Since his death in 1976, Howard Hughes has been remembered primarily as an eccentric billionaire, compulsively secretive and strangely deluded. The grotesque details of his last years obscured the fact that he had once been America's golden boy, a celebrated aviator and Hollywood legend who romanced hundreds of beautiful women, including many stars. This investigation seeks to shed new light on this eccentric figure, tracing the tycoon's tangle of relationships, his efforts to reshape Hollywood, his health problems and his increasingly erratic behaviour over the years. Among the revelations the book presents are details of Hughes's affairs with some of the most beautiful and talented actresses of the era, including Bette Davis, Katherine Hepburn, Ginger Rogers, Olivia de Havilland, Lana Turner, Ava Gardner and Rita Hayworth. It also aims to reveal the truth about his participation in the Watergate scandal, and his mysterious death.