Howard Hughes Biography

Howard Hughes was a businessman, movie producer, aviator, and philanthropist. Learn more about his life and legacy. For faster navigation, this Iframe is preloading the Wikiwand page for Howard Hughes. Early biography.

Howard Hughes
American manufacturer, aviator, and motion-picture producer
Please select which sections you would like to print:
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

Join Britannica's Publishing Partner Program and our community of experts to gain a global audience for your work!
Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
Alternative Titles: Howard Robard Hughes, Jr.

Howard Hughes, in full Howard Robard Hughes, Jr., (born December 24, 1905, Houston, Texas, U.S.—died April 5, 1976, in an airplane over southern Texas), American manufacturer, aviator, and motion-picture producer and director who acquired enormous wealth and celebrity from his various ventures but was perhaps better known for his eccentricities, especially his reclusiveness.

Why is Howard Hughes significant?

Extremely versatile, Howard Hughes was a successful manufacturer, aviator, and film producer and director, and he acquired enormous wealth and celebrity through his various ventures. He set numerous aviation records, and his Hughes Aircraft Company built such notable planes as the Spruce Goose. However, he was perhaps better known for his eccentricities, especially his reclusiveness.

What was Howard Hughes’s early life like?

Howard Hughes was born in 1905, and four years later his father invented a rotary bit for oil well drilling that made the family extremely wealthy. Hughes showed a talent for engineering, but, after his mother (1922) and father (1924) died, he quit school to run Hughes Tool Company, which became a multibillion-dollar venture.

What was Howard Hughes like?

Howard Hughes was intelligent, ambitious, and adventurous. He was also a loner. In 1950 Hughes went into complete seclusion, and his mental health declined. Typically living in luxury hotels, he sought absolute privacy and was rarely seen by anyone except a few male aides. He often worked for days without sleep in a black-curtained room.

How did Howard Hughes die?

In Howard Hughes’s later years he became emaciated and deranged from the effects of a meagre diet and an excess of drugs. In 1976, at age 70, he died in flight from Acapulco, Mexico, to Houston, Texas, to seek medical treatment. Legal battles over his estate ensued, and several “wills” were declared to be forgeries.

Early life

In 1909 Hughes’s father, Howard R. Hughes, Sr., invented a rotary bit for oil well drilling that made the family extremely wealthy. The younger Hughes early showed a talent for engineering, and he later studied at the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, and at the Rice Institute of Technology, Houston. During this time, both his mother (1922) and father (1924) died. Hughes quit school and took control of his father’s business, Hughes Tool Company, in Houston. By the time he sold the company in 1972, it had become a multibillion-dollar venture.

Hollywood

In 1926 Hughes moved to Hollywood, where he became known for making films that ran both over budget and afoul of censors. He produced several movies—notably the Academy Award-winning Two Arabian Knights (1927)—before beginning work on Hell’s Angels in 1927. Numerous problems plagued the shoot. Originally intended as a silent film, it had to be reshot as a talkie. In the process, Greta Nissen was replaced by Jean Harlow. Several directors also left the production, and eventually Hughes took over. The film was finally released in 1930. While the storyline—two British pilots fall in love with a socialite during World War I—proved uninspired, the film’s stunning aerial sequences were considered groundbreaking. The drama was a box-office hit, though it failed to recoup its production costs, which were in excess of $3 million.

Hughes then produced a series of movies, notably Scarface (1932), which was based on the life of Al Capone. The shoot was marred by frequent arguments between Hughes and director Howard Hawks. In addition, its release was delayed by censors at the Hays Office, who demanded various changes to the violent and brutal film. In the end, it was a huge hit, and Paul Muni, who was cast in the title role, became a major star. Hughes later produced and directed The Outlaw (1943), about Pat Garrett, Doc Holliday, and Billy the Kid. However, most of the attention was focused on newcomer Jane Russell, whom Hughes cast as a love interest and outfitted in highly provocative clothing. He designed a special brassiere to accentuate her assets, though the actress later stated that it was never used during filming. Unsurprisingly, Russell’s wardrobe ran afoul of censors, and the lengthy battle between Hughes and the Hays Office generated much publicity, helping make The Outlaw a huge success.

Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Subscribe Now

Although Hughes never directed another film, he continued to work as a producer. In 1948 he bought a controlling interest in RKO Pictures Corporation but sold the shares in 1953. The following year he bought the whole company only to sell it again in 1955. He remained chairman of the board of RKO until 1957, when he left the film industry. That year Hughes, who had relationships with a number of prominent actresses, married Jean Peters; the couple divorced in 1971.

Aviation, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and Las Vegas

While making films, Hughes was also involved in aviation. In 1932 he founded the Hughes Aircraft Company in Culver City, California. On September 12, 1935, in an airplane of his own design, he established the world’s landplane speed record of 352.46 miles (567.23 km) per hour. On January 19, 1937, in the same craft, he averaged 332 miles per hour in lowering the transcontinental flight-time record to 7 hours 28 minutes. Flying a Lockheed 14, he circled Earth in a record 91 hours 14 minutes in July 1938. The following year Hughes bought a share of Trans World Airlines (TWA), and he eventually acquired 78 percent of its stock.

