28. Howard Hughes Went Into Jealous Jerk Mode When He Lost the Object of His Affection to Another Man
Howard Hughes taking Jane Greer out to amusement parks was all well and good – for a while. Things got awkward, however, when Greer welcomed the attentions of other men who saw her as a woman and not a child, and had more in mind than taking her to amusement parks. Hughes wasn’t the only one captivated by Greer’s 1942 modeling photo. Star Crooner, Rudy Vallee, was also smitten. He tried unsuccessfully to get her address from Life magazine. When he eventually found it, things got complicated.
Greer might have liked hanging out with Hughes, but a wealthy eccentric treating her like a child with trips to amusement parks was no competition to a star singer romancing her like a woman. Rudy Vallee swept Greer off her feet, and after a whirlwind courtship, they wed in 1943. That left Hughes seething with jealousy. Whatever the legality of the “no marriage” clause in the personal contract that Greer had signed, Hughes had meant it, and felt betrayed. So he went from doting to destructive and set out to wreck Greer’s career.