Howard Robard Hughes Jr.
14 min read
Reading time
2,758
Words
Published
13
Film credits
6
Books
2
Awards
In 1938 Howard Hughes flew around the world in 3 days, 19 hours, and 17 minutes, earning a ticker-tape parade in New York. He produced landmark films like Scarface 1932 and Hell’s Angels 1930. Later in life he became a reclusive billionaire, dying of kidney failure in 1976.
Names, aliases, and relatives of Howard Hughes — birth name, kin, and personal ties.
Howard Hughes by the numbers — life, work, and family.
Howard Hughes — early life, career, personal life, and legacy.
At age 18, after his father’s death in 1923, Howard Hughes inherited the Hughes Tool Company and began his business career. He was born Howard Robard Hughes Jr. on December 24, 1905, in Humble, Texas to Allene Stone Gano and Howard R. Hughes Sr., the inventor of the Hughes Rock Eater drill bit. His education included the Fessenden School and The Thacher School before studying at Rice University and the California Institute of Technology.
Hughes entered the film industry in 1926, producing Hell’s Angels 1930, a massive box-office success. He followed with Scarface 1932 and The Outlaw 1943, both controversial for their violence and sexuality. In aviation, he founded Hughes Aircraft and set multiple world air speed records between 1935 and 1938. In 1947, he piloted the Spruce Goose Hercules on its only flight, covering one mile at Long Beach. He also acquired control of TWA in 1939 and bought RKO Pictures in 1948.
Hughes married Ella Rice in 1925 divorced 1929 and later Jean Peters in 1957 divorced 1971. He was romantically linked with stars including Katharine Hepburn, Ava Gardner, and Ginger Rogers. In his later years, he became a recluse, isolating himself in hotel suites with obsessive-compulsive behaviors. He suffered from syphilis, treated with mercury and arsenic, and died of kidney failure on April 5, 1976, while being flown to Houston.
Hughes’s innovations in aviation and film left a lasting impact. He inspired Stan Lee to create Tony Stark Iron Man and his reclusiveness influenced the James Bond villain Willard Whyte in Diamonds Are Forever 1971. Awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 1939, he was also inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame. Today, he is remembered as the eccentric tycoon who pushed boundaries in both movies and the skies.
Browse the complete filmography of Howard Hughes — every film, TV show, and documentary credit, ranked by popularity.
Could not load more credits.
Every award, honor, and recognition received by Howard Hughes — Grammys, hall-of-fame inductions, civic honors, lifetime achievements.
Howard Hughes's bibliography — every authored, edited, and co-written book, ranked by edition count.
A wall of memorable lines from Howard Hughes — lyrics, interviews, and off-the-cuff remarks captured over a lifetime.
Every Man Has His Price, or a Guy Like Me Couldn’t Exist.
I’m Not a Paranoid Deranged Millionaire. Goddamit, I’m a Billionaire.
My Father Told Me, Never Have Partners.
We Don’t Have a Monopoly. Anyone Who Wants to Dig a Well Without a Hughes Bit Can Always Use a Pick and Shovel.
Little-known facts about Howard Hughes — origins, oddities, and behind-the-scenes details from a public life.
He bought Las Vegas television station KLAS Channel 8 so he could watch movies into the night. If he fell asleep, he would call and demand that the missed scene be replayed.
On July 7, 1946, Hughes crashed his experimental XF-11 aircraft into a Beverly Hills neighborhood. He was severely injured, with a fractured skull and burns over 65% of his body, but survived after rescue by Marine Sgt. William Lloyd Durkin.
In public he would often speak with his hand covering his mouth for fear of being lip-read.
Hypotheses for his later reclusive behavior include brain damage from accidents, OCD, bipolar disorder, or paranoid-schizophrenia.
Stan Lee used Hughes as inspiration for Tony Stark, AKA Iron Man. Like Hughes, Stark inherited a business from his father, who was named Howard Stark as a tribute.
Albert R. Broccoli used Hughes’s reclusiveness as a model for the character Willard Whyte in Diamonds Are Forever 1971. Hughes was a James Bond fan and kept a 16mm print of the film.
