Dive into the complicated love life of Howard Hughes. Learn who he was married to, his special relationship with Katharine Hepburn, and every fling in between.
Updated: 11/21/2023
Howard Hughes | Relationships & Children
Table of Contents
- Who Was Howard Hughes?
- Howard Hughes' Wives
- Howard Hughes' Relationship with Katherine Hepburn
- Howard Hughes' Other Women
- Howard Hughes' Children
- Lesson Summary
Frequently Asked Questions
Was Howard Hughes married?
Howard Hughes was married twice in his lifetime. His first wife was Ella Rice from 1925 until 1929. Hughes' second wife was Jean Peters from 1957 until 1971.
Did Howard Hughes have children?
Howard Hughes did not have any heirs at the time of his death. Shortly after over 600 people tried to claim heritage to Hughes in an attempt to gain a portion of his billion-dollar estate.
What did Howard Hughes do for Katharine Hepburn?
Howard Hughes and Katherine Hepburn dated for eighteen months. Katherine's career had taken a plunge and she gained considerable notability from dating Hughes. Her 1940 film, A Philadelphia Story rebuilt her career.
Table of Contents
- Who Was Howard Hughes?
- Howard Hughes' Wives
- Howard Hughes' Relationship with Katherine Hepburn
- Howard Hughes' Other Women
- Howard Hughes' Children
- Lesson Summary
Howard Hughes was an American manufacturer, aviator, and movie producer and director in the late 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s. He was born on December 24, 1905, to a wealthy oil family in Houston, Texas. Hughes was an enormously wealthy and well-known celebrity. After his father's death he gained control of the Hughes Tool Company. In 1926, Hughes moved to Hollywood, California to pursue movie producing and directing. He directed a few box-office hits such as Two Arabian Knights, Hell's Angels, Scarface, and The Outlaw.
Howard Hughes was also known for his romantic life and his rambunctious lifestyle. He was married twice and was often unfaithful to his wives and girlfriends. He typically dated actresses such as Katherine Hepburn and was rumored to be physically abusive. It was also rumored that he had secret relationships with men.
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Who was Howard Hughes married to? Hughes was legally married two times, but proposed marriage to many others. His first wife was Ella Rice, and they were married from 1925 until 1929. His second wife was Jean Peters, and they were married from 1957 until 1971. It has been stated by many that knew Howard personally, that Jean Peters was the love of his life. Howard Hughes spouses are described in more detail below.
Ella Rice
Howard Hughes' first wife was Ella Rice. They were married on June 1, 1925, when they were eighteen. Howard had already gained ownership of the multimillion dollar tool company that his father owned and Ella was a daughter of a rich socialite in Texas. They were married and lived in Hollywood, California while Howard directed his first two movies. Howard was not faithful in the marriage and had affairs with actresses Billie Dove and Jean Harlow. Howard and Ella decided to end their four-year unhappy marriage in 1929. Ella went on to remarry and lived until the year 1992.
Jean Peters
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Jean Peters was Howard Hughes' spouse for fourteen years. Hughes and Peters met at a party in 1946 and had brief romantic relationships for several years. In May of 1957, they were married at a secret ceremony in Tonopah, Nevada. They had a very unconventional relationship and lived in separate houses for many years. They then moved into the same residence but had different living quarters. It was during their marriage that Hughes started showing mentally unstable behavior such as obsession with germ contamination and storing his urine in jars. By the end of their marriage Peters reported that she had to make an appointment with Hughes' secretary to even see him. Hughes and Peters divorced in 1971.
It is thought by some historians that Hughes married Peters because he was fearful that his CEO would have him committed for insanity. In California at the time, only a wife could commit a person, so he felt relatively safe with Peters.
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Howard Hughes and Katherine Hepburn had an eighteen-month relationship starting in 1938. Hepburn had already made a name for herself as an actress, but her career was struggling after her successes in the early 1930s. Katherine was a very private person and did not go out in public or speak to fans. Her relationship to Howard Hughes was out of character for Hepburn. They dated from 1938 to 1939 when Katherine learned of Howard's many love affairs. The Philadelphia Story in 1940 rebounded Hepburn's career. During the time Hughes and Hepburn were together he was reportedly with Fay Wray, Ginger Rogers, and Olivia de Havilland.
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Howard Hughes had many women in his life. Though he only married twice, Howard Hughes had many girlfriends. It has been said that the love of his life was his second wife, Jean Peters, although they had a very unconventional marriage. Hughes reportedly dated many girls, and there are rumors that he was also romantically involved with a few men as well. A list of his most prominent relationships is listed below.
- Jean Harlow (1930)
- Zsa Zsa Gabor (1932)
- Bette Davis (1938)
- Helen Gilbert (1938-39)
- Barbara Hutton (1938)
- Francis Drake (1938)
- Barbara Stanwyck (1938)
- Marguerette Chapman (1939)
- Joan Fontaine (1939)
- Arlene Whelhan (1939)
- Gene Tierney (1939)
- Olivia De Hallivand (1939-40)
- Cyd Charisse (Early 1940s)
- Andrea Leeds (1940)
- Norma Shearer (1940)
- Faith Domergue (1941)
- Gloria Vanderbilt (1941-Briefly Engaged)
- Jane Russell (1941)
- Shelly Winters (1941)
- Brenda Frazier (1941)
- Sheila Ryan (1942)
- Paulette Goddard (1942)
- Lana Turner (1942-46)
- Ava Gardner (1943-53)
- Yvonne De Carlo (1943-46)
- Mona Freeman (1943)
- Jane Greer (1944)
- Gail Russell (1944)
- Linda Darnell (1945-46)
- Ann Miller (1945-46)
- Virginia Mayo (1946)
- Marlene Dietrich (1947)
- Faye Emerson (1947)
- Rita Hayworth (1947)
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When Howard Hughes died, he did not have any heirs or a legal will. He was a billionaire and did not have any formal written plans as to what to do with his vast fortune. His money was eventually divided between his sixteen cousins. Over 600 people who were alleged wives, sons, daughters, and distant cousins came forward in attempts to gain some of his fortunes. There were even a few black people who came forward even though Hughes was notably racist.
