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The 5 Best Books on Howard Hughes

Essential books on howard hughes.

There are numerous books on Howard Hughes, and it comes with good reason, he was a business magnate, record-setting pilot, engineer, film producer, and philanthropist, known during his lifetime as one of the richest and most influential people in the world.

“Every man has his price, or a guy like me couldn’t exist,” he remarked.

In order to get to the bottom of what inspired one of America’s most consequential figures, we’ve compiled a list of the 5 best books on Howard Hughes.

Howard Hughes: His Life and Madness by Donald L. Barlett

The life that inspired the major motion picture The Aviator, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and directed by Martin Scorsese. Howard Hughes has always fascinated the public with his mixture of secrecy, dashing lifestyle, and reclusiveness. This is the book that breaks through the image to get at the man. It was originally published under the title Empire: The Life, Legend, and Madness of Howard Hughes .

Howard Hughes: The Untold Story by Peter Harry Brown

Howard Hughes was one of the most amazing, intriguing, and controversial figures of the twentieth century. He was the billionaire head of a giant corporation, a genius inventor, an ace pilot, a matinee-idol-handsome playboy, a major movie maker who bedded a long list of Hollywood glamour queens, a sexual sultan with a harem of teenage consorts, a political insider with intimate ties to Watergate, a Las Vegas kingpin, and ultimately a bizarre recluse whose final years and shocking death were cloaked in macabre mystery.

Few people have been able to penetrate the wall of secrecy that enshrouded this complex man. In this fascinating, revelation-packed biography, the full story of one of the most daring, enigmatic, and reclusive power brokers America has ever known is finally told.

Howard Hughes and the Spruce Goose by Graham M. Simmons

Howard Hughes’ life ambition was to make a significant contribution to the field of aviation development. But the monumental folly of his endeavors on the H-KI Hercules meant that he came to be known and remembered to a great extent for all the wrong reasons. The ‘Spruce Goose’ (a name Hughes detested) became a product of his wild fixation on perfection and scale. Once completed, it was the largest flying machine ever built. Its wingspan of 320 feet remains the largest in history. Yet it only completed one flight; flying for a mile on its maiden voyage above Long Beach Harbor, before being consigned to the history books as a failure.

Experienced author Graham M. Simons turns his attention to the production process that saw this colossus take shape. In words and images, all aspects of this process are illustrated. We have shots taken during the initial design period, images of the craft under construction, and photographs taken at the test flights. In addition, Simons has been gifted access to the highly prized and rarely seen aircraft manual produced for the aircraft, content from which has been extracted and used to supplement the narrative.

The book goes on to explore the political issues that sprung up as a result of Hughes’ endeavors, looking into the Senate War Investigations Committee’s findings which explored the extent to which government funds had been utilized in the development and construction of the airship, adding a whole new layer of controversy to the proceedings.

Howard Hughes: The Secret Life by Charles Higham

His wealth was legendary. His passions were bizarre. Now, the truth about the money, the madness, and the man behind the enigma.

Howard Hughes is one of the best-known and least-understood men of our times – famed for his wealth, his daring, and his descent into madness. Bestselling biographer Charles Higham goes beyond the enigma to reveal the incredible private life of Howard Hughes:

• his romances with the great stars of Hollywood – Katharine Hepburn, Bette Davis, Cary Grant, Tyrone Power, and numerous others.
• his forays into sadomasochism.
• his involvement with Richard Nixon and Watergate.
• his bizarre final years.

Hughes: The Private Diaries, Memos, and Letters by Richard Hack

Howard Hughes was a true American original: legendary lover, record-setting aviator, award-winning film producer, talented inventor, ultimate eccentric, and, for much of his lifetime, the richest man in the U.S. This definitive biography explodes the illusion of his life & exposes the man behind the myth.

Newly uncovered personal letters, over 110,000 pages of sealed court testimony, recently declassified FBI files, never-before-published autopsy reports & exclusive interviews reveal a man so devious in his thinking, so perverse in his desires, and so influential that his impact continues to be felt even today. Hughes never kept a diary, yet he wrote over 8,000 pages of memos, letters, and personal notes that chronicle his life and thoughts.

Citizen Hughes by Michael Drosnin

At the height of his wealth, power, and invisibility, the world’s richest and most secretive man kept what amounted to a diary. The billionaire commanded his empire by correspondence, scrawling thousands of handwritten memos to unseen henchmen. It was the only time Howard Hughes risked writing down his orders, plans, thoughts, fears, and desires. Hughes claimed the papers were so sensitive – “the very most confidential, almost sacred information as to my innermost activities” – that not even his most trusted aides or executives were allowed to keep the messages he sent them.

But in the early-morning hours of June 5, 1974, unknown burglars staged a daring break-in at Hughes’s supposedly impregnable headquarters and escaped with all the confidential files. Despite a top-secret FBI investigation and a million-dollar CIA buyback bid, none of the stolen secret papers were ever found – until investigative reporter Michael Drosnin cracked the case.

In  Citizen Hughes , Drosnin reveals the true story of the great Hughes heist – and of the real Howard Hughes. Based on nearly ten thousand never-before-published documents, more than three thousand in Hughes’s own handwriting, Citizen Hughes is far more than a biography, or even an unwilling autobiography. It is a startling record of the secret history of our times.

If you enjoyed this guide to essential books on Howard Hughes, check out our list of The 10 Best Books on Thomas Edison !

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18 Best Books on Howard Hughes (2022 Review)

September 11, 2020 by James Wilson

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Howard Hughes was one of the world’s most financially successful people. He was one of the most interesting and well-rounded individuals to have ever lived. Known for his career with the Hughes aircraft Company,  his experience as an engineer as well as his time as a film director, he spent his lifetime creating a variety of innovations and is known for his peculiarities stemming from a worsening of excessive compulsive disorder. As an interesting historical figure, Hughes has been regularly studied for his legacy and for the impact he had on our world.

What are the Best Books on Howard Hughes to read?

Best Books on Howard Hughes: Our Top 20 Picks

If you’d like to learn more about Howard Hughes there are many perspectives that authors have taken to write about him. Here are some of the best books on Howard Hughes that you may consider:

1. Taking K 129 Russian Operation History

The Taking of K-129 is a book by Josh Dean detailing how the CIA used Howard Hughes and his knowledge to steal one of the most powerful Russian submarines to complete a covert operation. This Cold War era story plays out like the Hunt for red October and shares a true tale of how Howard Hughes spent an expansive amount of his wealth and over six years of his engineering life to steal a nuclear armed Soviet submarine. The top-secret mission entitled project Azorian cost an estimated $800 million and  was one of the most daring CIA operations ever completed using Hughes’s reputation the CIA was able to operate an steal the sub right from under the noses of Russian Forces. Read this daring mission report here.

• Authors : Josh Dean (Author)
• Publisher : Dutton Caliber; Illustrated Edition (September 25, 2018)
• Pages : 448 pages

2. Howard Hughes By Peter Harry Brown

Howard Hughes by Peter Harry Brown is a book that details the life and times of one of the most controversial and intriguing figures of the 20 th  century. Providing details on the way that Howard Hughes developed his billionaire fortune, some of the inventions that he produced as well as his life as a pilot, various aspects of his life are all covered in this interesting and humorous story of his life. It’s been difficult for many authors to penetrate into the world of Howard Hughes with such accuracy. This is one of the first books to intimately explore the details of his life, his experience in Watergate and more. As a notoriously  reclusive and secret person, this could be one of the most in-depth versions of the Howard Hughes story ever told.

• Authors : Peter Harry Brown (Author), Pat H. Broeske (Author)
• Publisher : Da Capo Press; Reprint Edition (November 3, 2004)
• Pages : 528 pages

3. Howard Hughes- His life of madness

Howard Hughes: his life and madness is a book written by Donald L Barlett and James B Steele. This is a book that takes a deep dive into the dashing lifestyle and reclusiveness of this historical figure. The book explores the true shape of Howard Hughes and who he was in every aspect of his life. Including over 80 photographs, this book is written in the same format as the motion picture with Leonardo DiCaprio. Following various events throughout the life of Hughes, this is a book that delivers a historical accurate account detailed chapter by chapter.

• Authors : Donald L. Barlett (Author), James B. Steele (Author)
• Publisher : W. W. Norton & Company; Illustrated Edition (September 17, 2004)
• Pages : 688 pages

4. Hughes a Definitive Biography

The definitive biography of Howard Hughes was written by Richard Hack. As a self-proclaimed biography that Hughes would’ve hated, this is a biography that dives deep into his story. The author new Hughes for over 17 years and Hack tells his version of the man and his story. Covering the achievements of his lifetime, how he became the richest man in the United States and more, this is a book with many details you won’t find anywhere else. This is a definitive biography from one of Howard Hughes’s closest friends and a firsthand version of what he was truly like as a person.

