Howard Hughes and his many romantic scandals

Billionaire Howard Hughes will be remembered for many things: as the richest man of his day, a daring film producer, aviation pioneer, and germaphobe who spiraled into agoraphobia. But his legacy also has to do with all the women in his life, many of whom are fascinating and pivotal to early Hollywood in their own right.

When Hughes was 18, his father died and he inherited 75% of his massive wealth and tool company. However, many saw Hughes as too young to generate respect as a businessman. To make himself seem older, he married Southern society belle Ella Rice. But the marriage was one of convenience, and Hughes was well protected in the case of a divorce. He had many affairs. The marriage lasted from 1925-1929.

In the late 1920s, Hughes was beginning to make a mark in Hollywood, both as a filmmaker and a ladies' man. Billie Dove, a major silent film actress, caught his attention, saying it was love at first sight. Their relationship went beyond mere infatuation. Hughes was so enamored that he allegedly offered to pay off her then-husband to grant her a divorce.

By the 1930s, Hughes had produced several films and was becoming a major figure in the industry. That’s when he met Jean Harlow, producing her first movie ‘Hell’s Angels’ and turning her into Hollywood's original blonde bombshell. The two had a fling, but the relationship was more professional as he produced more of her movies until her tragic, early death at 26.

In the mid-30s, Hughes dated Lupino when she was a teenage starlet, with Lupino’s mom often accompanying their dates. But long after their relationship, Lupino moved beyond acting and became the only working female feature director in the 1940s. Her movies often touched on taboo subjects, and her production company was even signed by her ex-boyfriend, Hughes.

In 1938, the paparazzi were obsessed with this intense relationship between two of Hollywood's most notorious figures. At the time Hepburn’s career was at a low (she was known for wearing pants, which became highly unfashionable), and even as their romance was falling apart, Hughes gave her a major boost by buying her the rights to the film brought her career back from the brink: ‘The Philadelphia Story.’

On the rebound from Hepburn, Hughes dated one of her rivals — Ginger Rogers. At the time, her career was on the upswing while Hepburn was still struggling. The same day he bought the rights to ‘The Philadelphia Story’ was the same day, he proposed to Rogers. Some historians suggest this relationship was all a ploy to win Hepburn back. When Rogers was committed to him, he also pursued other starlets like Olivia de Havilland. Near the end of the relationship, Rogers suspected that he was having her followed and tapping her phone calls.

Shortly after, he also had a brief affair with another major starlet and rival of Katherin Hepburn. Obviously, it ended with her begrudging him. "Howard Huge, he was not," she said, according to a book by Karina Longworth. After this failed series of relationships with mega-stars in the late 1930s, he stopped dating women his age and began opting for women who were easier to control.

In 1940, Hughes randomly pulled a photograph of the 19-year-old actress out of a pill. That kicked off a personal and professional relationship that would last for many years. She was a famous pin-up and actress, and Hughes, who was notably obsessed with women's chests, designed a bra for her that she refused to wear in their film 'The Outlaw.' He also wrote a four-page memo about her bre4sts.

Hughes was 35 when he met the 16-year-old actress signed by Warner Bros. He pursued her relentlessly and eventually wore her down. He proposed marriage, which he often did, and she said yes. Their pet names were 'Little Baby' and 'Father Lover.' After she agreed to marriage, he bought her contract and was in full control of her personal and professional life. He never married her or made her a star, but kept her locked up in a mansion while having many affairs.

In the early-mid 40s, the stunning actress struck up a relationship with Hughes, when she was in her 20s and he was almost 20 years older. The relationship was abusive. Gardner recounted how he beat her after she told him that she had met up with her ex-husband Mickey Rooney. But she fought back, hitting him with an "ornamental bronze bell," splitting open his forehead and knocking two teeth loose, according to Longworth.

When Hughes was 43 and she was 19, he met actress Moore. According to Longworth, since she wouldn’t sleep with him until they were married, Hughes married her on a boat… but in international waters. She later claimed he was her wife, but records of the marriage and ceremony disappeared and they were engaged in a years-long legal battle.

Once dubbed "the most beautiful woman in the world," this Italian se* symbol enamored Hughes in 1950 and he bought her a one-way plane ticket to LA. Once there, he wouldn’t allow her out of the hotel room and he tried to persuade her to divorce her husband, which she refused. He threw her a going away party, got her drunk, and told her to sign a contract. Little did she know, it banned her from working in America for anyone but Hughes. She refused to work with him.

Linda Darnell, another gorgeous actress, eloped with the 42-year-old cameraman Peverell Marley when she was 19. He introduced her to drinking, which would become a problem. Three years later, she met Hughes and fell for him. But after Hughes’ plane crash in 1946, Marley tried to make a deal to sell his wife to the billionaire. It all fell apart.

Although gorgeous, this actress was known for her resistance to being turned into a se* symbol, opting to play the roles of more down-to-earth women. In 1957, after she got a divorce, she married Hughes and became his second wife. During the marriage, she retired from acting and social events and was protected by Hughes’ security officers all day. In 1971, they divorced and she waived claims to Hughes’ several-billion-dollar estate. She didn’t like to talk about the marriage because she didn’t want to be seen as 'Mrs. Howard Hughes' for the rest of her life.

The end of Hughes’ life is famously bleak, he was addicted to codeine and refused to leave his hotel room. While nodding off and watching TV in his room, he would perk up when he saw one of his ex-girlfriends on the screens and call over his aids "and then drift off into a grinning daydream of better days, days when his power to draw women to him and control not just their emotions but their movements, appearances, and identities was apparently limitless," wrote Longworth.

Elon Musk and Howard Hughes: overlapping bios