyle and personality. Additionally, the first name of Stark's father is Howard.[196]
- Hughes is a supporting character in all three parts of James Ellroy's Underworld USA Trilogy, employing several of the protagonists as private investigators, bagmen, and consultants in his attempt to assume control of Las Vegas. Referred to behind his back as "Count Dracula" (due to his reclusiveness and rumored obsession with blood transfusions from Mormon donors), Hughes is portrayed as a spoiled, racist, opioid-addicted megalomaniac whose grandiose plans for Las Vegas are undermined by the manipulations of the Chicago Outfit.
- In the 1981 novel Spruce Goose, which had been magically hijacked on its test flight by evil Foré sorcerers in New Guinea. Hughes's skeleton is found at the controls, identified by Hughes's trademark fedora and cloth-and-leather jacket.
Music
- The 1973 song "Broadway melody of 1974" by Genesis referenced Howard Hughes: "There's Howard Hughes in blue suede shoes / Smiling at the majorettes, smoking Winston cigarettes".[197]
- The 1974 song "Workin' at the Car Wash Blues" by Jim Croce compares the main protagonist of the song to Howard Hughes in one of the lyrics.
- The 1974 song "The Wall Street Shuffle" by English rock band 10cc directly references Hughes and his ways of life in the last verse.
- The song "Me and Howard Hughes" by Irish band The Boomtown Rats on their 1978 album A Tonic for the Troops is about the title subject.
- The song "Closet Chronicles" by American rock band Point of Know Returnis a Howard Hughes allegory.
- The song "Ain't No Fun (Waiting 'Round To Be a Millionaire)" by AC/DC on their 1976 album "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap" singer Bon Scott referenced Howard Hughes toward the end of the song: "Hey, hello Howard, how you doin', my next door neighbour? Oh, yea... Get your fuckin' jumbo jet off my airport"
- The 1983 song "Casanova Brown" by Teena Marie includes the lyric "He's had more girls than Howard Hughes had money".
- Hughes's name is mentioned in the title and the lyrics of the 2002 song "Bargain Basement Howard Hughes" by Jerry Cantrell.
- The 2008 song "Howard" by American pop-punk band Bayside is written about Hughes.
- The 2012 song "Nancy From Now On" by American songwriter Father John Misty likens Hughes's destructive and erratic tendencies to the singer's own.[198]
- The 1996 album "Thanks for the Ether" by Rasputina features a song titled "Howard Hughes" about Hughes' eccentricities and isolation in his later life.
Television
- In Episode 14 of Lupin III Part 2, the owner of a cursed ruby is named Howard Heath. Heath is based on Hughes, who had only recently died when the episode aired.
- In The Greatest American Hero Season 2 episode 3, "Don't Mess Around with Jim", Ralph and Bill are kidnapped by a reclusive tycoon, owner of Beck Air airplane company, who fakes his own death, and seems to know more about the suit than they do. He then blackmails them into retrieving his will to prevent it from being misused by the president of his company.
- In Benson Season 6, Episode 2, "The Inheritance," Benson learns he has inherited the assets of Hugh Howard, a pastiche of Howard Hughes and Hugh Hefner, including his Playboy-like magazine, which becomes embarrassing for him, the Governor, and the Governor's staff.
- In Spruce Goose" being renamed "Spruce Moose" as well as a lack of hygiene and being a germaphobe.
- In The Beverly Hillbillies episode, "The Clampett-Hewes Empire", Jed Clampett, while in Hooterville, decides to merge his interests with a man Mr. Drysdale believes is Howard Hughes, the famous reclusive billionaire. Eventually it turns out, to Mr. Drysdale's chagrin, "Howard Hughes" is no billionaire; he is nothing but a plain old farmer named "Howard Hewes" (H-E-W-E-S).
- In the Invader Zim episode, "Germs", the alien Zim becomes paranoid after discovering that Earth is covered in germs. Referencing Howard Hughes, he isolates himself in his home and dons tissue boxes on his feet.