• Authors : Richard Hack (Author)
• Publisher : New Millenium (September 1, 2001)
• Pages : 444 pages

5. The Autobiography of Howard Hughes: Confessions of a Billionare:

The autobiography of Howard Hughes and the confessions of an unhappy billionaire is a detail of stories throughout his life. Put together by Clifford Irving, this version of the Howard Hughes story showcases more on his motivation for buying favors of US presidents, working to purchase the whole city of Las Vegas and how he was able to create innovations in the world of science and aviation. Clifford Irving was tasked by  Hughes while he was still alive and told to write the story of his life. This feels like the authentic voice of Howard Hughes writing through  Clifford Irving.  Told from his life in seclusion, the book details more on his death and how Hughes felt as though his employees had stolen billions of dollars from his estate. As one of the most revolutionary and interesting first-hand accounts of Howard Hughes life, we can keep this autobiography as Howard’s version of his own story, told for the first time.

• Authors : Clifford Irving (Author)
• Pages : 389 pages

6. Howard Hughes Airline Informal History

Howard Hughes’ Airline provides the  in formal story of the TWA. Robert J. Sterling details the Hughes aircraft Company and what it would’ve been like to work at this company at the time the Hughes was alive. As Howard Hughes is known as one of the most financially successful individuals, working at the Hughes aircraft Company in the year 1932 would have been a highly unique experience. This book details not only what it would’ve been like to work on the TWA but also the types of people that were flying back at this time. As Hughes was breaking world airspeed records, the Airlines that he was running was creating the pilots of tomorrow. As the first great air carrier and the gateway to the rich and elite flying as their main means of travel, this is the  portrayal of the company, the people using it and the state of working for Hughes at the time.

• Authors : Robert J Serling (Author)
• Publisher : Lume Books (January 3, 2017)
• Pages : 472 pages

7. Howard Hughes The untold story

Howard Hughes the untold story is written by Peter Harry Brown. This is a biography that details some of the most controversial aspects of his life. Even though he was a political influencer known for his ties to Watergate, he was also a billionaire playboy and major movie maker. Howard Hughes has many chapters involved in his life and it’s difficult to see the details behind each of these amazing careers that he had. Few people have been able to get close to Hughes but this untold story goes into some of the first-hand accounts of Howard Hughes from people that were closest to him. With even his death cloaked in a mystery, this is one of the first books that can penetrate through the walls of secrecy involving Howard Hughes and his complexity.

There are revelations in this biography that will finally help you to feel like you’re getting the full story. As Howard Hughes was an extremely reclusive powerbroker in America, we can finally begin to see his impact in the influences that he had over the country up until his death.

• Authors : Alex Frith (Author)
• Publisher : Usborne Publishing Ltd (April 1, 2016)

8. Hughes after aircraft

Hughes after howard shares a story of Howard Hughes after his involvement with the aircraft company. Many people across the world have heard of Howard Hughes but Dr. Kenneth Richardson details what happened in the year 1953 in which Howard Hughes disappeared from his own company. The Hughes aircraft Company began in the year 1932 and it quickly became one of the largest sellers of military electronics in the entire world. This book explores the complex mechanisms in place that led Howard Hughes to leave his own company and just how on the forefront the company was for its innovation and its electronic prowess.

• Authors : D.Kenneth Richardson (Author)
• Publisher : Sea Hill Press; Illustrated Edition (July 7, 2011)
• Pages : 496 pages

9. Next to Hughes Behind the downfalll

This intimate love details the tragic downfall of Howard Hughes and how his closest advisor betrayed him. This intimate look details how eccentric Howard Hughes became in the late stages of his life and how his condition continued to worsen. As an extremely influential man throughout American history, not much is known about the state of his decline and some of his final years. This book written by Robert Maheau and friend of Hughes Richard Hack, details the way that Howard Hughes was later on in his life. This look behind the veil truly shows how Hughes continued to operate long after his fall from power.

• Authors : Robert Maheu (Author), Richard Hack (Author)
• Publisher : Harpercollins; 1st Edition (April 1, 1992)
• Pages : 289 pages

10. Investigation Uncovers contested American History

The investigation is a story of a former FBI agent that details connections that Howard Hughes had within American history. Gary Magnesen  provides details and the connection between Melvin Dummar and Howard Hughes. That you had a controversial meeting in private which would eventually lead to a handwritten note supposedly from Howard Hughes. The Hughes will apparently named Dummar as his sole heir from this meeting. As Hughes was a billionaire even at the time of his death, this investigation is considered to be one of the greatest American mysteries of all time. Here is truly had one of the most contested wills in American history and in this book you can discover whether Melven Demmar truly is the heir of Howard Hughes.

• Authors : Gary Magnesen (Author)
• Publisher : Barricade Books; 1st Edition (November 1, 2005)
• Pages : 263 pages

11. Secret life of Howard Hughes

Boxes: The secret life of Howard Hughes is a book by Douglas Wellman that uses some of the secret files acquired from the Hughes estate to tell personal stories about Howard Hughes’s life. This is a well documented and well researched read with short stories from the history of Howard Hughes and some of his greatest accomplishments. With accused links to Bugsy Spiegel, the John F. Kennedy murders and more, this is a book that portrays Hughes in an entirely new way and showcases his  involvement in US politics is one of the wealthiest people in the United States. With secrets that have remained locked up for over 31 years, this is a book that has some of the most exclusive stories about Howard Hughes and his involvement with the United States government.

• Authors : Douglas Wellman (Author)
• Publisher : WriteLife Publishing; Second Edition, Second edition (March 1, 2016)
• Pages : 320 pages

12. American Legends: The Life of Howard Hughes

American legends and the life of Howard Hughes is produced by Charles River Editors in a complete biography on Howard Hughes. Including inspirational quotes with his view on partners and some of the statements that Hughes would have issued later in his life, this book details his rise to a living folk hero to his eccentric retirement. As a multitalented millionaire making headlines in the late 20s, his company was one of the top producers in the United States by the mid-30s. As one of the most famous people in the United States, he was also one of the world’s first billionaires. Taking the inheritance that he earned in his teens, by middle age he was able to become one of the richest men in America. This book details how Howard Hughes was able to amass an empire, become worldwide yet still be considered close to no one.

• Authors : Charles River Editors (Author)
• Publisher : CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (June 7, 2014)
• Pages : 90 pages

13. Howards Whirlybirds: Pioneering Helicopter exploits

Donald J. Porter looks into the life and times of Howard Hughes from the perspective of aviation first. As Howard Hughes was a politically involved billionaire that was known for his secrecy, the public continue to be fascinated by him and his celebrity status. Behind the scenes and behind all of the secrecy, Hughes was a true innovator. His company was responsible for some of the greatest technological leaps in our world. One of the most historically significant  innovations that Howard Hughes and his company made were Hughes helicopters. This division of his airline company has all but fallen into complete secrecy. The Hughes aircraft Company is actually responsible for producing products like the Apache helicopter.  The company would produce the first turbine powered light observation vehicle, a light helicopter trainer, handled hot cycle rotorcraft propulsion research and delivered one of the world’s most advanced attack helicopters.

This book details the unseen selection of Howard Hughes company and how it was able to develop some the world’s most innovative helicopters that are still working today. We study the legacy of Howard Hughes and how his company has evolved from the second world war up until the 1980s. Rich with technological breakthroughs and written by technical expert, this is the perfect book on Howard Hughes if you are interested in studying him from a technical mindset and from the perspective innovation in aircraft.

• Authors : Donald J. Porter (Author)
• Publisher : Fonthill Media (October 10, 2013)
• Pages : 338 pages

14. Howard Amazing Hughes

Howard: The amazing Mr. Hughes is a book written by Noah Dietrich. In its newly revised format it details some of the past romantic relationships he had and more into his social life. This biography is a bit different from typical recounts of his life which detail more on his company, his innovations and accomplishments. This is a book that goes further in depth into what it was like to be around Hughes and the meat of his lifestyle. In this biography you can find out more about some of his greatest philosophies, how he lived and what it was like to be around Howard Hughes.

