Howard Hughes was a famous American movie producer, director, millionaire and aviator. The story of his life is one of intrigue, adventure, seduction, lust, creativity and mental illness. With a wealth of money inherited from his parents, his good looks and charm, Howard Hughes took Hollywood by storm in the 1920’s. With his brilliance and daring, he took American Aviation to new heights (literally) and broke many records. Howard Hughes was a driven, determined and passionate man that was successful yet plagued by mental illness.
Howard Hughes was born on December 24, 1905 to Howard and Allene Hughes in Houston, Texas. He grew up pampered by his mother and provided for by his father. His father had invented an oil drilling bit that had made him a millionaire. His father was also the owner of Hughes Tool Company. His mother was, by all accounts, overprotective and terrified of illness. This was likely the cause of Howard’s instability later in life.
Howard attended school in Texas, Massachusetts and California. He was reportedly a bright boy and very inventive from a very young age, but he was not a very attentive student. He was given every opportunity to learn by his father, but he never finished high school. When he was only sixteen years old, in 1922, Allene Hughes died unexpectedly. She had been in a hospital under anesthesia for a routine procedure when she passed away. After the death of his mother, Howard’s life changed significantly.
Howard Hughes Sr. was a notorious womanizer, but he apparently loved his wife. When she died, he began seeing many different women and bringing his son with him to parties in Hollywood. It is believed that Howard Sr. was devastated at the loss of his wife and his behavior was a sign of his grief. In January of 1924, Howard Hughes Sr. died of a heart attack while working in his office. His son, Howard Jr. was left with no parents and a lot of money. He was only eighteen.
On June 1, 1925, Howard Hughes married Ella Rice. Howard was determined to make his way in Hollywood and so, soon after the wedding, the couple moved to California. It wasn’t long before Howard was trying to make his way into the movie business and cheating on his wife with Hollywood starlets. In 1926 the millionaire produced his first movie, Swell Hogans and, by all accounts, it was garbage. However, he did not give up on his dream to become a big movie producer.
He put up the money for another movie in 1926, called Everybody’s Acting. This time, his movie was a success. By 1927 he had two successful movies under his belt and was starting production on a big budget war film called Hell’s Angels. During the shooting of the film, Hughes got frustrated and decided to direct Hell’s Angels himself. He also decided to do one of the stunts for the film and wound up crashing a plane for the first time (it wouldn’t be the last). Hell’s Angels opened in 1930 and it was a huge success
It was around this time that Hughes’ marriage began suffering because of his affairs. Ella filed for divorce in 1929; it was made final in 1930. Howard’s divorce didn’t slow him down at all. He used his charm and money to get himself all of the woman he could ever want. During his lifetime, he was linked to countless starlets. Among the women he slept with, were legends such as Ginger Rogers, Katharine Hepburn and Ava Gardner. He was also married two more times. His second wife was Terry Moore and his third was Jean Peters.
Throughout his career in Hollywood, Hughes was interested in aviation. He took a long hiatus from his directing and producing career in the 1930’s and turned his attention to airplanes. In 1932 he started Hughes Aircraft Company, a division of Hughes Tool Company. He began designing state of the art aircraft, with which he broke records. He broke the air speed record in 1935, the transcontinental speed record in 1936 and the trans-global speed record in 1938 among several other records. In 1939, he became the principal shareholder in Trans World Airlines.
Howard made his triumphant return to the movies in the early 1940’s. He made a film called The Outlaws that was banned by censors because of the amount of cleavage shown by actress, Jane Russell. Hughes fought back and eventually the movie was released, cleavage and all. He then purchased RKO Radio in 1948. Hughes had returned to the world of movies, but he had not left airplanes behind.
In 1946 Hughes tested an aircraft called the XF-11. He wound up crashing into three houses in Beverly Hills. He suffered burns over 75% of his body, a collapsed lung, numerous broken ribs and he was in a coma for more than a week. During the 1940’s Hughes Aircraft Company designed a colossal aircraft for the U.S. government called Hercules. It was made nearly entirely of wood and was called “The Spruce Goose” by its detractors. Howard was eventually sued by the U.S. government for the use of government funds for the aircraft. However, he flew the Hercules successfully in 1947 and went on to win the case.
Howard Hughes was always a little eccentric. He had relationships with numerous women at the same time, was known to be a perfectionist, was also known to spy on his lovers and business partners and he was reportedly a difficult man to deal with, despite his charm. In the late 1950’s things got even stranger in the life of Howard Hughes. Friends began noticing that he was abusing medication, he began repeating words and sentences over and over and he became terrified of germs. By 1958 he was an utter recluse. He had ceased his seduction of young starlets and relied on other men to run his companies for him.
In April of 1976, after nearly twenty years of allowing his mental illness to destroy his health and social life, Howard Hughes died of kidney failure while on board a private jet. Since his death many rumors of the man’s life, involving everything from homosexuality to syphilis, have surfaced. It is hard to sort out the true man from the many stories told about him. What we do know is that Howard Hughes was a devilishly charming, rich and successful man during the golden years of his life. That is how he is remembered by those that were close to him.
Sources
The Passions of Howard Hughes, Jose Bugarin, Passport International Productions and Moore Rivers Productions, 2003
Howard Hughes: His Women and His Movies, Christian Sebaldt, Robert Dalrymple Productions, 2000