- In the Superjail! episode "The Superjail! Six", The Warden repeatedly watches a film called Ice Station Jailpup which parodies Hughes's obsession with the film Ice Station Zebra
- In the Phineas and Ferb episode "De Plane! De Plane!" , Phineas and Ferb are watching an informational TV show, where it tells about Howard Hughes' Spruce Goose, which is the largest plane ever built. Phineas and Ferb set out to build a bigger plane than the wooden Spruce Goose.
See also
- Analgesic nephropathy
- List of richest Americans in history
- List of aviation pioneers
- List of entrepreneurs
- Phenacetin
References
Notes
- ^ No time of birth is listed. Record nr. 234358, of December 29, 1941, filed January 5, 1942, Bureau of Vital Statistics of Texas Department of Health.
- ^ The handwriting of the baptismal record is a rather trembling one. The clerk was an aged person and there is a chance that, supposedly being hard of hearing, they misheard "December 24" as "September 24" instead. This is speculative.
Citations
- ^ Simkin, John. "Howard Hughes".Archived June 3, 2013, at the Wayback Machine Spartacus Educational. Retrieved: June 9, 2013.
- ^ "Howard R. Hughes". UNLV Howard R. Hughes College of Engineering. July 20, 2011. Retrieved July 18, 2018.
- ^ "The Racket (1928)". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved August 14, 2017.
- ^ "Hell's Angels". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved August 14, 2017.
- ^ a b Rumerman, Judy. "Hughes Aircraft." centennialofflight.net, 2003. Retrieved: August 5, 2008.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Dietrich, Noah; Thomas, Bob (1972). Howard, The Amazing Mr. Hughes. Greenwich: Fawcett Publications, Inc. pp. 34, 69.
- ^ "51 Heroes of Aviation." Flying Magazine. Retrieved: December 27, 2014.
- ^ "Howard Hughes, Our Company, History". Howard Hughes Company Website. Retrieved November 6, 2017.
- ^ Barlett and Steele 2004, p. 15.
- ^ Barlett, Donald L. and Steele, James B. Howard Hughes: His Life and Madness Norton, 2011, page 29.
- ^ "Family relationship of Howard Hughes and Orville Wright via Daniel Gano". famouskin.com. Retrieved December 31, 2023.
- ^ "American National Biography Online: Hughes, Howard". www.anb.org. Retrieved August 15, 2017.
- ^ a b "Howard Hughes." Archived January 3, 2006, at the Wayback Machine MSN Encarta online, October 21, 2009. Retrieved: January 5, 2008.
- ^ "The Original Famous Hams and ex-Hams List". Archived from the original on May 19, 2014.
- ^ a b "Howard Hughes." U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission, 2003. Retrieved: January 5, 2008.
- ^ Beeney, Bill (March 8, 1972). "The Mail Goes Through But Flavor Is Gone". The Democrat Chronicle. Rochester, New York: Newspapers.com. p. 31.
Our facility residence is in the 4000 block on Yoakum Blvd. The building next to it at 3900 is the Modern Language Department, It is the former Howard Hughes home. We paid $82,000 cash for it about 10 years ago.
- ^ "1952 Purchase of Hughes House". alumni.stthom.edu. Retrieved April 21, 2018.
- ^ "Howard Hughes." Archived August 23, 2006, at the Wayback Machine about.com. Retrieved: January 5, 2008.
- ^ "Golf's Bizarre Billionaire." Archived October 14, 2007, at the Wayback Machine golfonline.com. Retrieved: September 4, 2007.
- ^ Barkow 1986, p. 13.
- ISBN 978-0974811819– via Google Books.
- ^ "NASSERS WILL JOIN HUGHES IN 3 FILMS; Deal to Finance Movies for U.A. Release Would Give RKO Rights to Three Others". The New York Times. Retrieved October 12, 2023.
- ^ "'JET PILOT' TO GET TARDY LAUNCHING; Universal Will Release Film Finished by Howard Hughes at R.K.O. in 1949-50 Flynn in Zanuck Film". The New York Times. Retrieved October 12, 2023.