• Authors : Noah Dietrich (Author)
• Publisher : Fawcett (January 1, 1971)

15. Howard Hughes his flying boat

Howard Hugues and his flying boat is a book written by Charles Barton. It details the real story behind Howard Hughes as an aviator and innovative engineer. It was difficult to cover the story of Howard Hughes while he lived but this was one of the first published books on use after his death. It has since been revised with new details. Howard Hughes is one of the world’s most difficult biography subjects as the Hughes organization is  a business that has always been wrapped in secrecy. With the nature of the projects that Hughes took on, Hughes employees were forbidden to talk about their work as well as their boss. This biography includes some of the first hand accounts of Hughes employee’s and Associates that were closest to him as he was working. Finding true first-hand accounts of what Howard Hughes was like would have been difficult as Hughes would only allow the publishing company Rosemont Enterprise Inc to publish stories on him. With this publication ban lifted since his death, these accounts from employees leads to one of the clearest pictures of Howard Hughes we know today.

• Authors : Charles Barton (Author)
• Publisher : Charles Barton Inc; Revised Edition (February 1, 1998)
• Pages : 288 pages

16. Howard Hughes Paranoia Palace

Howard Hughes is one of the most enigmatic and famous individuals that lived in the 20 th  century. He challenged conventions, packs theaters and became one of the world’s foremost aviation experts. From his shattering of  airspeed records to becoming one of the world’s first billionaires, Hughes lived an extremely rich life. One of the largest aspects of hues that is misunderstood is the secrecy and his paranoia. This book details the history of our cues including the ugly parts. From his time dating Hollywood starlets in the 1930s and 40s to becoming a casino mogul, we get a full portrait of Howard Hughes and how he completely shaped the United States as it is today.

• Authors : Geoff Schumacher (Author)
• Publisher : Stephens Press LLC; First Edition (February 15, 2008)
• Pages : 296 pages

17. Asylum Howard Hughes

The Asylum of Howard Hughes in the first edition is a book by Jack G. Real and Bille Yenne. It tells the story of one of the wealthiest men in the world and how a plane crash changed his life forever. Starting with his rise and detailing his crash and eventual addiction to drugs, this is the story of how Hughes became more dependent on pain management and how he drew further and further into himself to become a recluse. The details of asylum grow as we learn more about the team that was working to keep Hughes cut off from the surrounding world. We learn more about who he could trust and how he was able to maintain his privacy even as the world grew smaller. Jack Real was one of Howard’s most trusted confidants near the time of his death. Real tells his version of the Howard Hughes story, sparing no detail and sharing the efforts that he made to keep our cues comfortable while he was living in seclusion. Telling a different side of the story about Hughes and his guards, Jack G Real tells a tale of the nearly impossible job that he carried out for years.

• Authors : Jack G. Real (Author)
• Publisher : Xlibris; Illustrated Edition (September 18, 2003)
• Pages : 308 pages

18. Mysterious Howard Hughes revealed

The mysterious Howard Hughes revealed is a book written by Verl L. Frehner and Chuck Waldron. This is an extremely revealing book on Howard Hughes with some of the most complete collections of knowledge on him as a person. With first-hand personal information from his associates included, the book reads as a biographical novel. A variety of the information  in this book has previously been held as confidential to employee’s. Working at his company and getting close to Hughes is steeped with mystery to this day. This book has some new accounts that you won’t find anywhere else from employees and those that were closest to Hughes.  Shared in a very respectful manner, we can see more of the human characteristics that make up our Hughes than ever before in this biography. If you’ve ever been interested in learning more about the mysterious man that Howard Hughes was, this is a forthright peel behind the mask into the true nature of Howard Hughes and who he was as a man.

• Authors : Verl L. Frehner and Chuck Waldron (Author)
• Publisher : Trafford Publishing (July 6, 2006)
• Pages : 388 pages

Choosing the Best Books on Howard Hughes

If you are interested in learning more about Howard Hughes any of these books could be a great way to get started. It’s possible that you can learn about many different chapters of Howard Hughes life from his time as a mogul and Hollywood playboy to the times that he spent as a daredevil breaking land speed records. With so many chapters to Howard Hughes’s life and an amazing influence that he had over our world, he is completely a historically significant individual that is well worth the subject of study.

Learning more about Howard Hughes can be an inspiring journey, it can how he did take on some of the ideals that helped him to become a success. You can also help you learn some of the history of the formation of the great American dream. The Howard Hughes story also serves as a tale of caution and ‘s although the darker details of his life have remained a secret, some of the books on this list detail some of the uglier sides of a reclusive lifestyle, drug addiction and the eventual fall from grace. Start building your knowledge of Howard Hughes today to find out more about each one of these unique chapters and gain a full perspective on this extremely secretive figure from United States history.

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Howard Hughes

Howard Hughes produced and directed movies in the 1930s. He had a playboy lifestyle and love of aviation. After a plane accident in 1946, he became reclusive.

Who Was Howard Hughes?

Howard Hughes was an aviator and film director who inherited his family's successful oil tool business and began investing in films. He produced several films, including the hit Hell's Angels .

He is largely known for being one of the wealthiest men and one of the most famous recluses, but Hughes had many professional accomplishments before withdrawing from public life.

Film and Flight

Hughes developed a passion for flying and founded his own aircraft company in the early 1930s. Besides designing and building planes, he risked his own life several times testing planes and setting world air-speed records in the mid- to late 1930s. He is credited with many aviation innovations, such as the first retractable landing gear, and is also remembered for the H-4 Hercules, which the press nicknamed the Spruce Goose. For years, Hughes labored on this massive wooden seaplane, which was intended to transport troops and materials across the Atlantic Ocean during World War II. Completed in 1947, it was flown only once and never went into production, however, Hughes maintained the H-4 in a climate-controlled hangar until his death in 1976. It is currently housed in the Evergreen Aviation Museum in McMinnville, Oregon.

The Recluse

After a terrible plane crash in 1946, Hughes began to retreat from the world. He bought part of RKO Pictures in 1948, but he never visited the studio. In the 1960s, he lived on the top floor of the Desert Inn in Las Vegas, Nevada, and conducted all of his business from his hotel suite. Few people ever saw him, which led to much public speculation and rumors about his activities. It was thought that he suffered from obsessive-compulsive disorder and had a drug problem. Hughes eventually left Las Vegas and began living abroad. In 1972 an allegedly authorized biography of famed recluse was announced, but it turned out to be a scam. The author, Clifford Irving, was later imprisoned for fraud.

Death and Legacy

Hughes died on April 5, 1976. After his death, numerous fake versions of his will surfaced, leading to a battle over his fortune. In 2004, Hughes' life returned to the spotlight with the feature film The Aviator , which depicted his early days. Leonardo DiCaprio played the billionaire as a dashing, troubled young man. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his portrayal of Hughes.

QUICK FACTS

• Birth date: December 24, 1905
• Birth State: Texas
• Birth City: Houston
• Best Known For: Howard Hughes produced and directed movies in the 1930s. He had a playboy lifestyle and love of aviation. After a plane accident in 1946, he became reclusive.
• Business and Industry
• Astrological Sign: Capricorn
• Death date: April 5, 1976

Fact Check: We strive for accuracy and fairness. If you see something that doesn’t look right, contact us !

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The Madness & Brilliance of Howard Hughes

He was the richest man in America, the world at his fingertips, and yet he was a prisoner to his own dark fears. His achievements were astounding – he created the fastest plane on the planet, was the driving force behind the largest aircraft ever built and was a pioneer in film making – and yet he is remembered for the eccentricities that drove him from hero to hermit. In his heyday, he was a romantic figure, with movie starlets flocking to be seen on his arm, and yet he spent the last 26 years of his life as a recluse, obsessed with cleanliness and controlling every aspect of his environment even as he sunk deeper and deeper into madness.

In this Biographics, we enter the strange world of the original eccentric billionaire, Howard Hughes.

“Just remember, there’s no one I can’t buy or destroy”

When it comes to the life of Howard Robard Hughes, it can be a challenge to separate fact from fiction. Even the details of his birth were falsified. Official records give that date as December 24, 1905 in Houston, Texas. The reality is that he’d been born two months earlier in the oil town of Humble, a hundred miles from Texas. From there, the lies built upon each other.

He was not one of triplets, nor was he his mother’s sister’s illegitimate son or a substitute baby brought in to replace the one who had died. All of these fanciful stories were later told by the man himself in order to build upon the aura that surrounded his name.

Hughes senior, known as ‘Bo’ – a shortened form of his middle name Robards – had been a penniless scoundrel, bumming his way round Joplin, Missouri at the turn of the 19th Century. In 1899, he was run out of town by the furious father of a girl he tried to seduce. With no other options, the dreamy eyed larrikin decided to try his hand at the oil business.

