American billionaire Howard Hughes: biography, movies, photos

Howard Robard Hughes Jr. (24.12.1905 - 05.04.1976) is an American pilot, businessman and producer, who gained fame due to his aversion to publicity, and also how he used his wealth.

short biography

Howard Hughes was born in Houston, Texas, in the family of the mining engineer Howard Robard Hughes Sr. and Allen Gano. The boy was three years old when his father developed a chisel that revolutionized the drilling of oil wells and brought great profits to his company. While his parents were sociable secular people, Howard grew up quiet and introspective, showing little interest in school, except for a penchant for mathematics and the ability to create crafts from wires and metal scraps. Strongly attached to his mother, he revered before his father. Everyone who met him years later, argued that Howard Hughes (pictured later in the article) never considered himself equal to them.

At the age of fourteen, he was enrolled at Fessenden School in West Newton, Massachusetts. At home during the holidays, his mother did not allow him to ride a motorcycle, believing that it was unsafe. Then he turned his bike into a moped, using parts from the car starter and battery. Another time, when his father promised him that he would give what he wanted, Hughes chose a trip on a flying boat. So he discovered the whole charm of aviation, which soon became an obsession.

Young Millionaire

The Hughes drill bit had a great influence on the development of the American oil industry. Spending more and more time in California, in September 1921, Howard's parents sent him to the school in Taher in Ohay, about 112 km northwest of Los Angeles. His uncle Rupert Hughes was the lead screenwriter in Hollywood, and through him the family began to get acquainted with the higher strata of local society. In the spring of 1922, Howard's mother died after the operation. The father and son returned to Houston, where in 1924, Hughes Sr. died of a heart attack during a marketing meeting.

Howard Hughes, whose biography was marred by the loss of parents in the prime of their life, at the age of eighteen began to suffer from hypochondria, fear of death and microbes. Then he decided to quit his studies at the Rice Institute in Houston and do business. Having inherited 75% of the shares of his father's company, he bought the remaining 25% that were distributed between relatives. This had to be achieved long and hard, the procedure provoked a lot of scandals, which, however, very little worried Howard. Hughes said that in order to take command, one must be tough with people. From this position, he never retreated.

Howard Hughes and his women

The young businessman did not like the administrative side of his business, and he hired people who knew what to do almost without his participation. His decision was successful, and the company flourished, which allowed Hughes to have more free time. Soon he became interested in the resident of Houston, Ella Rice, on which he married in 1925. They settled in Los Angeles, where Howard decided to become a film producer.

Hughes was a man who was useless to give advice. He did everything he wanted. His first film, Swell Hogan, was so bad that it was never released, but the second, Everybody's Acting ("All Play", 1926), turned out to be more successful, like Two Arabian Knights ("Two Arab Knights", 1927 ) Directed by Lewis Milestone and William Boyd in the title role. The last tape brought Mylston "Oscar" for the best comedy direction. The following films by Hughes, The Mating Call and The Racket (both 1928), were successful enough to inspire him to remove the epic about the aircraft of the First World War "Hell's Angels", shooting which lasted two and a half years. Howard generously licked money, buying airplanes and hiring pilots, practically operating with his own small air force in the San Fernando Valley. The budget picture reached $ 4 million - an unheard-of amount for those times, and Hughes shot 300 times more than was necessary. Released in the summer of 1930 during the national depression, the film was well received, but it took a long time to cover the costs.

The cost included the marriage of Howard. Hughes broke up with Ella Rice - she returned to Houston, arguing that it is impossible to marry a man who was obsessed with his work and was rarely at home. After that, the producer fell in love with actress Billy Dove, who starred in his two films The Age of Love and Cock of the Air. They came out in 1931, but were not successful, as was the affair with Dove, who became the first in a long series of his intrigues with actresses. Howard Hughes and Ava Gardner, he, and Rita Hayworth, Ginger Rogers, Lana Turner, Aida Lupino, Bette Davis, Sid Charris - they were all lovers in their time.

Establishment of an airline

Hughes Howard aircraft of the First World time showed again in the film "Celestial Devils" (1931), the main role played by Spencer Tracy, but the film failed to replicate the collection of "Hell's Angels." Much better was the case with Front Page (1931) and Scarface (1932), which are considered mini-classics.

Hughes said his next tape would be about airships, but his company's management of the Hughes Tool opposed the waste of money for another epic. He heeded their advice even more than they expected. Howard Hughes not only did not shoot the film, he generally refused to film business. In 1933 he founded Hughes Aircraft in Glendale, California. Nine years later, he relocated her to Culver City, where she grew into one of the most profitable aircraft manufacturing companies in the world.

