24/12/2025
ON THIS DAY IN 1905...Howard Hughes Born
On this day in 1905, billionaire Howard Hughes was born. His initial fortune came from ownership of his fathers Hughes Tool Company, but the younger Hughes - always a lover of cinema - began to dabble in film production in the mid-1920s. His 1927 film Hells Angels was noted for its stunning use of aerial photography but went vastly over budget. However Hughes did produce some classics, 1932's Scarface was controversial due to the violence featured, but is now considered one of the great 1930's gangster movies. In 1947 Hughes took over RKO studios and proved particularly strict in demanding that anti-communist sentiment was prominent in the movies produced.
Hughes' other great love was for aviation. Hughes himself was a pilot and throughout his life miraculously survived four crashes, including one in 1946 which resulted in him developing an addiction to painkillers. As well as purchasing a number of aeronautical businesses and establishing airlines, Hughes was interested in setting numerous records for speed. One of his most spectacular achievements occurred on September 13th 1935 when his custom built Hughes H-1 Racer achieved an average speed of 352.39 MPH.
Later in life, Hughes became a noted recluse and was rarely seen in public. In 1966 he moved into the two top floors of the Desert Inn in Las Vegas but, when asked to leave so that other guests could be accommodated, he chose to purchase the entire hotel instead. During the next four years he remained at the Desert Inn, never leaving the suite. He ordered gallons of Banana Ripple ice cream but then decided he preferred another flavour - leaving the hotel freezers full of the dessert. He purchased a Vegas television station and frequently rang them to dictate what films he wished to be screened. A favourite of his, 1968's Ice Station Zebra, was screened 100 times before his death.
In 1970 Hughes was secretly carried from the hotel on a stretcher and spent the remaining years of his life in the Bahamas. In 1972, Clifford Irving co-authored an autobiography of Hughes, but the famous recluse denounced it as a fake during a telephoned press conference. With the truth revealed to the world, Irving was sentenced for fraud. Hughes passed away on April 5th 1976 whilst onboard a jet from Mexico to Houston. His life inspired the 2004 film The Aviator, starring Leonardo DiCaprio.
Image Credit: Wiki/Time Magazine (Public Domain)