Making his way to Texas, Bo just happened to be on hand when a 1000-foot spume of black oil hurtled from the ground at Spindeltop on January 10th, 1901. He was among the first to grab claims, buying up land for a few dollars an acre, and selling it days later for hundreds.

Within a few months, having amassed a small fortune, Bo moved to Houston, where he founded the Texas Oil Fuel Company, the forerunner to Texaco. Within six months he had also married the darkly pretty, but seriously hypochondriacal Allene Gano. Allene was terrified of small animals and had an insect phobia, fueled by an obsession with cleanliness. These traits were to find full expression in her only son…

By the time that Howard, junior, known as ‘Sonny’, entered the world in 1905, his father was still chasing oil. Still he was frustrated, not so much at finding the oil locations, but at the inferior quality of the drilling tools that were available. Finally, out of exasperation, he set his sights on designing a better drill bit. On November 20th, 1908, he emerged from his study with designs for a bit that contained 168 cutting edges. He had just invented the Hughes Tool Bit, from which would flow the millions of dollars that would both enrich, and ultimately destroy, his son and heir.

By the age of four, it was obvious that Sonny Hughes had inherited the partial deafness that ran in the family. The condition, hereditary otosclerosis would become progressively worse over Howard’s lifetime. As a youngster, it caused him to become isolated and introspective.

But the young Hughes also gained a reputation as a technical whizz-kid. He put together his first wireless radio transmitter when he was 11-years old. A year later his picture appeared in the local newspaper, proudly standing next to the first motorized bicycle in Houston, which he had put together from steam engine parts.

In an effort to get his nervous and timid boy to ‘man up’, Bo decided to pack him off to the boot camp of the day, the Boy Scouts. So, during the 1916 summer recess, Sonny found himself in the middle of the Pohokop Mountains in Pike County, Pennsylvania under the tutelage of a grizzled old timer by the name of ‘General’ Dan Beard.

Surprisingly, the young Hughes took to the woodsman life like the proverbial duck to water. He was already quite fit and quickly learned to whittle, perfect Indian signs and simulate bird calls. He seemed to excel under the military discipline of the camp, too. Away from the over protective gaze of his mother, it seemed, he was able to shake off his effeminate nature and show his true colors.

From that moment on, he would be at his most peaceful when he was alone in an airplane – flying high above a world that he so often tried to escape.

In the Fall of 1920, a fourteen-year-old Sonny went with his father to the Harvard-Yale rowing crew races in Connecticut. Hughes senior promised to buy his son whatever he wanted if his favorite, Harvard, won the race. When Harvard smashed Yale by 14 seconds, the boy held out his hand in expectation and asked for five dollars. He then pointed to a sign further up the river advertising rides on a Curtis Flying Boat for $5.

Hughes, senior reluctantly joined his son for the ten-minute flight. It made the father sick, but the son had just discovered the one true love of his life. He found the experience of flying both exhilarating and liberating. From that moment on, he would be at his most peaceful when he was alone in an airplane – flying high above a world that he so often tried to escape.

Movie Mogul

By the age of 19, both of Hughes’ parents were dead. His mother had died suddenly when he was 16, after suffering complications from an ectopic pregnancy. Bo died less than two years later of a heart attack, leaving Hughes jr the heir to the Hughes Tool Company. He dropped out of college to take control of the company, quickly discovering that he knew nothing about the oil business. He soon hired a self taught accountant by the name of Noah Dietrich to take the controls. At the same time, Hughes legally declared himself an adult and seized full control of the entire family fortune.

Hughes now had the money that he needed to pursue his greatest passions. Those passions had nothing to with oil – instead they revolved around building and flying airplanes and making movies in Hollywood. Another of his passions was golf. One day, while playing at the Beverly Hills Country Club, he watched as a biplane flew overhead and tipped its wing at him. Howard was able to track down the flyer and offered to pay him the outrageous sum of a hundred dollars per day if he would teach him to fly. The pilot readily agreed and, two years later, Hughes was issued his private pilot’s license.

Despite his chronic shyness, Howard was fascinated with the glitz and glamor of Hollywood. In order to break into the business, he signed talented director Lewis Milestone to a 3-year contract. The pairing immediately struck gold with their debut picture, ‘Two Arabian Knights’, claiming an Academy Award in 1927. This gave Hughes the confidence to take on his next challenge – a fusion of his two great loves, flying and movies.

Failing to find a director who shared his passion for the skies, Howard decided to go it alone – writing, producing and directing the world’s first true aviation picture, Hell’s Angels. This was going to be his magnus opus and he was prepared to pour in as much money, time and effort as was needed to create a masterpiece.

An air-fleet was contracted that was bigger than that of some countries. During aerial filming sequences Howard’s obsessive compulsions led him to fixate on such things as cloud formations. He would scrap valuable minutes of perfectly good footage, forcing his pilots to reshoot until the clouds were just right.

One day, Hughes, in an effort to control every minute aspect of an aerial shoot, went up in a small scout plane. But no sooner had he ascended than the plane went into a tail-spin and crashed to the ground. Howard managed to walk away uninjured, the first of a number of miraculous plane crash escapes. A bemused stunt man commented that ‘at least he hasn’t injured his check writing arm.’

Howard’s obsession with perfection meant that the shooting schedule for Hell’s Angels got totally out of control. In the meantime, the public had become infatuated with the latest Hollywood innovation – talkies. Against everyone’s advice Hughes decided to rescript the movie and reshoot all of the dialogue scenes, this time adding sound.

The reshoot proved to be the break of a lifetime for a former bit player named Harlean Carpenter. The leading lady of the movie, Greta Nissen, was cut because of her strong Norwegian accent and Carpenter stepped into the role.

Hughes transformed her into Jean Harlow, the platinum blond bombshell who became a sensation during the 1930’s.

Hell’s Angels was a box office smash, returning double its production cost of $4 million, which was an exorbitant amount at that time.

Unfortunately for Hughes, three flops followed, Hughes cashed in on the public’s fascination with gangsters by producing Scarface, based on the life of Al Capone (we’ve actually got a video on him, you can find a link in the description below). Always one to push the bounds, Hughes filled the film with violence and obscenities. The sensors knocked it back, demanding major edits. To their surprise, Hughes sued them – and he won. The movie would be released just as he intended.

After the release of Scarface, Hughes stepped back from Hollywood to indulge his other great passion – flying.

In 1934 he easily won a flying race in Miami. This success fuelled his ambitions, inspiring him to set up the Hughes Aircraft Company. He now set out to design and build the world’s fastest racing plane. The result of his efforts was the H1, which Hughes flew to a new world speed record of 352 miles per hour on August 18th, 1935.

By 1938, Hughes was intent on achieving another world first – the fastest flight around the world. In a modified Lockheed 14, he took to the skies with a hand-picked crew and set off from New York. Sixteen hours and thirty-eight minutes later they landed in Paris, then onto Moscow and Siberia. Three days, nineteen hours and fourteen minutes after setting out they were back in New York. Hughes was hailed as a conquering hero. For three days the painfully shy adventurer endured ticker tape parades and receptions in New York, Chicago, Washington and Houston.

In 1940, Hughes moved into commercial aviation by grabbing a controlling share of Trans World Airlines (TWA). A short time later, the US Government came calling. They wanted Hughes Aircraft to supply plane parts, artillery shells and cannon barrels to help supply the war effort in Europe. Two years later, with America well and truly immersed in the conflict, Hughes was contracted to design and build a massive flying boat in order to overcome the German U-boat menace that was causing serious problems for US transport vessels.

While doing the testing and design for this project, Hughes was involved in his fourth plane crash. He was testing a Sikorsky S-43 amphibian aircraft on Lake Mead, Nevada. The plane went down into the frigid waters, killing a CAA inspector and an engineer who were also onboard. Hughes managed to walk away, but he did receive a large gash to the top of his head…

Mental Illness

It was around this time that Hughes began to exhibit patterns of behavior that seemed odd to onlookers. Compulsive hand washing to avoid germs, checking and re-checking his work, always seeking symmetry and constantly trying to make things perfect – all classic signs of OCD – were seen as symptoms of a deteriorating mind.

This was hardly a good time for whispers of insanity… With his business empire rapidly expanding and his military contracts imposing weighty demands, Hughes was facing stresses and pressures from all directions. Two huge contracts, for the XF-11 Reconnaissance Plane and the HK-1 Spruce Goose, were both over budget and overdue. Most of the delays were due to Hughes’ incessant tinkering and his insistence on being the test pilot for both planes. And it was this insistence which brought about his closest call yet…

On July 7th 1946, Hughes took the XF-11 for its first test flight – over the Los Angeles basin. For the first 45 minutes the plane functioned perfectly. Then, suddenly, a propeller malfunction causing the plane to plummet to the ground. Desperately wrestling with the controls, Hughes hoped to land on a fairway at the Los Angeles country club. Instead he plunged through the roof of a nearby house.