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Howard Hughes was an American manufacturer, aviator, and movie producer and director in the late 1920s,1930s, and 1940s. He was born on December 24, 1905 to a wealthy oil family in Houston, Texas. Hughes moved to California to pursue a movie-making career. Hughes was an enormously wealthy and well-known celebrity. He was married twice but dated multiple women in his lifetime. He dated mostly actresses and is rumored to have been abusive and unfaithful. It was also rumored that he was involved in a few romantic relationships with men. One of his more famous girlfriends was Katherine Hepburn, whose movie The Philadelphia Story relaunched her career after her relationship with Hughes.
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Video Transcript
Intro to Howard Hughes
Howard Hughes was a successful film producer, aviator, and eccentric. Information about his private life seems more like tabloid headlines than historical fact. As you might imagine, most of the information we have about Howard Hughes' romantic affairs are mostly the province of gossip, speculation, and decades-later recollections.
However, some details have been revealed or whispered often enough to be taken as truth. By many accounts, Hughes was a misogynist who was possessive with women and dated a large number of them. This lesson will simply take a quick look at Howard's relationships with women throughout his life.
Hughes' Early Life
Hughes was born in 1905 in Houston, Texas. Howard's father patented a piece of equipment called the two-cone roller bit that was very valuable for oil drilling. This invention made the Hughes family a multi-million dollar fortune. Howard's mother Allene died in 1922 from pregnancy complications, and his father died suddenly two years later of a heart attack. At just nineteen years old, Howard inherited three-quarters of the Hughes family fortune.
Marriage and Hollywood
Hughes became interested in movie making, and shortly after the deaths of his parents, he made plans to move to Hollywood. The surviving members of the Hughes family demanded that Hughes get married before moving out to California, so Howard married Houston socialite Ella Rice in 1925. The two moved to Los Angeles, but almost immediately Hughes placed his new wife in a nice hotel and ignored her while focusing on becoming a film producer. In 1929, Ella moved back to Houston, and the two were soon divorced.
Hughes remained in Hollywood and began making movies. He also began seeing a lot of actresses. It's really no surprise that a rich and influential film producer in Hollywood was able to initiate relationships with dozens of 1930s stars.
After his divorce, he fell in love with actress Billie Dove and apparently tried to pay Dove's husband to divorce her. He was notoriously unfaithful and also prone to propose marriage early and often. Ava Gardner, Ginger Rogers, and Katharine Hepburn all recall turning down his repeated marriage proposals. Howard was rumored to be highly jealous and possessive, and he could be physically abusive with women.
There are also many reports that Hughes enjoyed relationships with some of Hollywood's most prominent men actors.
Katharine Hepburn
In the late 1930s, Hughes had a prominent relationship with the notoriously independent actress Katharine Hepburn. They met as both were trying to become rich and famous in the business.
It was around this time that Hepburn made a few films that flopped and was literally labeled as box office poison. Hughes had become more and more infatuated with Katharine and proposed marriage. However, Hepburn was determined to get her career back on track. She starred in the Broadway play 'The Philadelphia Story', and bought the film rights for the play with Howard's help. The movie proved to be a huge success and re-launched her illustrious career. The relationship between Howard and Katharine fizzled out.
Other Wives
Howard left Hollywood for a few years to pursue aviation. He was also involved in U.S. Department of Defense contracts and threw secret 'softening-up' parties for government officials, where he paid women to swim nude in his pool and entertain his guests.
Hughes eventually returned to Hollywood and his love for actresses. He was married twice more. The first marriage was to actress Terry Moore in 1949. The two were married in a secret ceremony aboard a ship, but the relationship didn't last long. Howard's cheating led to a separation in 1956. Instead of getting a proper divorce, Terry alleged that Howard simply tore up the ship captain's log that documented the marriage.
Hughes was not single for long. In 1957, he married actress Jean Peters. Hughes had Jean followed by security officers and private investigators even when they were not technically a couple. He was known to threaten to end someone's career for spending time with Jean. However, Hughes continued to see women, and the two rarely lived together. In 1971, Jean and Howard divorced.
In 1976, Howard Hughes died an eccentric recluse. Terry Moore, the secret wife who he never officially divorced, fought successfully to be recognized as his widow. She received a multi-million dollar settlement from the Hughes estate.
Lesson Summary
Howard Hughes was an heir to a multi-million dollar fortune, a filmmaker, aviator, and eccentric who married a Houston socialite before moving to Hollywood to become a film producer. After essentially abandoning his wife, he carried on dozens of affairs with some of Hollywood's most prominent stars. He proposed marriage to many of these women but was never faithful. He had a well-documented relationship with actress Katharine Hepburn, which eventually fizzled, but he helped her buy the rights to The Philadelphia Story, the film that would relaunch her career.
Hughes would be married twice more before becoming an eccentric recluse and dying in 1976, and even after that rumors swirled around his behavior, including allegations of physical abuse, relationships with men, and a problem with staying faithful to his partners.
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Howard Hughes | Relationships & Children
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