Fabled billionaire Industrialist, filmmaker, and aviator (1905–1976) who takes a place among the most colorful personalities of the twentieth century. Known as much for his prolific womanizing (his romantic partners included screen legends Jean Harlow and Katharine Hepburn, among others) as for his record-setting aviation exploits and business acumen, Hughes settled into reclusion in his final decades, disappearing from view and seeking refuge in closely guarded havens in Las Vegas, the Bahamas, and elsewhere. His enigmatic persona has remained an evergreen source of fascination more than a quarter century after his death, as evidenced by the fictional portrayals of him in the Oscar-winning films Melvin and Howard (1980) and The Aviator (2004). Handwritten telegram in pencil, signed “Howard,” on a printed British Wireless Marine Service “Marconigram” form, 8.5 x 7.5, July 18, 1935. Hughes sends a message from aboard his yacht Southern Cross to Captain John Towers at the Naval Air Station, Coronado, California. In full: “Arriving late afternoon would like you Mrs. Towers and Capt. Bristol dine caliente.” Light show-through of printing on reverse, and faint, tiny spot to top margin, otherwise clean, fine condition. Auction LOA John Reznikoff/PSA/DNA and R&R COA.