While staying at Las Vegas’ Desert Inn, he bought the hotel to avoid being evicted.
At death, he weighed only 90 pounds with long, uncut hair and extremely long toenails.
He once had an air purifier installed in a car that cost more than the car itself and took up most of the trunk.
Romantically linked with Katharine Hepburn, Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, Ginger Rogers, Ava Gardner, and Faith Domergue.
In his later years, he insisted that his personal assistants be Mormons to avoid drunkenness on the job.
His father invented the Hughes Rock Eater drill bit; Hughes inherited millions but earned the bulk of his wealth from Hughes Aircraft and Helicopters, sold for $5.5 billion in the 1980s.
He was a major stockholder in an airline that later became TWA.
He produced films focused on busty actresses and invented a prototype push-up bra for Jane Russell in The Outlaw 1943.
Portrayals of Hughes include Leonardo DiCaprio in The Aviator 2004, Tommy Lee Jones in The Amazing Howard Hughes 1977, and Jason Robards in Melvin and Howard 1980.
Authorized to receive a Congressional Gold Medal on August 7, 1939 for advancing aviation science.
His favorite movie was Ice Station Zebra 1968.
He kept a special house near his California home to interview aspiring actresses; Ava Gardner once knocked him out with an ashtray.
The Las Vegas casinos he owned included Castaways, Desert Inn, Frontier, Landmark, Sands, and Silver Slipper, all since demolished.
After his death, Terry Moore claimed she secretly married Hughes in 1949; his estate settled with her in 1984.
He was an avid golfer but quit when Bobby Jones told him he couldn’t win.
When he took over RKO, he canceled a film version of The Robe, which later became a hit at 20th Century-Fox using CinemaScope.
He had a strong aversion to black people; because the cast of Porgy and Bess used his screening room, he shut it down and never returned to Goldwyn lot.
During the McCarthy era, his film The Whip Hand 1951 was reshot to change Nazi villains to Communist scientists; it flopped.
He ate the same dinner regularly: tomato juice, salad, butterfly steak, and coffee.
The hangar housing the Spruce Goose later served as a filming studio.
Hobby Airport in Houston briefly became Howard Hughes Airport, but changed back due to public objection.
He preferred talking by phone because of partial deafness.
He was a staunch supporter of the Republican Party and an active anti-communist.
Technically nominated for two Oscars as producer of Best Picture nominees The Racket 1928 and The Front Page 1931.
Co-founded California Pictures with Preston Sturges.
Humble, Texas is pronounced UM-bull with silent h.
Nephew of actor/screenwriter Rupert Hughes.
Two of his produced films are in the National Film Registry: The Front Page 1931 and Scarface 1932.
His autopsy revealed tertiary syphilis, and he received treatment for primary syphilis with mercury and arsenic injections.
On November 2, 1947, he test flew the Spruce Goose for 60 seconds at Long Beach.
From July 10-14, 1938, he flew around the world in 3 days, 19 hours, and 17 minutes, honored with a New York City ticker-tape parade.
In 1929, he helped Randolph Scott land his first film roles.
On January 19, 1937, he set a new West Coast to East Coast speed record.
Gore Vidal called him an honest-to-God American shit and a menace as a flyer.
He kept numerous homes for starlets and even had Rita Hayworth as a kept woman.
In 1948, Hughes met Terry Moore; actor Dale Robertson mistook him for her father.
His Hughes Tool Co. bought RKO in 1948, including RKO Pictures, Studios, Theatres, and Radio Network.
He contracted Roland Petit’s ballet company for film work, but after six months of no assignments, the dancers tried to return to Paris; Hughes used TWA to block them.
Quick answers to the questions readers ask most about Howard Hughes.
Celebrities similar to Howard Hughes — same craft, ranked by reach.
🇫🇷 France
🇺🇸 United States
🇺🇸 United States
🇺🇸 United States
🇦🇹 Austria
🇺🇸 United States
🇺🇸 United States
🇺🇸 United States
🇮🇹 Italy
🌍 United States of America
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
🇺🇸 United States