This was one crash that Hughes wasn’t able to walk away from. He was extracted from the wreckage as it went up in flames and rushed to the hospital. He suffered severe head trauma and multiple burns, along with fractures to his neck. These injuries were going to cause him suffering for the rest of his life.

To control his pain, Hughes started taking drugs… He relied on a 3 part cocktail of drugs – codeine, valium and empirit – drugs he took daily for the next 30 years.

Still, the pain and head injuries affected his behavior, causing his OCD to spin out of control.

Long before his reliance on pain killers, Howard Hughes had another, all embracing addiction – to women. When he had come to Hollywood in 1925, he had a wife – and an enormous sexual appetite. The wife, Ella, soon tired of his infidelities, filing for divorce in 1929. The sexual appetite remained though, and was satisfied with a list of Hollywood conquests that would include such stars as Jean Peters, Rita Hayworth, Ava Gardner, Lana Turner and Katherine Hepburn.

Hughes was obsessed with the female form, and it was this infatuation that inspired his most controversial film, The Outlaw. Set during the old west, the movie was a showcase for the voluptuous Jane Russell, with Hughes personally ensuring that here dresses were cut low enough to accentuate her size 38D bust. Once again the censors were outraged, but Hughes was laughing all the way to the bank…

By the mid 1940’s, Hughes’ health issues were impacting upon his increasingly complicated business empire. In addition to his ownership of TWA and Hughes Tool Company, he now also owned the RKO movie studio. At the same time, he was building a huge aerospace company to develop spy technology for the military.

In 1947 the pressure on Hughes was ramped up by several notches when he was subpoenaed to appear before Congress regarding alleged improprieties in his government contracts. In a commanding performance, with the TV cameras rolling, he strongly denied profiteering from the war effort.

It is ironic that this congressional appearance – his most confident, strong and dominant public outing – was also the last time that the public would see Howard Hughes. The brilliant and fearless visible millionaire was transforming into a mysterious, invisible recluse…

Withdrawal from Society

The fifty-year old Hughes was now intent on completely retreating from society. The symptoms of his undiagnosed obsessive compulsive disorder were by now all too apparent. He refused to shake hands or touch door handles, instructions to his aids were repeated in meticulous detail and he flew into violent rages when things were not exactly as he had commanded.

Those who worked for Hughes began calling him ‘the old man’ and they became seriously concerned that he was going insane. The FBI, who were keeping tabs on him, noted in 1957 that he was acting like a ‘screwball paranoiac’ adding that he could even be capable of murder…

Then, out of the blue, Hughes declared that he was going to marry one of the many starlets he had been seeing, Jean Peters. Many people believe that Hughes decided to get hitched so that his aides would no longer be able to have him committed to an asylum.

Less than a year after marrying Peters in a Nevada motel room, Hughes descended into one of the most bizarre episodes of his life. He told his aides that he wanted to view some movies at a studio on Sunset Boulevard. He didn’t leave the darkened screening room for more than four months… His diet consisted of chocolate bars and milk, and he spent his days and nights sitting naked in a chair staring at the screen.

During this time time, Hughes communicated with his aides by scribbling on a yellow legal pad. Instructions included not looking at him and not speaking to him unless spoken to first.

Over those four months at the studio his personal hygiene rapidly deteriorated, even as his germ obsession intensified. When he finally emerged from the screening room in the spring of 1958, Hughes was an unkempt, ragged and pathetic mess…

In 1966, conducting negotiations completely by telephone, Hughes sold his controlling share in TWA. This made him a billionaire and the richest man in America. But rather than sit on his fortune, Hughes, despite his pathetic physical condition, set his sights on conquering a new frontier – Las Vegas.

His first move was to relocate to the penthouse suite of the Desert Inn, where he could continue his bizarre lifestyle without interruption. He then began buying up the city, starting with the hotel he was living in. His investments included a local TV station, bought so that he could call them at any time and demand that they play the movies he wanted to watch.

By 1970, Hughes was a prisoner of his own design. And then, as if things weren’t crazy enough already, he suddenly left the Desert Inn without warning. Many in his entourage thought that he’d been abducted. But three weeks later he turned up in the Bahamas. From there he announced that he was turning the day to day operations of his empire over to a group of Mormon aids…

In 1972, Hughes relocated to a hotel room in London. He left the room only once – to go flying. But this was like no flight he’d ever taken. Climbing into the cockpit he took off all his clothes, flying around London in the nude…

Following what would be his final flight at the helm, Hughes’ condition rapidly deteriorated. He took a fall in his London hotel room, increasing his reliance on pain killers and taking away his ability to walk…

Things went downhill from here. As if by design, Hughes last hours were spent in the air – he was traveling to Houston to receive medical treatment. His emaciated body finally breathed its last breath on April, 5th, 1976. The world was shocked when the autopsy revealed the terrible condition of his body – the result of undiagnosed OCD, multiple severe head injuries, and 30 years of largely self imposed neglect.

It was a sad end for a brilliant man.

Howard Hughes Video Biography

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Biography of Howard Hughes, Businessman and Aviator

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Howard Hughes (December 24, 1905–April 5, 1976) was an American businessman, movie producer, aviator, and philanthropist. Over the course of his life, he amassed a fortune of $1.5 billion. Though Hughes had many accomplishments in his professional career, he is now best remembered for his final years as an eccentric recluse.

Fast Facts: Howard Hughes

• Known For : Hughes was a businessman, film producer, and aviator known for his immense wealth and eccentric lifestyle.
• Also Known As : Howard Robard Hughes Jr.
• Born : December 24, 1905 in Humble or Houston, Texas
• Parents : Howard R. Hughes Sr. and Allene Stone Gano
• Died : April 5, 1976 in Houston, Texas
• Education : California Institute of Technology, Rice University
• Awards and Honors : Congressional Gold Medal, International Air & Space Hall of Fame
• Spouse(s) : Ella Rice (m. 1925–1929), Jean Peters (m. 1957–1971)

Howard Hughes was born in either Humble or Houston, Texas, on December 24, 1905. Hughes' father, Howard Hughes Sr., made his fortune by designing a drill bit that could penetrate hard rock. Prior to this invention, oil drillers weren't able to reach the large pockets of oil lying beneath such rock. Howard Hughes Sr. and a colleague established the Sharp-Hughes Tool Company, which held the patent for the new drill bit, manufactured it, and leased it to oil companies.

Though he grew up in a wealthy household, Howard Hughes Jr. had difficulty focusing on his studies and changed schools often. Rather than sitting in a classroom, Hughes preferred to learn by tinkering with mechanical things. For instance, when his mother forbade him from having a motorcycle, he built one himself by assembling a motor and adding it to his bicycle.

Hughes was a loner in his youth. With one notable exception, he never really had any friends.

Family Tragedy and Inheritance

When Hughes was just 16 years old, his doting mother passed away. Then, not even two years later, his father suddenly died. Howard Hughes received 75 percent of his father's million-dollar estate (the other 25 percent went to relatives). Hughes immediately disagreed with his relatives over the running of Hughes Tool Company, but being only 18 years old, Hughes could not do anything about it. He would not legally be considered an adult until he reached the age of 21.

Frustrated but determined, Hughes went to court and got a judge to grant him legal adulthood. He then bought out his relatives' shares of the company. At age 19, Hughes became the full owner of the company. That same year he married Ella Rice, his first wife.

Film Production

In 1925, Hughes and his wife decided to move to Hollywood and spend some time with Hughes' uncle Rupert, who was a screenwriter. Hughes quickly became enchanted with movie making. He jumped right in and produced a film called "Swell Hogan." He quickly realized the film wasn't good, however, and never released it. Hughes learned from his mistakes and continued making films. "Two Arabian Knights," his third film, won an Oscar for Best Comedy Direction in 1929.

With this success under his belt, Hughes decided to make an epic about aviation and set to work on "Hell's Angels," the story of two British pilots set during World War I . The film became Hughes' obsession. His wife, tired of being neglected, divorced him. Hughes continued making films and produced more than 25 of them, including "Scarface" and "The Outlaw."

In 1932, Hughes developed a new obsession—aviation. He formed the Hughes Aircraft Company, bought several airplanes, and hired numerous engineers and designers to help him design a faster plane. He spent the rest of the 1930s setting new speed records. He flew around the world in 1938, breaking Wiley Post's record. Though Hughes was given a ticker-tape parade upon his arrival in New York, he was already showing signs of wanting to shun the public spotlight.