- ^ "Show Business: The Winning Numbers". Time. September 27, 1952. Retrieved January 13, 2023.
- ^ Lasky 1989, p. 229.
- ^ Blennerhassett, Patrick (September 25, 2023). "What is the real history of Summerlin? Developer unveils archives". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved February 7, 2024.
- ^ a b "Howard Hughes (1905-1976)". American Experience. Retrieved February 7, 2024.
- ^ Onkst, David H. "Howard R. Hughes Jr. – The Record Setter." U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission, 2003. Retrieved: January 5, 2008.
- ^ "Aviator Howard Hughes H-1 Racer History." Archived August 30, 2005, at the Wayback Machine wrightools.com. Retrieved: January 5, 2008.
- ^ Anne Timm. "A Journey into the Life and Work of Howard Hughes".
- ^ Darwin Porter "Howard Hughes: Hell's Angel". 2005. p. 287.
- ^ "Hughes, Howard Robard: Aviation Pioneer" Archived July 21, 2020, at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ "Hughes Industrial Historical District". Retrieved January 13, 2024.
- doi:10.1063/1.881155. Retrieved January 13, 2024.
- hdl:2060/20010093217.
- ^ "Wild welcome for Howard Hughes after world record flight – archive, 1938". The Guardian. July 15, 2020. Retrieved August 25, 2021.
- ^ "Around the World in 91 Hours". Historical Marker Project website. Retrieved July 27, 2016.
- ^ "A Rich Young Texan with a Poet's Face Gets Hero's Welcome on World Flight." Life, July 25, 1938, pp. 9–11, 14. Retrieved: October 14, 2012.
- ^ "Howard Hughes is Winner of Collier Trophy Award". The Marion County News. Hamilton, Alabama. November 23, 1939. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "collier-1930-1939-winners". NAA.aero. NAA. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
- ^ Air Prize for Hughes; Jean Batten Honored; American Cross-Country Flier and New Zealand Girl Get Harmon Trophies, New York Times, March 1, 1937.
- ^ "Hughes is Named Aviation Champion; Round-the-World Flier Gets Harmon Trophy – Olds of Army Wins Medal and Diploma", New York Times, March 25, 1939.
- ISBN 1-59033-514-7. Retrieved February 7, 2024.
- ^ "Did You Know... Customs Furthered a Feat of Flight?". U.S. Customs and Border Protection. September 21, 2022. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
- ^ Francillon 1990, pp. 52–53.
- ^ Francillon 1990, pp. 54, 56.
- ^ Francillon 1990, pp. 55–56.
- ^ "Aircraft Ha to Hy." Aerofiles. Retrieved: July 31, 2011.
- ^ a b Francillon 1990, pp. 56–57.
- ^ Francillon 1990, p. 58.
- ^ "Hughes: Las Vegas." Archived March 28, 2012, at the Wayback Machine aviatorhowardhughes.com. Retrieved: July 31, 2011.
- ^ Brown and Broeske 1996
- ^ Francillon 1990, p. 73.
- ^ a b Francillon 1990, pp. 74–75.
- ^ Parker 2013, pp. 49–51.
- ^ Francillon 1990, p. 76.
- ^ Francillon 1990, pp. 75–76.
- ^ "Crash of the XF-11." check-six.com. Retrieved: January 5, 2008.
- ^ Parker 2013, pp. 50–51.
- ^ Barlett and Steele 2004, p. 140.
- ^ "William Durkin, Howard Hughes crash rescuer, dies." Nation SunJournal, May 1, 2006. Retrieved: July 4, 2013.
- ^ "Howard Hughes: XF-11." Archived February 16, 2009, at the Wayback Machine UNLV Libraries' Howard Hughes Collection. Retrieved: January 5, 2008.
- ^ "Howard Hughes, millionaire airplane designer, fights for life". Oxnard Press-Courier. California. United Press. July 8, 1946. p. 1.
- ^ "Hughes injured in plane crash". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. Associated Press. July 8, 1946. p. 1.
