Howard Hughes' Legendary Generosity: A Man Grateful for a Ride Inherited $156M
"Vegas Myths Debunked" is a regular feature with new entries every Monday, with an additional special Flashback Friday edition. This particular entry was initially published on September 22, 2022.
It's challenging to debunk a myth that has gained significant traction, especially when it's glamorized by a movie, such as Melvin Dummar's story. He claimed he received a 1/16th share of Howard Hughes' $12 billion fortune merely for giving Hughes the most expensive ride home he'd ever had. "Melvin and Howard," a 1980 film directed by Jonathan Demme, emphasized this narrative. Actress Mary Steenburgen received an Oscar for her portrayal of Dummar's wife. Dummar also earned $90K for selling the rights to his tale and landed a minor role in the movie as a bus station reservation agent.
However, many scholars and those who knew Hughes well find this story unrealistic, if not impossible. As Geoff Schumacher, author of the 2020 book "Howard Hughes: Power, Paranoia, and Palace Intrigue," shared, "The issue is that the story is highly improbable - if not impossible."
Who was Howard Hughes?
Howard Robard Hughes Jr. was an American entrepreneur, investor, aviator, film director, and philanthropist, known to be one of the wealthiest and most intriguing individuals globally. He could be compared to today's Elon Musk in the 1940s. But as depicted in the 2004 Martin Scorsese film "The Aviator," Hughes was already eccentric and struggling with obsessive-compulsive disorder and chronic pain from multiple plane crashes at the peak of his fame and authority.
By the time he got to Vegas in 1966, Hughes was far from his prime. He resided as a recluse on the ninth floor of the Desert Inn for four years. He became dependent on the opioid codeine, injected intravenously. Despite his fixation on cleanliness, him wearing tissue boxes on his bare feet to avoid germs, he rarely bathed or brushed his teeth. His hair and nails grew long. Famously, he used bottles to urinate and stored them around his suite.
Pilots and handlers often helped him stay safe in and out of the aircraft due to his erratic behavior and physical condition. The Desert Inn was owned by Hughes because he requested Moe Dalitz to show him to his suite, as his reservation was about to expire to make room for a New Year's booking.
When it comes to Hughes' time in Vegas, the reality was more extraordinary than fiction.
The Myth Explained
Dummar's version of events goes like this: In the winter of 1967, while passing the Cottontail Ranch brothel, about 150 miles north of Las Vegas, Dummar stopped for a restroom break. Upon returning to his car, he noticed a battered man beside the road. Dummar drove the man to Las Vegas and dropped him at the Sands Hotel's back entrance, along with some pocket money. It was only in the last minutes of their encounter that the man disclosed his identity. Dummar declared he didn't believe the man.
Dummar, a 23-year-old magnesium plant worker at that time, claimed that nine years later, while working at a Utah gas station, a well-dressed gentleman left an envelope with Dummar's name on the counter and quickly exited. Upon opening the envelope, Dummar found a handwritten will signed by Howard Hughes, who had recently died. Dummar inherited 1/16 of Hughes' $12 billion aviation fortune for his previous act of kindness.
The significant issue with this narrative, Schumacher highlights, is that Hughes never left his room in the Desert Inn.
"But if he wanted to leave, his aides in Vegas and LA would have known about it. His every move was daily documented. Someone, or more likely more than one person, would have accompanied him wherever he wanted to go. However, he didn't go anywhere, mainly because he was quite unwell during parts of his time in Las Vegas."
By the time Hughes passed away on April 5, 1976, due to kidney failure on a Texas-bound plane, his once-healthy 6-foot-1 body weighed 90 lbs. X-rays revealed broken-off hypodermic needles in his arms from injecting the painkiller codeine. It's possible that phenacetin, another pain reliever found in his system, triggered his kidney failure.
Misspellings occurred throughout the document, including the name of Hughes' cousin, William Lummis, which was spelled "Lommis." The will also named Noah Dietrich as an executor, someone who had left Hughes' employment on bad terms over a decade prior. Perhaps the funniest error was referring to Hughes' famous airplane, the Hughes H-4 Hercules, as the "Spruce Goose."
Schumacher stated that it was highly unlikely Hughes would have referred to his flying boat as the "Spruce Goose." He despised the nickname, which was given to the massive plane by a journalist. The aircraft was indeed made of wood, but spruce wasn't the type of wood used.
Another curiosity was the origin of the will. At first, Dummar said he knew nothing about it. However, after his fingerprint was found on the envelope, his story changed to include a well-dressed man who entered his gas station. Along with the will, Dummar claimed the envelope contained instructions for him to leave it at Mormon headquarters.
But there are more questions: Hughes wasn't a member of the Mormon church or any other. He was not a religious person according to Schumacher. And strangely, the will left the Mormon church 1/16th of Hughes' fortune.
In 1978, the "Mormon Will" was declared a forgery by a Nevada jury. In 2006, Dummar filed a second lawsuit in US District Court in Utah against William Lummis, a beneficiary of the Hughes estate whose name was spelled correctly this time. This suit was dismissed seven months later, the judge ruling that the case had already been "fully and fairly litigated" in 1978.
The Curious Case of Howard Hughes and the Mormon Will
A book published in 2005, "The Investigation: A Former FBI Agent Uncovers the Truth Behind Howard Hughes, Melvin Dummar, and the Most Contested Will in American History," by retired FBI agent Gary Magnesen, claimed to support Dummar's story. Magnesen wrote that Robert Deiro, Hughes' personal pilot at the time, confirmed flying Hughes to a ranch with a brothel located behind it. Here, the billionaire met with a prostitute known as "Sunny," famous for her red hair and a diamond embedded in her left incisor.
The reason Dummar found Hughes in that location and in that condition, Magnesen suggested, is because he had been kicked out of the brothel earlier that evening for being too drunk.
Schumacher explains, "Gary Magnesen was a fantastic FBI agent, but I disagree with his conclusions while investigating the Melvin Dummar story. It's illogical to believe that a reclusive and germophobic billionaire with a fear of germs would fly out to an isolated brothel in the Nevada desert with a pilot he didn't know. Furthermore, supporting the idea that he could accomplish this without anyone in his organization realizing is simply preposterous."
Dummar passed away in 2018 in Pahrump, Nevada, but not before achieving the fame he craved, even if not the fortune. No charges were ever filed against him for any crime.
"I met with Melvin Dummar twice," Schumacher said, "and he was a very likable guy. I think that's why so many people believe his story. People enjoy rooting for an underdog like Dummar and believe that powerful people are conspiring against them. While that does occasionally happen, it wasn't the case here."
"Dummar may have picked up someone in the Nevada desert and driven them to Las Vegas in 1967, but it was not Howard Hughes."
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Source: www.casino.org
