Editing Howard Hughes (section)

=== Early romances ===

Hughes dated many famous women, including [[Joan Crawford]], [[Terry Moore (actress)|Terry Moore]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Actress Terry Moore, 94, Says Ex Howard Hughes Did 'Unthinkable Things': 'I Was Too Naive' (Exclusive) |url=https://people.com/movies/terry-moore-howard-hughes-did-unthinkable-things-exclusive/ |access-date=2024-12-01 |website=People.com |language=en}}</ref> [[Debra Paget]], [[Billie Dove]], [[Faith Domergue]], [[Bette Davis]], [[Yvonne De Carlo]], [[Ava Gardner]], [[Olivia de Havilland]], [[Katharine Hepburn]],<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hepburn|first=Katharine|title=Me: Stories of My Life|publisher=Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.|year=1991|isbn=0679400516|location=New York|pages=193–205}}</ref> [[Hedy Lamarr]], [[Ginger Rogers]], [[Pat Sheehan (model)|Pat Sheehan]],<ref>{{cite book |url={{Google books|LongDwAAQBAJ|page=64|plainurl=yes}} |title=Pat: A Biography of Hollywood's Blonde Starlet |first=Samuel |last=Clemens |publisher=Sequoia Press |year=1987 |isbn=978-0394544120}}</ref> [[Gloria Vanderbilt]],<ref>{{Cite book|last=Vanderbilt|first=Gloria|title=Black Knight, White Knight|publisher=Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.|year=1987|isbn=0679400516|location=New York}}</ref> [[Mamie Van Doren]] and [[Gene Tierney]].

He also proposed to [[Joan Fontaine]] several times, according to her [[autobiography]] ''No Bed of Roses''. [[Jean Harlow]] accompanied him to the premiere of ''Hell's Angels'', but Noah Dietrich wrote many years later that the relationship was strictly professional, as Hughes disliked Harlow personally. In his 1971 book, ''Howard: The Amazing Mr. Hughes'', Dietrich said that Hughes genuinely liked and respected [[Jane Russell]], but never sought romantic involvement with her. According to Russell's autobiography, however, Hughes once tried to bed her after a party. Russell (who was married at the time) refused him, and Hughes promised it would never happen again. The two maintained a professional and private friendship for many years. Hughes remained good friends with Tierney who, after his failed attempts to seduce her, was quoted as saying "I don't think Howard could love anything that did not have a motor in it". Later, when Tierney's daughter Daria was born deaf and blind and with a severe [[learning disability]] because of Tierney's exposure to [[rubella]] during her pregnancy, Hughes saw to it that Daria received the best medical care and paid all expenses.<ref>Tierney and Herskowitz 1978, p. 97.</ref>