- ^ "Howard Hughes given "50–50" life chance". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. Associated Press. July 9, 1946. p. 1.
- ^ "Hughes puts life in peril by activity". Oxnard Press-Courier. California. United Press. July 9, 1946. p. 1.
- ^ "William Durkin; rescued Howard Hughes in crash." Archived July 23, 2012, at the Wayback Machine Boston.com, May 2, 2006. Retrieved: January 17, 2012.
- ^ "Hughes Designs Hospital Bed." Associated Press wire article, August 14, 1946.
- ^ Barlett and Steele 2004, p. 143.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Tennant, Forest (July–August 2007). "Howard Hughes & Pseudoaddiction" (PDF). Practical Pain Management. 6 (7). Montclair, New Jersey: PPM Communications, Inc.: 12–29. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 25, 2007. Retrieved January 7, 2011.
- Shout! Factory.
- ^ Parker 2013, pp. 49–58.
- ^ Herman 2012, pp. 277–280.
- ^ "Largest Plane in the World." Aerospaceweb.org . Retrieved: March 18, 2009.
- ASIN B00HVPF23W.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link - ^ "Spruce Goose." Archived September 27, 2015, at the Wayback Machine Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum. Retrieved: December 14, 2011.
- ^ "McMinnville Oregon over the 65 limit". Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum. Retrieved December 27, 2017.
- ^ a b c Bartlett and Steele 2011, p. 216.
- ^ a b c Grant, Elaine X. (July 28, 2006). "TWA – Death Of A Legend". St. Louis Magazine. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
- ^ "Howard Hughes and TWA'S Constellations". Airways Magazine. June 6, 2016. Archived from the original on January 11, 2018. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
- ^ Barlett and Steele 2011, pp. 218–219.
- ^ Barlett and Steele 2011, pp. 219–222.
- ^ Barlett and Steele 2011, pp. 224–228.
- ^ Hughes Tool Co. v. Trans World Airlines, Inc., 409 U.S. 363 (1973).
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
- ^ "Northeast Airlines". www.deltamuseum.org. Retrieved January 8, 2018.
- ^ a b "index". www.departedflights.com.
- ISBN 0393326020.
- ISBN 978-1480343054.
- ^ "The Conqueror". IMDb. March 28, 1956. Retrieved November 3, 2017.
- ISBN 978-1579583941.
- ^ Carroll, Rory (June 6, 2015). "Hollywood and the downwinders still grapple with nuclear fallout". the Guardian. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
- ^ "David Charnay Former Four Star chief". Variety. October 7, 2002. Retrieved November 3, 2017.
- The Guardian. June 6, 2015. Retrieved November 3, 2017.
- ^ a b United States v. David B. Charnay, 537 F2d 341 (9th Cir. May 7, 1976).
- ^ "Jury Refuses to Vote Indictment That Omits Hughes". New York Times. July 30, 1974. Retrieved November 3, 2017.
- ^ "3 Hughes Associates Deny Guilt In AirWest Case" (PDF). Hood College's Harold Weisberg Archive, Digital Collection. January 14, 1977. Retrieved November 3, 2017.
- ^ "Indicting Hughes" (PDF). Hood College's Harold Weisberg Archive, Digital Collection. January 7, 1974. Retrieved November 3, 2017.
- ^ "Hughes Fraud Charges Dropped" (PDF). The Daily Iowan. January 31, 1974. Retrieved January 28, 2017.
- ISBN 978-1475969221.
- ^ "Hughes Fraud Indictment Dropped". Chicago Tribune. January 31, 1974. Retrieved January 28, 2017.
- ^ "Hughes 3 Others by Judge In Air West Case". The New York Times. November 14, 1974. Retrieved November 3, 2017.
- ^ "Hughes Estate Agrees to Pay Airline's Stockholders $30 Million". Washington Post. January 20, 1979. Retrieved January 28, 2017.
- ^ "Howard Hughes' Doctor Gives a Chilling Description of His Strange Patient's Final Hours". People. July 30, 1979. Retrieved November 3, 2017.