During World War II, Hughes’s focus turned to military aircraft, and his company had several government contracts, notably for the Hughes XF-11 and the H-4 Hercules. The planes ran over schedule, however, as did his movies, and were not completed until after the war. In 1946 he flew the Hughes XF-11, a reconnaissance plane, on its maiden test flight and suffered a nearly fatal accident. The Hercules, an eight-engine wooden flying boat intended to carry 750 passengers, was not finished until 1947. That year Hughes was brought before a Senate committee investigating war profiteering. In the highly publicized hearing, he sparred with Sen. Owen Brewster and ultimately prevailed. Hughes subsequently piloted (1947) the Hercules, popularly known as the Spruce Goose, on its only flight—1 mile (1.6 km).

Always something of a loner, Hughes went into complete seclusion in 1950. However, in 1953 he established the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, using profits from the Hughes Aircraft Company. According to Hughes, the centre was established to explore “the genesis of life itself.” It became a leading biological and medical research institute and was one of the world’s largest and most powerful charities. The following decade he refused to appear in court to answer antitrust charges concerning TWA and thus lost control of the business by default. In 1966 he sold his shares for more than $500 million.

Howard Hughes Biography Pdf

The following year Hughes bought the Desert Inn, a resort casino in Las Vegas. He reportedly made the purchase after being told to vacate its penthouse. This sparked a buying spree that included other casinos and large swathes of undeveloped land; in the 1950s he had purchased property outside Las Vegas, and it would later become the planned community known as Summerlin. Hughes subsequently played an influential role in Las Vegas’s development, changing the city’s image—which was strongly linked to the Mafia—and bringing more corporate investment.

Quick Facts
born
December 24, 1905
Houston, Texas
died
April 5, 1976 (aged 70)
Texas
Размер при предпросмотре: 455 × 599 пикселей. Другие разрешения: 182 × 240 пикселей 365 × 480 пикселей 456 × 600 пикселей 583 × 768 пикселей 1092 × 1437 пикселей.

Исходный файл ‎(1092 × 1437 пикселей, размер файла: 364 Кб, MIME-тип: image/jpeg)

Howard Hughes 'standing in front of his new Boeing Army Pursuit Plane' (Boeing 100A) in Inglewood, California in the 1940s.

The black 'halo' is presumably intended to make the head stand out better. (Not uncommon at the time for photos intended to be reproduced via low resolution newsprint wire photos)

The photo is from the Library of Congress, specifically reproduction number LC-USZ62-63333. The library says 'No copyright found; checked by staff December 2000.'

Howard Hughes Biography


Это произведение находится в общественном достоянии, поскольку оно было опубликовано в США между 1926 и 1977 годами без уведомления об авторских правах. Если автор не умер определённое количество лет назад, то это произведение защищено авторским правом в юрисдикциях, не применяющих правило более короткого срока для произведений из США, например, в Канаде (50 p.m.a.), Континентальном Китае (50 p.m.a., не в Гонконге и Макао), Германии (70 p.m.a.), Мексике (100 p.m.a.), Швейцарии (70 p.m.a.), а также в других странах в соответствии с индивидуальными соглашениями. См. эту страницу для дополнительных пояснений.

العربيَّة‎ беларуская (тарашкевіца)‎ čeština Deutsch Ελληνικά English español français italiano 日本語 македонски Nederlands português русский sicilianu slovenščina ไทย 简体中文 繁體中文 +/−

A thumbnail of this image was originally uploaded to the English Wikipedia by w:User:Infrogmation.

Bio Howard Hughes Biography

Technical note: avoid modifying this image, which was lossily compressed. Instead, start with the TIFF original.

История файла

Нажмите на дату/время, чтобы посмотреть файл, который был загружен в тот момент.

Howard Hughes Biografia

Дата/времяМиниатюраРазмерыУчастникПримечание
текущий08:44, 31 мая 20051092 × 1437 (364 Кб)Dbenbenncropped original TIFF at 1092x1437+66+51, and converted to JPEG at quality 95
08:39, 31 мая 20051224 × 1536 (417 Кб)Dbenbennfrom http://lcweb2.loc.gov/master/pnp/cph/3b10000/3b10000/3b10900/3b10948u.tif, converted to JPG with quality 95

Использование файла

Глобальное использование файла

Howard Hughes Biography Irving

Данный файл используется в следующих вики:

Howard hughes biography irving
  • Использование в af.wikipedia.org
  • Использование в ar.wikipedia.org
  • Использование в ca.wikipedia.org
  • Использование в de.wikipedia.org
  • Использование в en.wikipedia.org
  • Использование в en.wikibooks.org
  • Использование в en.wikiquote.org
  • Использование в es.wikipedia.org
  • Использование в fi.wikipedia.org
  • Использование в fr.wikipedia.org
  • Использование в fy.wikipedia.org
  • Использование в gl.wikipedia.org
  • Использование в he.wikipedia.org

Просмотреть глобальное использование этого файла.

Источник — https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Файл:Howard_Hughes.jpg