When he passed away on August 16, 1976, billionaire financier Howard Hughes was considered the world's most mysterious man. Rumors abounded about the strange way he looked, his eccentricities, and the odd way he lived. But before he became a man on the run, moving from continent to continent with his cadre of Mormon aides, Hughes was the embodiment of the Jazz Age wealthy playboy, the 1930s-era aviation hero, the 1940s and 1950s millionaire-as-super-star, and the 1960s Las Vegas casino mogul. Along the way, he also riled censors and packed movie houses with several milestone films that pushed the boundaries of sex and violence.

Howard Hughes

Born in Houston on Christmas Eve, 1905, Howard Robard Hughes Jr. was the son of an oilman who had developed a drill bit that revolutionized oil drilling the world over. The Hughes rock bit, or rollerbit, was the foundation of the...