- ^ "This Day In History Howard Hughes Dies". People. April 5, 1976. Retrieved November 3, 2017.
- ^ "Houston's last tycoon. ABC13 Coverage of the death of Howard Hughes (archived)". Houston's ABC13. July 3, 2017. Retrieved November 3, 2017.
- ^ Brown and Broeske 1996, p. 34.
- ^ "Dr. Verne Mason. Miami Physician. Howard Hughes aide dies. Also treated Pershing." The New York Times, November 17, 1965.
- ^ "Financials". Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Retrieved October 7, 2019.
- ^ "C05301269" (PDF). GWU Freedom of Information Act Research. Retrieved November 3, 2017.
- ISBN 978-0525501534.
- ^ Burleson 1997, p. 33.
- ^ Burleson 1997, pp. 157–158.
- ^ "Using Howard Hughes as cover, the U.S. snatched up a Russian sub". Kitsap Sun NewsPaper Online. Retrieved November 3, 2017.
- ISBN 0679400516.
- ISBN 978-0394544120.
- ISBN 0679400516.
- ^ Tierney and Herskowitz 1978, p. 97.
- ^ "Lord Inchcape's Yacht Bought By American." The Straits Times (Singapore Government), December 21, 1933. Retrieved: September 23, 2014.
- ^ Wisner, Bill. "The Golden Age of Yachts." Motor Boating, December 1975. Retrieved: September 23, 2014.
- ^ "Howard Hughes' auto kills man in Hollywood." Archived November 7, 2012, at the Wayback Machine Chicago Tribune, July 12, 1936. Retrieved: December 13, 2009.
- ^ "Sportsman Arrested After Traffic Death." Los Angeles Times, July 13, 1936. Retrieved: December 13, 2009.
- ^ "Howard Hughes facing hearing in auto death." Chicago Tribune, July 12, 1936. Retrieved: December 13, 2009.
- ^ "Millionaire Flyer and Society Girl testify at Inquest." Archived November 7, 2012, at the Wayback Machine Los Angeles Times, July 13, 1936. Retrieved: December 13, 2009.
- ^ "Small town plans Hughes museum". DeseretNews.com. February 11, 2007.
- ^ Woo, Elaine (October 21, 2000). "Jean Peters; Actress in Film, TV Married Howard Hughes" – via LA Times.
- ^ The Delta Democrat-Times (Greenville, Mississippi), September 29, 1946, p. 4.
- ^ "Interview with Louella Parsons." Waterloo Daily Courier (Waterloo, Iowa), October 12, 1947, p. 19.
- ^ Anderson, Jack with Les Whitten. "Hughes and Jean Peters." The Gadsden Times, April 13, 1976, p. 4.
- ^ a b Weaver 2004, p. 9.
- ISSN 1091-2339. Retrieved October 4, 2017.
- ^ "Hughes bribe of Nixon alleged". Las Vegas Sun. Las Vegas, Nevada. February 28, 2005. Retrieved August 13, 2018.
- ^ "Records of the Watergate Special Prosecution Force." archives.gov. Retrieved: February 25, 2012.
- ^ "Campaign Contributions Task Force #804 – Hughes/Rebozo Investigation." archives.gov. Retrieved: February 25, 2012.
- Playboy Enterprises. September 1976.
- ^ Bellett 1995, pp. 32, 36, 160.
- ^ Stahl, Lesley. "Watergate: 'Aviator' Connection?, Lesley Stahl Talks To Watergate Investigator About Motive For Break-In." CBS News. Retrieved: January 5, 2008.
- ^ Taylor, Alex III (October 13, 1997). "Wacko, junkie – and a great businessman despite all his eccentricities, Howard Hughes left behind a $1 billion empire. A new book details the bitter battle over his estate". Fortune. New York City. Retrieved May 15, 2016.
- ^ David Garonzik (Director), Leonardo DiCaprio, Jeffrey M. Schwartz, Donald L. Barlett (Actors) (May 24, 2005). The Affliction of Howard Hughes: Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. Los Angeles, California: Miramax. Archived from the original on October 20, 2014. Retrieved August 13, 2018 – via YouTube.