Air As

Howard Hughes - aviator in 1934 won a prize in the All-American air competitions in Miami, piloting the Boeing, which he had purchased from the US Army and converted into a racing aircraft. In September 1935, he set a new speed record for the car he had designed himself, and in January next year he set a new transcontinental speed record, flying from Los Angeles to Newark, New Jersey, at 9.12 am. His aerial adventures made him a popular figure in the press and on the airways, especially in 1938, when he flew around the world in 3 days, 12 hours and 28 minutes, on a reconfigured twin-engine Lockheed-14 with a crew of four. In May 1939 the company, which later became known as Trans World Airlines, became the property of Howard. Hughes with her help entered the commercial aviation market, and in the autumn of that year she began to design new types of military aircraft in case of participation of the United States in the war.

Accusation of murder

June 11, 1936 Hughes drove along the boulevard Wilshire and killed a pedestrian named Gabriel Meyer to death. He was arrested and charged with murder. Despite the fact that his irresponsible driving he broke the law, Hughes was released without charge. In his book Howard Hughes: The Secret Life (2004), Charles Hayam argues that in those days district attorneys could be bought and sold, and the owner of a sufficient amount could pay off almost everything.

"Outlaw"

In 1940, Hughes founded another film company. He announced that he would shoot a film about Billy Kide with the participation of unknown actors in the role of Billy and his girlfriend. In the latter case, he chose the nineteen-year-old Jane Russell, apparently because of her well-developed bust. For this reason, the picture The Outlaw ("Outside the Law", 1943) was censored, which was widely covered in the media. Hughes personally engaged in directing. After the initial ban on showing the picture, he finally received a rental permit, but decided to wait two years, so that the public curiosity grew even more. Fairly called a ridiculously bad film, The Outlaw still earned millions for Howard.

Hughes managed to do a lot in the years of shooting the picture. In 1943 he joined forces with shipbuilder Henry Kaiser and won a government contract for the construction of three huge flying boats. But only one was built - this is the famous Hercules airplane, Howard Hughes. The order for flying boats was canceled when it became evident that they could not be completed on time for use in war. Other contracts for aircraft were also canceled.

Air crash

Always unusual in his habits and behavior, the tycoon became even more eccentric. Nevertheless, Howard Hughes, whose biography is full of accidents, had an amazing ability to survive. July 7, 1946 during a test flight of his XF-11 engine failure. The plane fell, exploded and burnt. The pilot was dragged from under the wreckage with a squashed chest, broken ribs and refused lung. Doctors doubted that he would live. Nevertheless, within a month the tycoon recovered and soon began to fly again. Few people knew that Howard Hughes was treating his illness with codeine.

Movies and airplanes

Despite the pain and problems with the work of the aviation corporation, Hughes again turned to the film industry, perhaps because of the profits and fame that the film The Outlaw gave. He signed contracts with two famous Hollywood figures, Harold Lloyd and Preston Starzhesom, to shoot the comedy Mad Wednesday ("Crazy Wednesday", 1947), but she was expected to fail. Then Hughes took off his beloved - 22-year-old Faith Domerg - in the lead role in the costume drama Vendetta ("Vendetta", 1948). Howard Hughes this film, unfortunately, had to be put on the shelf, since even he could see how bad the picture was.

In parallel with the shootings, he had other things to do, one of which was his desire to restore the XF-11 and prove his flying suitability, which he did on April 5, 1947. Four months later he gave evidence to the Military Investigative Committee of the Senate about his work as a Defense contractor. Hughes made a lot of enemies during the war, in addition, he was not as successful as he had hoped. The company Hughes Aircraft did not become a giant, as he planned - it will happen later, in the space age. Massive "Hercules" was literally accused of its inability to fly, that Hughes denied, flying for several minutes over the waters of Long Beach harbor on November 2, 1947.

Where were 40 million missing?

In 1945, journalist Westbrook Pegler stated that he saw the FBI file, which stated that Hughes used his wealth to illegally obtain government contracts. The following year, Owen Brewster, chairman of the Senate Military Investigative Committee, said he was very concerned that the government had given Howard $ 40 million to develop and produce two aircraft that had never been made. He also noted that President Franklin D. Roosevelt, contrary to the opinion of his military experts, gave Hughes contracts for the production of F-11 and NK-1 (also known as Hercules).

Brewster stated that Hughes had organized parties for government officials who had the intention of influencing their future decision. Howard paid starlets for $ 200 to take part in them. Their duties included swimming in the nude in the Hughes Basin. Julius Krag, the head of the military production council, was one of those who frequented these parties. One congressman, who was also a frequent guest at Howard's house, said: "If it's true that they were paid $ 200, they were badly underpaid."

Hughes, accused of corruption, organized a leak of information to reporters Drew Pearson and Jack Anderson about the fact that Owen Brewster received money from Pan American Airways (Pan Am) to compromise him. According to Howard, Pan Am tried to persuade the United States government to create an official world monopoly under its control. Part of this plan was to force all existing US carriers operating overseas to close or unite with Pan Am. As the owner of Trans World Airlines, Hughes poses a serious threat to this plan. According to Howard, Brewster approached him with a proposal to combine Trans World with Pan Am. When he refused, the chairman of the committee began a slanderous campaign against him.