In 1944, Hughes won a government contract to design a large, flying boat that could carry both people and supplies to the war in Europe. The Hughes H-4 Hercules (also known as the Spruce Goose ), the largest plane ever constructed, was flown successfully in 1947 but never flew again.

Hughes was involved in several accidents during his aviation career, including one that killed two people and left Hughes with major injuries. A near-fatal crash in 1946 left Hughes with a crushed lung, cracked ribs, and third-degree burns. During his recovery, he enlisted the help of engineers to design a new hospital bed.

By the mid-1950s, Hughes' dislike of being a public figure began to severely affect his life. Though he married actress Jean Peters in 1957, he began avoiding public appearances. He traveled for a bit and in 1966 he moved to Las Vegas, where he holed himself up in the Desert Inn Hotel. When the hotel threatened to evict him, he purchased the hotel. Hughes also bought several other hotels and properties in Las Vegas. For the next several years, hardly a single person saw him. He had become so reclusive that he almost never left his hotel suite. At this time, Hughes was suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder and germophobia.

In 1970, Hughes' marriage ended and he left Las Vegas. He moved from one country to another and died in 1976 aboard an airplane while traveling from Acapulco, Mexico, to Houston, Texas.

Hughes had become such a hermit in his final years—and his physical health had so deteriorated—that no one was quite sure it was he who had died, so the Treasury Department had to use fingerprints to confirm his death.

Hughes is perhaps best remembered for his contributions to the American film industry and for his eccentric behavior. His film archive—a collection of over 200 works—is now part of the Academy Film Archive. Hughes' life has been the subject of numerous films, including "The Amazing Howard Hughes," "Melvin and Howard," and "The Aviator."

• Bartlett, Donald L., and James B. Steele. "Empire: The Life, Legend, and Madness of Howard Hughes." W.W. Norton, 1980.
• Higham, Charles. "Howard Hughes: The Secret Life." Virgin, 2011.
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The real life and legacy of howard hughes.

Before he was a famous recluse -- codeine-addicted and obsessive-compulsive -- tycoon Howard Hughes was a record-breaking pilot, a moviemaker and playboy. Hughes is the subject of a new film, The Aviator , and a new biography, Howard Hughes , written by former Hughes Aircraft test pilot George Marrett. We review the life of the larger-than-life Hughes.

George Marrett , author of Howard Hughes : Aviator (Naval Institute Press, November 2004).

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Howard Hughes: His Life And Madness Paperback – Illustrated, Sept. 21 2004

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• Publisher ‏ : ‎ WW Norton; Illustrated edition (Sept. 21 2004)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
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• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0393326020
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James B. Steele and his co-author Donald L. Barlett are America’s most honored team of investigative reporters. They have won two Pulitzer Prizes, two National Magazine awards and upward of more than fifty other national journalism awards. Since they first worked together at The Philadelphia Inquirer, their writing has appeared in Time, Vanity Fair, The New York Times and The Washington Post. They have written nine books, including two national bestsellers. Their newest book is America: What Went Wrong? The Crisis Deepens.

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Empire: The Life, Legend, and Madness of Howard Hughes Audio CD – CD, October 1, 2005

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Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele have worked together for more than three decades, first at the Philadelphia Inquirer , where they won two Pulitzer Prizes, and then at Time magazine, where they earned two National Magazine Awards. They have written several books together.

Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele have worked together for more than three decades, first at the Philadelphia Inquirer , where they won two Pulitzer Prizes, and then at Time magazine, where they earned two National Magazine Awards. They have written seven books together.

Christopher Hurt is an accomplished narrator with a lengthy resume of popular titles for Blackstone. A graduate of George Washington University's acting program, he currently resides in New York City.

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7 Things You May Not Know About Howard Hughes

By: Elizabeth Nix

Updated: May 9, 2023 | Original: July 7, 2015

1. Hughes was a millionaire at 18.

The 1901 discovery of oil at Spindletop, near Beaumont, Texas, marked the birth of the modern petroleum industry, and drew Hughes’ father, Howard Sr., a Harvard dropout, to East Texas to try his luck as a wildcatter. After becoming frustrated by the difficulty of drilling into hard-rock formations with the “fishtail” drill bit that was standard at the time, he devised a superior two-cone bit, which made drilling easier and revolutionized the oil industry.

Hughes patented the technology in 1909 and, with partner Walter Sharp, formed the Houston-based Sharp-Hughes Tool Company to manufacture the bit. After Sharp died in 1912, Hughes bought his interest in the company. When he in turn passed away in 1924, Howard Jr., an only child whose mother had died two years earlier, inherited the thriving company and became a millionaire. The 18-year-old Hughes dropped out of Rice University, let others manage the oil-tool business and set out for Hollywood in 1925.

2. His directorial debut, “Hell’s Angels,” was one of the most expensive movies of its time.

Hughes started his movie career as a producer on the 1926 film “Swell Hogan,” which turned out to be so terrible it never made it into theaters. However, he soon had box-office success with 1927’s “Two Arabian Knights,” which earned an Academy Award for best comedy direction. Hughes went on to direct his first film, “Hell’s Angels,” when the initial two directors on the project quit after clashing with the young Texas millionaire. In his quest to make the aerial scenes in “Hell’s Angels,” an action-adventure about World War I pilots, as realistic as possible, Hughes amassed a huge fleet of vintage planes and hired scores of pilots and mechanics.

Three pilots died during production, and Hughes himself crashed a plane. “Hell’s Angels” initially was shot as a silent film, but following the fall 1927 release of “The Jazz Singer,” the first feature-length movie with synchronized dialogue, Hughes decided to reshoot with sound. He spent nearly $4 million to produce “Hell’s Angels,” which debuted in 1930 and was one of the most expensive films of its time. It also was a hit and put Hughes on the map in Hollywood. He later produced additional films but his only other directorial effort was 1943’s “The Outlaw,” a Western featuring Jane Russell.

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3. Hughes set an around-the-world flight record.

During the 1930s, Hughes began to seriously pursue his passion for flying, establishing Hughes Aircraft Company in 1932 (it eventually became a major aerospace and defense contractor) and setting a series of aviation records. In 1935, he broke the record for flying a plane over land, traveling 352 miles per hour near Santa Ana, California. Two years later, he set a record for transcontinental U.S. speed, journeying from Burbank, California, to Newark, New Jersey, in 7 hours, 28 minutes and 25 seconds.

On July 10, 1938, Hughes and a four-man crew took off from Brooklyn’s Floyd Bennett Field on an around-the-world flight. After dipping his Lockheed Super Electra’s wings over the Old Saybrook, Connecticut, home of his girlfriend Katharine Hepburn, Hughes made refueling stops in Paris, Moscow, Omsk and Yakutsk (both in Siberia), Fairbanks and Minneapolis before landing back in Brooklyn. There, thousands of spectators greeted Hughes, who had set a new record for circumnavigating the globe, with a time of three days, 19 hours and 17 minutes. He was hailed as a hero and honored with a ticker tape parade in New York City and celebrations around the country.

4. His famous Spruce Goose aircraft was flown only once.

In 1942, during World War II, Hughes contracted with the U.S. government to design and build an aircraft capable of transporting 700 troops or a load of 60 tons across the Atlantic. Known by various names, including the H-4 Hercules, the Flying Boat and most commonly, the Spruce Goose (a moniker Hughes detested), it had a wingspan of 320 feet and was the largest aircraft ever constructed.

However, the war ended before the plane was completed, and in 1947 Hughes was called to testify before a U.S. Senate committee investigating whether he’d misused millions of dollars in government funds on the project. At the hearings, Hughes said of the Spruce Goose: “I put the sweat of my life into this thing. I have my reputation rolled up in it and I have stated several times that if it’s a failure I’ll probably leave this country and never come back. And I mean it.”

After testifying in Washington, Hughes was determined to show his massive aircraft could fly, and on November 2, 1947, he piloted its first and only flight. The Spruce Goose (the nickname came from the fact it was constructed of wood due to wartime restrictions on steel and aluminum; however, birch, not spruce, was the primary building material) traveled for a mile about 70 feet above the water at Long Beach, California, before landing. Members of the Senate committee later issued a report criticizing Hughes’ handling of the Spruce Goose project but the document proved inconsequential. After the aircraft’s lone flight, Hughes shelled out millions to keep it in a climate-controlled Long Beach hangar until his 1976 death. It’s now housed at an aviation museum in Oregon.