- ^ Barber, Nicholas (December 6, 2016). "Was this billionaire recluse truly mad?". BBC Culture. London: BBC. Retrieved March 13, 2018.
- ^ Harris, Karen. "Howard Hughes: Facts And Stories You Didn't Know (All The Weird Stuff)". History Daily. Retrieved March 2, 2022.
- ^ Feser, Katherine (April 4, 2022). "Howard Hughes Corp. buys stake in Jean-Georges Restaurants". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved June 6, 2023.
- ^ "South Street Seaport owner buys stake in Jean-Georges restaurant empire". August 8, 2022. Retrieved June 6, 2023.
- ^ "Tycoons: The Secret Life of Howard Hughes". Time. New York City. December 13, 1976. Retrieved March 13, 2018.
- ^ Kehr, Dave (January 11, 2005). "New DVDs: 'Ice Station Zebra'". The New York Times. Retrieved November 8, 2013.
- ^ Bell, Chris (January 17, 2017). "The movie so toxic it killed John Wayne: the tragedy of The Conqueror". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on January 10, 2022 – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
- ^ Lawrence, Patrick. "Howard Hughes and His Mysterious Fake Death". EAA.
- ^ "Guests Discuss the Late Howard Hughes". CNN. January 20, 2002. Retrieved May 5, 2017.
- ^ Booth, William (December 19, 2004). "Leo and Howard". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 5, 2017.
- ^ "Business magnate and famed aviator Howard Hughes dies". History.com. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
- ^ Chapman, Aaron (December 15, 2004). "Man of mystery". Vancouver Courier. Vancouver, British Columbia: Glacier Media. Archived from the original on January 24, 2005.
- ^ a b Levitan, Corey (March 2, 2008). "Top 10 Scandals: Gritty City". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Las Vegas, Nevada: News + Media Capital Group LLC. Retrieved March 3, 2008.
- ^ Evans, K.J. (February 7, 1999). "Howard Hughes". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Las Vegas, Nevada: News + Media Capital Group LLC.
- ^ Messerly, Megan; Morris, J.D. (December 28, 2015). "A peek into the mind of Howard Hughes". Las Vegas Sun. Las Vegas, Nevada: Greenspun Media Group. Retrieved March 13, 2018.
- ^ Goldstein, Michael. "Las Vegas At A Crossroads: Popular Destination Tries Re-Invention". forbes.com. Retrieved March 16, 2023.
- ^ Evans, K.J. (February 7, 1999). "Howard Hughes". reviewjournal.com. Las Vegas Review-Journal, Inc. Retrieved March 16, 2023.
- ^ Brown and Broeske 1996, p. 91
- ^ Brown and Broeske 1996, p. 183–185
- ^ Brown and Broeske 1996, p. 263
- ^ "The Keepers of the King". Time. New York City. December 13, 1976. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved January 5, 2008.
- ^ Brown and Broeske 1996, pp. 345–346
- ^ The term "Mormon Mafia" has also been used to describe the Mormon presence in the CIA and FBI. see Shupe, Anson (1991). The Darker Side of Virtue: Corruption, Scandal, and the Mormon Empire. Prometheus Books. pp. 11–12.
- ^ Brown and Broeske 1996, p. 341.
- ^ Vartabedian, Ralph (June 28, 2009). "Howard Hughes and the atomic bomb in middle of Nevada". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 25, 2009.
- ^ Carlson, Michael (August 20, 2008). "Obituary: Robert Maheu". The Guardian. London, England. Retrieved July 27, 2016.
- ^ Mallin, Jay (1974). The Great Managua Earthquake. Charlotte, New York: SamHar Press. Archived from the original on February 20, 2007. Retrieved April 23, 2007.
- ^ "Howard Hughes: A Chronology." Channel 4. Retrieved: January 5, 2008.
- ^ Bartlett and Steele 2011, pp. 469–471.
