Multi-millionaire businessman, film producer, film director, and aviator, born in Houston, Texas. He studied at prestigious Rice University and the even more prestigious California Institute of Technology. Inherited his father's machine tool company in 1923. In 1926 he ventured into films, producing Hell's Angels (1930), Scarface (1932) and Le banni (1943). He also founded his own aircraft company, designed, built and flew his own aircraft, and broke several world air speed records (1935-1938). His most famous aircraft, the Hercules (nicknamed "The Spruce Goose"), was an oversized wooden seaplane designed to carry 750 passengers, which was completed in 1947 but flew only once over a distance of one mile. Throughout his life he shunned publicity, eventually becoming a recluse but still controlling his vast business interests from sealed-off hotel suites, and giving rise to endless rumors and speculation. In 1971 an "authorized" biography was announced, but the authors wound up in prison for fraud, and the mystery surrounding him continued until his death.
