Howard Hughes: The Hidden Years

by James R. Phelan

Drawing from the firsthand accounts of two longtime Hughes aides and his own research, the investigative journalist who uncovered the 1972 Clifford Irving hoax shares revelations concerning the billionaire businessman's bizarre life-style and methods of secrecy

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction

201 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1976

About the author

James Phelan was a tenacious investigative reporter who played a key role in uncovering major stories over four decades. A freelancer from 1954 onward, he contributed to more than 60 publications, including Time, Fortune, and The New York Times Magazine. His reporting cast doubt on New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison’s conspiracy case in the John F. Kennedy assassination, influencing the acquittal of Clay Shaw. He also helped expose Clifford Irving’s fraudulent biography of Howard Hughes, revealing that it was based on an unpublished manuscript of his own. His 1976 bestseller, Howard Hughes: The Hidden Years, offered the first in-depth look at the billionaire’s reclusive life. Phelan later chronicled his investigative career in Scandals, Scamps and Scoundrels: The Casebook of an Investigative Reporter (1982). His final book, The Money, co-written with Lewis Chester, explored the Hughes fortune.

Reviews

[Ted · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Hughes story competely fascinates me. This brisk, readable book brings us that story from the prespective of some of his closest henchmen. While I recommend this book, I much more heartily recommend Citizen Hughes for someone looking to dive into Hughes. That work has the advantage of getting the story from the horse's mouth, or pen as it were, which is to say, from Hughes's written memos.

[Lish · Rating 4 out of 5]

One should always save their jars of urine. You never know when they might come in handy.

[Rena Sherwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm only giving this four stars since this book, published soon after the billionaire's death, does suffer from some factual errors that were not known at the time of publication. For example, Hughes wanted his birthday to be Christmas Eve. Why -- only Hughes knows. Perhaps his crazy mother told him this so often that he believed it. His baptismal record shows his birthday as September 24, 1905. Could it have been a major typo on the church's part?

Hughes knows.

Which is a major problem with any biography of Howard Hughes. Not only was his life a trainwreck -- it was the Hindenburg of wrecks, only in vivid color and surround sound. Even the people who worked with Hughes for years had absolutely no clue as to who Hughes was and how his mind worked.

The author wrote articles about Hughes since the 1950s. This was just one of at least three books he did about Hughes. He knew enough about Hughes to discover that a highly touted autobiography of Hughes was just a hoax of Hitler Diary proportions written by Clifford Irving. So, Phelan has street cred. He's also the first writer I know that used the word "autistic" to describe Hughes.

As the book's title suggests, the book focuses on Hughes' final 15 or 16 years, when he went totally bonkers. The book poignantly begins and ends with the Shelley poem "Ozymandias", which was nothing but a very elegant way of saying, "Money can't buy happiness."

Which is, of course, a total lie. Money can not only make misery a lot more comfortable, it CAN buy happiness. Hughes was bullhead enough to get whatever he wanted. In his case, he wanted to be naked watching movies and left the fuck alone. I've got a sneaking feeling that made him happy.

The bulk of the book is made up of testimony and interviews with former Hughes employees such as his personal and barely used barber Mell Stewart. Viewers of the hit 2004 Leonardo DiCaprio film "The Aviator" will recognize the overworked lackey Noah Dietrich, who arguably doubled Hughes' fortune without much in compensation, considering that he received zero benefits and paid a good chunk of his six figure salary in taxes.

It could be argued that all of the people quoted or interviewed were "disgruntled ex-employees" but DAMN it makes for interesting reading. Some of the screw-ups were so bizarre or downright stupid that they have that unmistakable flavor of authenticity to them.

This is a short, fast read, but you do have to be familiar with Hughes' life and urban legend in order to fully enjoy this. Sadly, there isn't an index or bibliography.

[Crystal · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is incredibly interesting.