5. Hughes was part of a CIA plot to recover a sunken Soviet submarine.

In March 1968, during the Cold War, a Soviet submarine carrying nuclear-armed ballistic missiles accidentally sank in the Pacific Ocean. The Soviets embarked on a two-month search for the sub but were unable to locate it; not long afterward, the U.S. found it some 1,500 miles northwest of Hawaii, 16,500 feet below the water’s surface. Believing the 1,750-ton sub was a source of important intelligence information, the CIA launched a complex covert operation, codenamed Project Azorian, to recover it. The U.S. commissioned the construction of a ship with the specialized capabilities needed to lift the sub from the ocean’s depths, and the CIA devised a cover story that the vessel, named the Hughes Glomar Explorer, was being built for Howard Hughes, who planned to use it for a new commercial venture: mining minerals from the ocean floor.

The Glomar Explorer finally arrived at the wreckage site in the summer of 1974 but was unable to retrieve the whole sub because a portion broke off as it was being raised. A second recovery effort was planned; however, in the meantime, there was a burglary at the Los Angeles headquarters of Hughes’ Summa Corporation, and among the stolen items was thought to be a secret document linking Howard Hughes to the CIA and the Glomar Explorer. The news media learned about the burglary and the story of the Glomar Explorer’s real purpose became public in 1975. As a result, the mission to recover the rest of the sub was scrapped.

6. When a Vegas hotel tried to kick him out, he bought the place.

Faced with a huge tax bill in California, he decided to move to Las Vegas in late 1966, arriving by private train car and taking up residence on the top floor of the Desert Inn. When the hotel’s owner tried to evict Hughes and his staff, who didn’t gamble, in order to free up rooms for high-roller guests, Hughes decided to buy the place (technically, he purchased a long-term lease), for $13 million. Afterward, he went on a Vegas buying spree, snapping up other hotel casinos, an airport and airline and various tracts of undeveloped land. Also, because Hughes, by then a recluse who never left his Desert Inn penthouse, wanted to watch his favorite old movies on late-night TV—and the city had no all-night stations–he acquired a local TV station of his own.

After four years in Vegas, during which time he became one of Nevada’s biggest employers and private landholders, he left abruptly in 1970. He spent the final six years of his life living in hotels in the Bahamas, Nicaragua, Vancouver, London and Acapulco.

7. A planned Hughes autobiography turned out to be a hoax.

In December 1971, McGraw-Hill, a New York City publishing company, announced it would publish Hughes’ autobiography, with excerpts slated to appear in Life magazine. Shortly after the announcement, officials at the Hughes Tool Company denounced the planned book as a fake. However, McGraw-Hill and Life denied this charge and expressed confidence in the authenticity of the manuscript, which Hughes supposedly collaborated on with Clifford Irving, who’d previously published works of fiction and non-fiction. McGraw-Hill had handwritten letters said to be from Hughes along with other project-related items with his signature; these were submitted to a respected handwriting analysis firm, which determined they’d been written by Hughes.

In January 1972, the reclusive mogul, then residing at a hotel in the Bahamas, held a press conference by phone with a group of journalists he’d once known. Hughes, who hadn’t spoken with the media in years, said the autobiography was made up and he’d never met Irving. The press conference generated headlines across the country, and weeks later Irving, who’d received a $750,000 advance, admitted the manuscript was a fabrication. He served 17 months in prison for his elaborate scheme, which was the basis for the 2006 movie “The Hoax,” starring Richard Gere as Irving.

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• World Biography

Howard Hughes Biography

Born: December 24, 1905 Houston, Texas Died: April 5, 1976 Houston, Texas American entrepreneur and inventor

Howard Hughes was a colorful and flashy businessman and inventor who used an inherited fortune to achieve a national reputation in the motion picture and aviation industries.

Howard Robard Hughes was born in Houston, Texas, on December 24, 1905, the only child of Howard Robard Hughes and Alene Gano Hughes. His father earned millions by inventing special machinery for the oil industry. He attended private schools in California and Massachusetts and was very inventive as a child. At the age of twelve he made a radio transmitter out of an electric doorbell, and later he made a self-starting motor for his bicycle. At the age of fourteen he made his first airplane flight.

Hughes then attended the Rice Institute in Houston, and the California Institute of Technology. His mother died when Hughes was sixteen and his father just two years later, leaving him an orphan with an estate worth $871,000 and a patent (right to ownership) for a drill bit used in most oil and gas drilling that brought large revenues to the family's Hughes Tool Company, manufacturers of the bit.

The movie business

Hughes left school to take control of the company, using its profits to finance a variety of projects, which he hoped would make him a legend in his own time. In 1925, at age twenty, Hughes married Ella Rice and moved to Los Angeles, California, (they separated in 1928). In 1927 Hughes entered the motion picture business and produced such films as Scarface (1932), and The Outlaw (1941), and the box-office smash Hell's Angels (1930). He discovered actors Jean Harlow (1911–1937) and Paul Muni and made Jane Russell (1921–) a well-known star.

While living in Hollywood, California, the multimillionaire movie producer led a relatively quiet lifestyle. He lived in small apartments or rented homes and rarely participated in Hollywood's social world of the rich and famous.

In 1928 Hughes obtained a pilot's license. His interest in aviation (flying) led him to found the Hughes Aircraft Company in Glendale, California, in 1932 and to design, build, and fly record-breaking airplanes. He set a world speed record in 1935, transcontinental (crossing a continent) speed records in 1936 and 1937, and a world flight record in 1938. Hughes was honored with the Harmon Trophy and a New York City ticker-tape parade after his world flight. He was awarded the Collier Trophy in 1939, the Octave Chanute Award in 1940, and a Congressional Medal in 1941.

In 1939 Hughes began work on an experimental military aircraft, and in 1942 he received a contract to design and build the world's largest plane, a wooden seaplane, later nicknamed the "Spruce Goose." It was supposed to serve as a troop carrier in World War II (1939–45).

Hughes suffered a nervous breakdown in 1944 and was critically injured in the crash of his experimental military plane in 1946, but he recovered and flew the huge seaplane the next year. As a result of these aviation activities, Hughes became a popular public figure because his image represented the traditional American qualities of individuality, daring, and imagination. He was named to the Aviation Hall of Fame in 1973.

The Hughes Aircraft Company became a major defense contractor after World War II. As the profits of the company increased, Hughes became obsessed with avoiding taxes and in 1953 created the Howard Hughes Medical Institute as a sophisticated tax shelter to which he transferred the profits of the aircraft company. In 1956 Hughes loaned $205,000 to future President Richard Nixon's (1913–1994) brother Donald in a successful effort to influence an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) ruling on the medical institute. Hughes made secret contributions of $100,000 to the successful Nixon presidential campaign in 1970 and was able to prevent enforcement of the Tax Reform Act against the medical institute. Hughes continued to use profits from the tool company for other ventures, including the creation of Trans World Airlines (TWA), in which he had begun investing in 1939.

Life in seclusion

From this point on Hughes's career accomplishments were minimal. His obsession to control every aspect of his environment turned him into a recluse. He was seen only by a few associates and remained isolated from the operations of his company. In 1970 he left the United States, and moved from place to place—the Bahamas, Nicaragua, Canada, England, and Mexico. He always arrived unannounced in luxury hotels and took extreme precautions to ensure privacy. Hughes saw only a few male aides, worked for days without sleep in a black-curtained room, and became emaciated (thin from starvation) from the effects of his diet and the excessive use of drugs.

Hughes's concern for privacy ultimately caused controversy, resulting in a scandal over his supposed memoirs (writings of personal experiences) by author Clifford Irving that sold for $1 million before being proven to be fake. The Hughes conglomerate (a group of diverse businesses) became involved with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and in 1975, built an undersea exploratory drilling ship which was actually used by the CIA to attempt to recover a sunken Soviet (Russian) submarine. The company retained a Washington, D.C., public relations firm that was also involved with the CIA, which led the Hughes corporation to become involved in the "Watergate" affair, a scandal that ultimately lead to the resignation of President Nixon in 1973.

Hughes died on April 5, 1976, on an airplane that was taking him from Acapulco, Mexico, to a hospital in Houston for medical attention. Hughes was controversial even after his death. Several wills appeared, one of which was found in the Mormon church in Salt Lake City, Utah, but all were later declared to be forgeries.

For More Information

Bartlett, Donald L., and James B. Steele. The Life, Legend, and Madness of Howard Hughes. 1979.

Drosnin, Michael. Citizen Hughes. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1985.

