Howard Hughes - The Life-Changing Air Crashes | Biographical Documentary

Howard Hughes, businessman, film producer and record-breaking aviator was one of the richest men in the world, but he is perhaps most remembered for his obsessional fears of contamination and strange decline into total reclusiveness.

This biographical documentary explores how a man, who in his youth had it all – intelligence, good looks, control of a multi-million-dollar company and Hollywood stars queueing up to make his acquaintance, could end his days hiding himself away, terrified of germs.

This video focusses on his four plane crashes and three serious car accidents to see what impact these had on the mind of a man once famous for his incisive thinking and shrewd business brain.

Could they have turned the handsome and adventurous billionaire into a bedraggled hermit?

Finding Out More

Academic References
Tennant, F. (2007) Howard Hughes and Pseudoaddiction. Practical Pain Management 12-29.

Copyright Disclaimer
The primary purpose of this video is educational. I have tried to use material in the public domain or with Creative Commons Non-attribution licences wherever possible. Where attribution is required, I have listed this below. I believe that any copyright material used falls under the remit of Fair Use, but if any content owners would like to dispute this, I will not hesitate to immediately remove that content. It is not my intention to infringe on content ownership in any way. If you happen to find your art or images in the video, please let me know and I will be glad to credit you.

Images
Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons
Wellcome Collection
Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum

Music
Tumbleweed Texas Chris Haugman CC0
Intelligentsia Godmode CC0
George Gershwin's 3 Preludes, performed by La Pianista CC3.0
Blacksmith Godmode CC0
Lullabye Density and Time CC0
To pass time Godmode CC0
Sun awakens Futurmono CC0
With Shot and Shell US Marines Band CC0
Rialto Ripples Jeffrey Biegel YT
When You Want 'Em, You Can't Get 'Em, When You've Got 'Em, You Don't Want 'Em Gershwin Piano Roll (public domain)
Traversing Godmode CC0
Gershwin: 3 Preludes for Clarinet and Piano II. Clarinet: Byeon Gyu-ri, Piano: Kim Hwa-jeong CCAttribution
Savior Telecasted CC0
JHS Pedals Sleepy West CC0
Isaac Albeniz - Tango Op.165 Nº2 - David Hernando Vitores - Kayoko Morimoto (Wasei Duo) CC4.0
Vladan L. Kuzmanović, Prelude For Broken Piano No. 2 CC4.0

Video edited by Manavi Sakunika and produced by Graeme Yorston and Tom Yorston

[tomyorston]

Congratulations on 100k Father, it’s been a fun old journey! And thank you to all you subscribers and fellow historians for your support! 🤩

[ValerieGriner]

He was like a cat with 9 lives! I never considered that all of these accidents may have led to his insanity. I love your channel! You do a wonderful job on these documentaries!

[nippynfl]

Well deserved plaque! Always look forward to your videos. Congratulations!

[eileenbauer]

I grew up in the 60’s and 70’s, and my older brother was fascinated with Howard Hughes, I think he wanted to be like him! I remember being morbidly fascinated about how he was a recluse in a hotel room in I think Las Vegas with long nails, fear of germs etc! Maybe some undiagnosed brain trauma as you said. Congratulations on your YouTube milestone and may there be many more! 🎉

[annerigby]

Congratulations on the well-deserved success of your youtube channel! Please keep up the good work.

[loriedmundson]

Congratulations! So glad you created this informative and fun channel with your son.

[indigocheetah]

CongratulationsProfessor Yorston, and Tom Yorston, on your successful collaboration. Well done on reaching a ton.

[calendarpage]

Congrats on reaching (and surpassing) 100K! Even when I think I know everything about a person, you always add more or add an interesting insight into their personality that I hadn't considered.

[IntrepidFraidyCat]

I had no idea about all of his head injuries....explains a lot! Congratulations on 100K! 💯👍🏻

[OzzieJayne]

Congrats on the Silver Play Button! Thanks, Tom, for talking your Dad into this channel! The plasticity of the brain is both amazing and terrifying; would standard mandatory neural rehab sessions help detect and remediate injuries otherwise not found ?

[paulwilfridhunt]

I’m totally convinced that Howard used the excuse of being overly afraid of germs as a ruse as to control people around him. And seeing them falling for it, wearing gloves and scrubbing cans of food before opening them, and more, gave him the confidence to function in his world of isolation while at the same time provided the seemingly justifiable excuse to those around him for living the life of a recluse.

[tomklock]

Congratulations! I am thoroughly enjoying these episodes exploring such histories. Well deserved.

[aplaceinthewind]

Congratulations to you for presenting and your son for his part! Much appreciated from across the pond. In regards to Hughes, there is another element that "seems" to have impacted his demise - STD.

[lilykatmoon]

Congratulations on 100k! Your channel is one of my favorites because I’m really interested in what makes people the way they are. I also enjoy learning about historical figures that I didn’t know much about before. I live in Houston Texas, and had no idea he was from here although I didn’t move here until the 80s. I know he was a hound dog with the ladies, so I’m interested to learn more. He certainly wasn’t risk avoidant 😬.

[jeremymahrer]

WEll done Graeme, it must be amazing to have achieved so 2 yrs, Your vid on Jack is still my favourite.

[paulforder]

Congrats, Prof. Yorston, on getting more than 16, 000 subscribers! Well--presented mini-documentary on the plane and car crashes which caused Hughes' head trauma and contributed to his becoming a recluse.
He was like a cat with nine lives, and wouldn't give up, no matter how much the odds were stacked against him. Thank you for posting. 😺

[hulagirlhere]

Howard Hughes was a fascinating man and I’m glad you covered his story!
And that lamp!!!! To die for 😀❤️

[divadaedalus]

Congratulations! Your content is fascinating, well researched and beautifully presented. Well done you!

[annerigby]

Aviator is one of my favourite ever films. The music used in the film during flight scenes (JS Bach) plays no small part in my love of the film as well as Rufus Wainright singing "Stairway to Paradise". It is, imo, a very well done film with a good choice of actors and a good script. As for how close to reality it is, I have no idea. I found the depiction of the version of Howard Hughes in the film to be fascinating and very disturbing. It gave an impression of 'this can happen to anyone'. It showed Hughes to be amazing but impossible to live with. Based on the film and knowing nothing about H. Hughes other than from the film (and now this first part in your video), I had the impression that he had a very compulsive personality. If he wanted to do something it had to be done and it had to be done the way he wanted it done and immediately. Many people have this, but not to those extremes and most people don't have the means to develop all of their ideas the way Hughes could. I also love the design of his airplanes and thought the removal of all sign of rivets was an excellent idea. If he had been born into poverty, who would he have become? would he still have developed these extremes or was it the self and external pressures that pushed him over the edge? I notice that many brilliant people have an equal 'down side' - could be anything from easily frustrated to obsessions or fears to incapacitating behaviours. I'm probably wrong in much of my ideas about Hughes so I am waiting impatiently for the next part of the documentary.

[virginiasoskin]

Thanks, Professor! This was fascinating. I will enjoy part two, most definitely.