[Ray Dunsmore · Rating 3 out of 5]

A morbidly fascinating retelling of Hughes' hermit years, his final period of deterioration and neglect. Though the book doesn't dwell too long (or at all) on why he spent his last days like this, the picture it paints is of a man whose mental illnesses had grabbed hold of him entirely, and who held enough power that no man could stand in his way or prevent him from fulfilling his own obliteration. Hughes spent his final days locked away inside cordoned-off penthouse suites darkened by permanently taped-shut blinds, seeing none but a handful of aides and doing nothing but watching the same movies on constant repeat. The harsh light of day and the feel of clothing was unbearable to Hughes - though it's not mentioned or speculated on at all in this book, modern historians believe he was suffering from a severe pain disorder caused by his multiple air crashes. Also unbearable was the thought of alien germs intruding from anywhere or anyone beyond his power. He surrounded himself with insulation from the outside world - from the Kleenex he'd lay on to buffer himself from the germ-infested environ he lived in to the elaborate machinery of secrecy he deployed to keep anyone outside his inner circle from learning what he'd done to himself. A fascinating cautionary tale of unlimited power and what happens when you become so feared and respected that no one is willing to tell you "No."

[ForenSeek · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating glimpse behind the curtain that Howard Hughes pulled between himself and the world in his later years. This book was written in the 1970’s, so a lot of Hughes’ behavior is described as ”fetishes” or ”quirks”. Now, due to advancements in modern psychiatry, we know that Hughes actually suffered from an absolutely debilitating form of obsessive-compulsive disorder, along with many other mental illnesses. Some rumors are debunked (he did not wear Kleenex boxes as shoes), some are confirmed (he did indeed buy an entire TV station so he could screen late night movies on repeat, his favorite being 1968’s ”Ice Station Zebra”), and the through-line is clear throughout: this book is built on hard facts, no matter how unpleasant, obtained directly from Hughes’ former staff. At the end, the reader is left with a realization both terrifying and comforting: even one of the richest, most powerful human beings on Earth could not buy his way out of his innermost troubles. Recommended for fans of obscure history.

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Es un libro que me sorprendió bastante, la vida de Howard Hughes fue tan miserable, que no se la deseo a nadie, el libro me dejó un sabor amargo pero sin duda ha sido de las mejores biografías que he leído en mi vida. Ampliamente recomendado para quien quiera conocer a este enigmático multimillonario lleno de manías y secretos, pero sobre todo dedicarle un minuto de silencio.

[Elizabeth Hren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written account of the lasymt years of a very interesting man's life.

[Harry White · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review in progress...

[Julio Morales · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.89

[Christian Petrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

The reason this book came to my attention is that Mel Stewart, Howard Hughes' nurse, is the grandfather of someone I work with. Stewart was interviewed for this book. He told his grandson of the books written, this was the most accurate. Of course I was curious and was able to pick up a used copy from Amazon.

If you are interested in Howard Hughes, this is a quick easy read on the final years of his life. I found it interesting as it provided additional details on some of the stories I had heard.

What is more interesting about the story is that hear from two people close to Hughes on how they saw things. James Phelan had had been closing writing on Hughes for years. This helps to give the general information about his company and his relation to it.

When it comes to the personal side, it feels most of his information comes from Gordon Margulis and Mel Stewart. This could give some bias towards how they felt Hughes' people were controlling him.

At the same time it does feel that Margulis and Stewart cared for Hughes and wanted things to be better for him. Due to this possible slant, nothing too
negative, I give this a 4 1/2 star rounded up to a 5.

Still it is fascinating to read as you can see what might have happened if Hughes could control his own mental state more. A great glimpse into those last years and some help with the fact vs. fiction around the stories about his last years.

[Kellie · Rating 4 out of 5]

So this book has been sitting on our bookshelf for as long as I can remember. I finally asked Wes about it one day and he said that his grandmother had recommended it to him to read. It must've been in her collection or something. She passed away before we met so we've had it our married life....anyway... :) This was incredibly interesting to me. I've never heard of Howard Huges who was a billionaire and owned a lot of Las Vegas and had his hand and money in tons of other things but lived an almost reclusive lifestyle the last 15 or so years of his life. This was about those years. The power that people with money have is crazy to me - especially when people will do what they did to "please" him because of his wealth.

[Jason White · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very insightful look at Hughes' final years based on the accounts of two of his aides.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book at a friend's recommendation. I think I would have liked it better had I done a little research into the man. He did lead a very bizarre life!

[Jason Shuttlesworth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Howard Hughes had some issues in Life...besides his long fingernails.

[Dina P. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I hope this book is accurate so I wasn't mislead. I won't blame HH for his seclusion, that's his choice. Maybe if I had money as much as his, I'll do the same.

[Rose]

Really sad story.

[John Hardin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best account of the reclusive years of Howard Hughes.