- ^ "Clifford Irving, Howard Hughes Prankster, Dies at 87". The Hollywood Reporter. Los Angeles, California. December 21, 2017. Retrieved June 25, 2018.
- ^ "Clifford Irving | National Postal Museum". postalmuseum.si.edu. Retrieved December 11, 2021.
- ^ Irving 1999, p. 309.
- ISBN 978-1475969221– via Google Books.
- ^ "Howard Hughes". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
- ^ Hack 2002, pp. 16–18.
- ^ "Howard Hughes Revealed". Archived September 7, 2009, at the Wayback Machine hulu.com, via National Geographic Channel, Inside (series), Season 7, episode 2. Retrieved: September 24, 2009.
- ^ Breo, Dennis (July 30, 1979). "Howard Hughes' Doctor Gives a Chilling Description of His Strange Patient's Final Hours". People. New York City. Archived from the original on May 18, 2016. Retrieved January 18, 2015.
- ^ Brown and Broeske 1996, p. 457
- ISBN 978-1603441636– via Google Books.
- ^ Brown, Rick (April 23, 2016). "Did Howard Hughes fake his death? Author with Kearney ties explores the possibility". Kearney Hub. Retrieved April 28, 2021.
- ^ Lawrence, Patrick (April 2017). "Howard Hughes and His Mysterious Fake Death". EAA AirVenture Oshkosh. Retrieved April 28, 2021.
- from the original on January 3, 2022. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
- ISBN 978-1-57864-397-4.
- ^ Howard Hughes at the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America
- ^ "Howard Hughes Collection". Academy Film Archive. August 20, 2015.
- ^ Shannon, Jeff. "Melvin and Howard (1980) – Movie Preview." Archived September 27, 2007, at the Wayback Machine RopeofSilicon, 2008. Retrieved: August 5, 2008.
- ^ "Howard Hughes Documentary." Amazon. Retrieved: August 22, 2011.
- ISBN 9780738930756.
- ^ "The Partridge Family" Diary of a Mad Millionaire (TV Episode 1973) - IMDb, retrieved May 4, 2023
- ^ The American Aviator: The Howard Hughes Story. Archived October 3, 2011, at the Wayback Machine Vision Films. Retrieved: August 22, 2011.
- ^ The Invincible Iron Man (Ultimate 2-Disc Edition Iron Man DVD). Paramount Pictures. 2008.
- Indiewire. Los Angeles, California. Retrieved December 6, 2012.
- ^ The Hoax (2006) - Plot - IMDb, retrieved May 27, 2023
- ^ Gillen, Kieron (August 20, 2007). "Exclusive: Ken Levine on the making of Bioshock". Rock Paper Shotgun. Retrieved March 20, 2013.
- ^ "New L.A. Noire Screens from the "Nichsolson Electroplating" Arson Case." Rockstargames.com, June 9, 2011. Retrieved: January 5, 2012.
- ^ "Fallout – Howard Hughes And Mr. House" lensebender.org, January 15, 2016. Retrieved: April 6, 2017.
- ^ "Mask of the Iron Man". Game Informer. No. 177. January 2008. p. 81.
- ^ Genesis - Fly on a Windshield/Broadway Melody of 1974, retrieved August 21, 2022
- ^ "Nancy From Now On". genius.com. Retrieved November 12, 2021.[unreliable source?]
Bibliography
- ISBN 1-58080-043-2.
- Barton, Charles. Howard Hughes and his Flying Boat. Fallbrook, CA: Aero Publishers, 1982. Republished in 1998, Vienna, VA: Charles Barton, Inc. ISBN 0-9663175-0-5.
- Barlett, Donald L. and James B. Steele. Empire: The Life, Legend and Madness of Howard Hughes. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1979. ISBN 0-393-07513-3, republished in 2004 as Howard Hughes: His Life and Madness.
- Bellett, Gerald. ISBN 0-921842-42-2.
- Blackman, Tony Tony Blackman Test Pilot Grub Street, 2009, ISBN 978-1-906502-28-7
- Brown, Peter Harry and Pat H. Broeske. Howard Hughes: The Untold Story. New York: Penguin Books, 1996. ISBN 0-525-93785-4.