Hack, Richard. Hughes, the Private Diaries, Memos, and Letters. Beverly Hills, CA: New Millenium Press, 2001.

Keats, John. Howard Hughes. New York: Random House, 1972.

Phelan, James. Howard Hughes: The Hidden Years. New York: Random House, 1976.

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Howard Hughes

• Born December 24 , 1905 · Humble, Texas, USA
• Died April 5 , 1976 · Houston, Texas, USA (kidney failure)
• Birth name Howard Robard Hughes Jr.
• The World's Greatest Womanizer
• Height 6′ 4″ (1.93 m)
• Billionaire businessman, film producer, film director, and aviator, born in Humble, Texas just north of Houston. He studied at two prestigious institutions of higher learning: Rice University in Houston and California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California. Inherited his father's machine tool company in 1923. In 1926 he ventured into films, producing Hell's Angels (1930) , Scarface (1932) and The Outlaw (1943) . He also founded his own aircraft company, designed, built and flew his own aircraft, and broke several world air speed records (1935-1938). His most famous aircraft, the Hercules (nicknamed "The Spruce Goose"), which was as he discovered, an under-powered wooden seaplane designed to carry 750 passengers. That plane was completed in 1947, but flew only once over a distance of one mile despite having eight Pratt & Whitney Wasp Major engines, among the most powerful radial piston engines of the day. Throughout his life he shunned publicity, eventually becoming a recluse but still controlling his vast business interests from sealed-off hotel suites, and giving rise to endless rumors and speculation. In 1971 an "authorized" biography was announced, but the authors wound up in prison for fraud, and the mystery surrounding him continued until his death in Houston. He is buried in Glenwood Cemetery, Houston - IMDb Mini Biography By: Lester A Dinerstein with smoothing out by Brian Daly
• Spouses Jean Peters (January 12, 1957 - June 18, 1971) (divorced) Terry Moore (October 1949 - April 5, 1976) (his death) Ella Rice (June 1, 1925 - December 9, 1929) (divorced)
• Parents Allene Hughes (Gano) Howard R. Hughes Sr.
• Relatives Rupert Hughes (Aunt or Uncle)
• In public he would often speak with his hand covering his mouth, for fear of being lip-read.
• He bought Las Vegas television station KLAS (Channel 8), so that he could watch movies into the night. If he fell asleep during a film, he would call up the station and order that the scene he missed be replayed.
• On July 7, 1946, Rosemary DeCamp and her husband were in their house in Beverly Hills, California, when an aircraft piloted by Hughes crashed into the roof of the house next door, and its wing was torn off and sliced through the roof of her house, landing in the bedroom, where she and her husband were. The plane, an experimental model Hughes had developed called the XF-11, had experienced propeller reversal on the right engine after taking off from the airport at nearby Culver City. It finally came to rest after crashing through the wall of the house of another of DeCamp's neighbors and exploding. Hughes was rescued from the cockpit by Marine Sgt,. William Lloyd Durkin. Hughes was severely injured with a broken leg, multiple cracked ribs on his left side, a dislodged heart, a fractured skull, burns and abrasions over 65% of his body. He was given a 50-50 chance to survive. He paid for the damage to the houses in the neighborhood out of his own pocket and sent Durkin a weekly paycheck until the day he died.
• His reported appearance when he was found dead was extremely bizarre. He was covered in uncut, matted hair, had extremely long toenails, and the once strapping 6'4" billionaire weighed an incredibly low 90 pounds.
• Before his death, he lived as a recluse, and Albert R. Broccoli (the producer of the James Bond franchise) used his reclusiveness from the public as a model for the character Willard Whyte in Diamonds Are Forever (1971) . Hughes was a fan of the James Bond films, and he kept a 16mm print of the film as a part of his private collection. Broccoli also gave him 16mm print films of all the earlier Bond-films.
• 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.
• [on Clark Gable] His ears made him look like a taxicab with both doors open.

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Renowned Biochemist Hening Lin to join the University of Chicago Department of Chemistry

Renowned Biochemist Hening Lin to join the University of Chicago Department of Chemistry 

The University of Chicago Department of Chemistry has hired renowned chemical biologist Hening Lin as a Professor in the Department of Chemistry. He will serve a primary, tenured appointment with the Biological Sciences Division in the Department of Medicine , with a secondary appointment in the Department of Chemistry as a Professor of Chemistry.

Lin currently serves as a Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Cornell University, where he is recognized as a pioneer in chemistry, biology, and the therapeutic targeting of enzymes with important physiological functions. His work interfaces with organic synthesis, biochemistry, biophysics, molecular biology, and cell biology to study enzymes in order to develop small molecule inhibitors that target enzymes and investigate their potential in treating diseases such as cancer and inflammation.

Jiwoong Park, chair of the Chemistry Department, praised Lin’s research and distinction, saying, “It is a rare honor that we get to welcome someone of his caliber. The Department of Chemistry at UChicago is renewing its celebrated history of excellence and opening an exciting new chapter.”  

“I'm very, very excited,” said Lin. “I like the fact that the medical school and the chemistry department are in close proximity to each other, and I am excited to collaborate with great people like Chuan He. I think I will learn a lot from him. There are a lot of people in PSD that I look forward to learning from.”

Many in the department are just as eager to work with Lin, including Professor Chuan He. “I am absolutely thrilled to have a world-leading chemical biologist joining our faculty,” said He.

“Professor Jack Szostak's move from Harvard to UChicago a couple of years ago made us one of the world's best chemical biology programs. Now Hening adds the depth and breadth to an unprecedented level.”

At UChicago, Lin will serve additionally as a Howard Hughes Medical Investigator (HHMI), a unique and highly esteemed research position whose modus operandi is to invest in “people, not projects.” Currently, University Professor Jack Szostak and Professor Chuan He also serve as HHMI investigators.

Lin’s addition to the faculty signals the ascendency of the Department of Chemistry at the University of Chicago.

“We will now have three HHMI chemical biologists in the same department. The only three in the city of Chicago,” said He. “I think there are a total of eight or nine HHMI chemical biologists in the country, and now we will have three.”

Contributions and Collaborations

Lin has pioneered the use of innovative chemical tools and chemical insights to study and manipulate protein function with a high degree of precision. His research has led to a deeper understanding of enzyme mechanisms, protein modifications, and cellular signaling pathways. Much of his work has focused on unraveling the complex world of protein post-translational modifications (PTMs), with his groundbreaking studies shedding light on the molecular mechanisms underlying PTMs and their impact on cellular processes.

  “I would say his mechanistic and biological insights to protein PTM, but also protein regulation, are peerless,” said He, adding, “I cannot think of anyone else.”

Studying the regulation process of enzymes has helped researchers like Lin develop treatment for various kinds of human diseases.

“A lot of people, especially chemists, when we learned about the enzymes, we learned that enzymes are very efficient,” said Lin. “But in biology, you want to be able to control when the enzyme is active. And if you can figure out how the enzymes are regulated, it can help you to understand the function of the enzyme to then develop treatment.”

Many praise Lin’s advancements in enzymology and see the unique opportunity for further development and collaboration.

  “ Hening's group has reshaped how we think about chemical modifications to proteins,” says Professor Bryan Dickinson. “At UChicago, Hening will be able to work with our clinical research faculty in BSD, where I am excited to see how he can leverage his program to continue to move his impactful basic science toward the clinic.”

Notably, Lin has been instrumental in fostering interdisciplinary collaborations between chemists, biologists, and clinicians. These collaborations have resulted in synergistic efforts to tackle complex scientific challenges and translate fundamental discoveries into practical applications for improving human health.

Overall, Lin believes that his impact at UChicago will be collaborative team research, stating that his primary goal is to get key players together to discover common problems and translational research.

  “I think that way we can do better. I think clinical people and biologists could help the chemical biologists to better utilize their chemical tools and help the biologists and the clinicians to produce innovative solutions to problems,” said Lin.

Hening Lin obtained his BS degree in chemistry from Tsinghua University in 1998 and his PhD in bio-organic chemistry from Columbia University in 2003. After his postdoctoral studies at Harvard Medical School, he became a faculty member of the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology of Cornell University in 2006. At Cornell, he was promoted to associate professor in 2012, and then to full professor in 2013. His awards include the Jane Coffin Childs Fellowship, the Camille and Henry Dreyfus New Faculty Award, and the ACS Pfizer Award in Enzyme Chemistry. In addition to his research, Lin is an active member of the science community, serving as a reviews editor for eLIFE , an associate editor of ACS Chemical Biology , and a founder and consultant for Sedac Therapeutics. He has been an HHMI investigator since 2015.

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