Drew Pearson and Jack Anderson believed Hughes and started their own campaign against Owen Brewster. They reported that Pan Am provided the chairman of the committee with free flights to Hobe Sound, Florida, where he was entertained at the holiday home of Pan Am Vice President Sam Prior. These charges were repeated by Hughes when he appeared before the Military Investigation Committee of the Senate. He also accused Brewster of trying to blackmail him with a view to merging with Trans World Pan Am. The chairman of the committee rejected these accusations, but this helped to divert attention from the issue of embezzlement of $ 40 million of public money.

The Military Investigative Committee of the Senate has never completed its report on non-delivery of F-11 and HK-1. The Committee ceased its meetings and was eventually dissolved.

Purchase and sale of RKO studio

Obsessive-compulsive disorder - what hurt Howard Hughes - did not allow him to admit his defeat. In 1948, he bought a Hollywood studio RKO. Hughes owned and operated it for five years, while remaining in his office at the Goldwyn studio, only once having visited the territory of RKO. Few films made during these years became financially profitable, and all the producers, directors and screenwriters of RKO complained that they could not meet Hughes to discuss their problems. Eventually, the latter stated that he needed RKO the same way as the plague, and sold the studio for $ 25 million, of which, after paying off debts to shareholders and lawyers, he had $ 6 million left.

Foundation of the Medical Institute

Howard's interests in other companies, especially aviation, during the years of RKO ownership only increased, and his wealth was estimated at millions. It was at this time that he founded the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in Florida, which was an expression of his concern about microbes and diseases. He promised to bequeath to the Institute most of his wealth, so that he did something good on his behalf. Always a loner, he became even more unsociable and, in the end, stopped communicating with everyone except the management of his business. In 1957, he married actress Jean Peters, but the marriage was unconventional, as the partners rarely lived together. They divorced in 1971.

Howard Hughes: Biography. Disease and the last years of life

Whatever the failure in marriage or in the film industry, Hughes' success in building jet and military aircraft grew. But the strain of all these initiatives had a negative impact on his health, and in 1958, Howard had a nervous breakdown.

In 1965, the Atomic Energy Commission announced that it was going to begin nuclear testing at Pahute Mesa, just 150 miles from Howard Hughes' house. He contacted Richard Nixon, but he refused to oppose these tests. During the 1968 presidential campaign, Hughes' assistant Robert Mayo met with Hubert Humphrey in Denver. Mayo told Humphrey that Hughes was willing to pay him $ 100,000 if he did something with these nuclear tests. Humphrey promised that if he was elected, he would appoint a commission of scientists to study the effect of radiation.

According to the author of the book Howard Hughes: The Secret Life, Hughes was ecstatic and promised the committee 300 thousand dollars. But Hughes was afraid that Bobby Kennedy would defeat Humphrey, who lacked the glamor, charisma and name of his rival. June 4, 1968 Robert Kennedy was killed. Hughes was concerned that Edward Kennedy would replace his brother, and so he decided to bribe Larry O'Brien, Kennedy's campaign manager. Robert Mayo met O'Brien in Las Vegas on July 4, 1968. As a result of the meeting, it was agreed that Hughes would pay O'Brien $ 15,000 per month.

Hughes had constant conflicts with the government over taxes, after all, he left California and settled in Nevada. In 1967, he bought the Desert Inn in Las Vegas to make it his home and headquarters for businesses in Nevada. In 1966, he sold TWA for $ 566 million. Four years later, Hughes acquired Air West.

To avoid paying taxes, in November 1970, Hughes moved to the Britannia Beach Hotel, located on the Bahamian island of Paradise. He never returned to the United States again. The last six years of his life were he moved from one luxury hotel to another.

Death in flight

Hughes became a hermit living behind closed curtains. He moved to Managua (Nicaragua), from there - to Vancouver, London, Freeport to the Bahamas and finally to Acapulco (Mexico). In 1972, he sold the company Hughes Tool for $ 150 million. The assets of his corporation Summa, which was involved in the management of his entire business, were estimated at $ 2 billion. Despite his wealth, the billionaire looked like a man living in extreme poverty. In recent years, Howard Hughes did not cure his illness and did not eat properly. He was exhausted: at the time of death, his weight was only 42 kg. Hughes did not allow his assistants to take care of themselves until finally fell into unconsciousness. He was tried to transport to Houston, but by the time the plane landed, he was already dead. Howard Hughes died in flight, which was good for him, for only in the air did he feel at home. The childless billionaire left the world with his possessions and name, which became a legend.

The film about Howard Hughes "Aviator" received the highest awards at the Golden Globe awards ceremony in Hollywood. In addition, the picture was awarded five "Oscars", the Screen Actors Guild Award of the United States and four awards from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Howard Hughes (di Caprio) is shown during his life from the end of 1920 to the end of 1940.