Howard Hughes Bio

Howard Hughes

Howard Hughes, an aviator and film director, was born on December 24, 1905, in Houston, Texas. He inherited his family's successful oil tool business and began investing in films. He produced several films, including the hit Hell's Angels.

The Howard Hughes Corp. has filed a lawsuit in District Court seeking to have the assessed value lowered by more than $50 million on 5,541 acres of undeveloped land in the Summerlin area.

The original value of the land was placed by $249.3 million by the Clark County assessor, but the county Board of Equalization lowered it to $149.7 million.

The assessor’s office appealed to the state Board of Equalization, which put the value to $200 million.

The Hughes Corp. wants the taxable value set back at $149.7 million. It says the decision of the state Equalization Board was “clearly erroneous, arbitrary, capricious and characterized by abuse of discretion.”

Businessman, film producer, film director, and aviator. Born Howard Robard Hughes, Jr. on December 24, 1905, in Houston, Texas. While he is largely known for being one of the wealthiest men and one of the most famous recluses, Hughes had many professional accomplishments before withdrawing from public life. Son of a successful oil drill tool manufacturer, he inherited the family business in 1923 at the age of 18. He used some of his fortune to finance films, beginning in 1926. He produced several movies, including the world War I epic Hell's Angels (1930), which featured expensive aerial fight sequences and a then-unknown actress named Jean Harlow. Some of his other significant films were Scarface (1932) and the Outlaw (1941). During his days in Hollywood, Hughes developed a reputation for being a playboy, dating such actresses as Katherine Hepburn, Ava Gardner, and Ginger Rogers.

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 new world air speed records in the mid- to late 1930s. While he is credited with many aviation innovations, such as the first retractable landing gear, he is also remembered for one of his biggest flops-the Spruce Goose. Hughes labored on this oversized wooden sea-plane for years, finishing it in 1947. It was only flown once.
Few people ever saw him, which led to much public speculation and rumors about his activities.