From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Howard Robard Hughes, Jr. (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976) was an American business magnate, industrialist, aviator, engineer, film producer, director, hotelier, philanthropist, and was one of the wealthiest people in the world. He gained prominence from the late 1920s as a maverick film producer, making big-budget and often controversial films like The Racket (1928), Hell's Angels (1930), Scarface (1932), and The Outlaw (1943). Hughes was one of the mos ...