- Burleson, Clyde W. The Jennifer Project. College Station, Texas: Texas A&M University Press, 1997. ISBN 0-89096-764-4.
- Dietrich, Noah and Bob Thomas. Howard: The Amazing Mr. Hughes. New York: Fawcett Publications, 1972. ISBN 978-0-04-490256-0.
- Drosnin, Michael. Citizen Hughes: In his Own Words, How Howard Hughes Tried to Buy America. Portland, Oregon: Broadway Books, 2004. ISBN 0-7679-1934-3.
- Francillon, René J. (1990). McDonnell Douglas aircraft since 1920. Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press. OCLC 19920963.
- Hack, Richard. Hughes: The Private Diaries, Memos and Letters: The Definitive Biography of the First American Billionaire. Beverly Hills, California: New Millennium Press, 2002. ISBN 1-893224-64-3.
- Herman, Arthur. Freedom's Forge: How American Business Produced Victory in World War II. New York: Random House, 2012. ISBN 978-1-4000-6964-4.
- Higham, Charles. Howard Hughes: The Secret Life, 1993.
- Porter, Donald J., Howard's Whirlybirds: Howard Hughes' Amazing Pioneering Helicopter Exploits. Fonthill Media, 2015. ISBN 978-1781550892
- Irving, Clifford (1999). The hoax. [United States]: E-reads. OCLC 123545068.
- Klepper, Michael and Michael Gunther. The Wealthy 100: From Benjamin Franklin to Bill Gates – A Ranking of the Richest Americans, Past and Present. ISBN 978-0-8065-1800-8
- Marrett, George J. Howard Hughes: Aviator. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 2004. ISBN 1-59114-510-4.
- Kistler, Ron. I Caught Flies for Howard Hughes. Chicago: Playboy Press, 1976. ISBN 0-87223-447-9.
- Lasky, Betty. RKO: The Biggest Little Major of Them All, 2d ed . Santa Monica, California: Roundtable, 1989. ISBN 0-915677-41-5.
- Maheu, Robert and Richard Hack. Next to Hughes: Behind the Power and Tragic Downfall of Howard Hughes by his Closest Adviser. New York: HarperCollins, 1992. ISBN 0-06-016505-7.
- Moore, Terry. The Beauty and the Billionaire. New York: Pocket Books, 1984. ISBN 0-671-50080-5.
- Moore, Terry and Jerry Rivers. The Passions of Howard Hughes. Los Angeles: General Publishing Group, 1996. ISBN 1-881649-88-1.
- Parker, Dana T. Building Victory: Aircraft Manufacturing in the Los Angeles Area in World War II, Cypress, California: Dana T. Parker Books, 2013. ISBN 978-0-98979-060-4.
- Phelan, James. Howard Hughes: The Hidden Years. New York, Random House, 1976. ISBN 0-394-41042-4.
- Real, Jack. The Asylum of Howard Hughes. Philadelphia: Xlibris Corporation, 2003. ISBN 1-4134-0875-3.
- Thomas, Bob. Liberace: The True Story. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1987. ISBN 0-312-01469-4.
- Tierney, Gene with Mickey Herskowitz. Self-Portrait. New York: Peter Wyden, 1979. ISBN 0-883261-52-9.
- Weaver, Tom. Science Fiction and Fantasy Film Flashbacks: Conversations with 24 Actors, Writers, Producers and Directors from the Golden Age. New York: McFarland & Company, 2004. ISBN 0-7864-2070-7.
External links
- Howard Hughes at IMDb
- AZORIAN The Raising of the K-129 / 2009 – 2 Part TV Documentary / Michael White Films Vienna
- Welcome Home Howard: Collection of photographs kept by UNLV Archived May 2, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
- A history of the remarkable achievements of Howard Hughes
- FBI file on Howard Hughes
- Exclutive Biography of Howard R. Hughes Jr.
- Biography in the National Aviation Hall of Fame Archived January 3, 2020, at the Wayback Machine