RSS 2.0 FeedVol. 3, No. 9, September 2007, Nevada History
The Reclusive Visionary
Howard Hughes’ short run in Las Vegas left an indelible mark on the city
Howard Hughes visited Las Vegas as early as the 1930s, and he produced the 1952 RKO film Las Vegas Story, which starred Jane Russell, Vincent Price and Victor Mature. But he didn’t make his biggest impact on the city until 1966, when he came to live in the desert on a semi-permanent basis.
Hughes arrived in Las Vegas Thanksgiving weekend 1966, though not in style: he was hustled from a sealed rail car into an ambulance and then carried on a stretcher to a suite on the top (ninth) floor of the Desert Inn. When the DI’s owners, who included Las Vegas icon Moe Dalitz, tried to turn Hughes out a few weeks later, he countered with an offer to buy the hotel. On March 27, 1967, for $13.2 million, Hughes (through his right hand Bob Maheu) owned the property.
It was the beginning of a spending spree; Hughes also bought the Frontier, Sands, Castaways, Silver Slipper and Reno’s Harold’s Club, and would have bought the Stardust had anti-trust fears not scuttled the sale. He did, however, buy the unopened Landmark, and opened it in the shadow of Kirk Kerkorian’s International in July 1969.
Despite all of his investments in Las Vegas (Hughes also bought KLAS-TV and tremendous swaths of land), Hughes was never seen in public while he lived at the Desert Inn. The billboard pictured here, which Hughes likely could not see even if he hadn’t blacked out his bedroom’s windows, was the closest most residents got to seeing the reclusive billionaire.
Hughes left Las Vegas just as mysteriously as he’d entered it. Over Thanksgiving weekend 1970, he was spirited out of the Desert Inn, never to return. He lived in the Bahamas, London and Mexico before dying in 1976.
Today, Hughes’ casinos have long been sold; when the Frontier is imploded, they will all have been demolished, too. Summerlin, which was developed from his holdings in what was then the far west of Las Vegas, is perhaps his most lasting contribution to the city.
Hughes arrived in Las Vegas Thanksgiving weekend 1966, though not in style: he was hustled from a sealed rail car into an ambulance and then carried on a stretcher to a suite on the top (ninth) floor of the Desert Inn. When the DI’s owners, who included Las Vegas icon Moe Dalitz, tried to turn Hughes out a few weeks later, he countered with an offer to buy the hotel. On March 27, 1967, for $13.2 million, Hughes (through his right hand Bob Maheu) owned the property.
It was the beginning of a spending spree; Hughes also bought the Frontier, Sands, Castaways, Silver Slipper and Reno’s Harold’s Club, and would have bought the Stardust had anti-trust fears not scuttled the sale. He did, however, buy the unopened Landmark, and opened it in the shadow of Kirk Kerkorian’s International in July 1969.
Despite all of his investments in Las Vegas (Hughes also bought KLAS-TV and tremendous swaths of land), Hughes was never seen in public while he lived at the Desert Inn. The billboard pictured here, which Hughes likely could not see even if he hadn’t blacked out his bedroom’s windows, was the closest most residents got to seeing the reclusive billionaire.
Hughes left Las Vegas just as mysteriously as he’d entered it. Over Thanksgiving weekend 1970, he was spirited out of the Desert Inn, never to return. He lived in the Bahamas, London and Mexico before dying in 1976.
Today, Hughes’ casinos have long been sold; when the Frontier is imploded, they will all have been demolished, too. Summerlin, which was developed from his holdings in what was then the far west of Las Vegas, is perhaps his most lasting contribution to the city.
David G. Schwartz an Atlantic City native and the director of the Center for Gaming Research at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. He is the author of Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling. His web site can be viewed at www.dieiscast.com.
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