19. Howard Hughes vs Jane Greer
Howard Hughes (1905 – 1976), the billionaire recluse, eccentric, and all around weirdo, could hold a grudge like few others. For example, he once bought a major movie studio to which an ex-girlfriend was contracted, just to wreck her career. His victim was Jane Greer (1924 – 2001), a film noir actress who made a splash in the 1940s with femme fatale roles in movies such as The Big Steal, Dick Tracy, and Out of the Past. In 1942, when she was eighteen, Greer caught Hughes’ eye when he saw her modeling in Life magazine. Infatuated, he sponsored and sent her to Hollywood to become an actress.
However, when Greer showed an interest in other men, it enraged Hughes: he reasoned that he had made her, and had every right to break her. Greer’s mother, who worked for the War Department, had seen to it that her daughter was one of three young women chosen to model uniforms for the new Women’s Army Corps (WAC) in 1942. When her modeling appeared in the June 8th, 1942, issue of Life magazine, many across the country were smitten, including Hughes. He collected people – especially beautiful women – like normal folk collect stamps. So he signed the teenaged model to a personal contract.
