HOWARD HUGHES - AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED CO-SIGNED BY: JEAN PETERS - HFSID 36776

HOWARD HUGHES and JEAN PETERS
Hughes sends a loving note to his wife, who has a separate bedroom.
ALS: "Howard" on front, 2p, 8x8½, ruled yellow sheet, front and verso (hinged to show both sides). No place, no date. To his wife, actress Jean Peters. Begins: "Dearest Love". In full: "I will send you another message, about 11:15 if that is OK for you. In the mean time I will be loving you steadily and a whole heaping lot!" On verso is a notation in Peters' hand: "Hughes Tool bought it - not Aircraft?/So it's not Charity." At the lower portion of verso, a treble and a bass clef have been drawn in pencil (unknown hand). The relationship between business tycoon HOWARD HUGHES (1905-1976) and actress JEAN PETERS (1926-2000), which was marked with strange meeting rituals and periods of little or no direct contact, was anything but normal, yet their sincere devotion to each other endured throughout their 14-year marriage. The dashing aviator and movie mogul had met Peters in 1946, when she had come to Hollywood as a prize for winning the Miss Ohio state title. Hughes was intrigued by Twentieth Century-Fox's rising star, who made her film debut in 1947. Following 11 years of sporadic dating, the two were married in a small mining town outside of Las Vegas on January 12, 1957. Hughes, known for working odd hours into the night, preferred to relay his business and personal directives via memos and hand-written notes rather than the spoken word, and he would communicate with his wife in this same manner. Hughes wrote this message on the back of a previously used scrap of paper, resulting in a collage of love, musical and corporate (Hughes Tool) notes. This written fragment of the correspondence between Hughes and Peters, delivered back and forth by aides, illustrates their unique relationship as well as their unusual love for each other. By this time in their marriage, the couple was known to usually spend a half hour together after 11 p.m. before retiring to their separate bedrooms. In November 1966, Hughes confined himself to a hotel penthouse in Las Vegas. In 1970, after having spent most of her married life with Hughes in separate accommodations, Jean Peters Hughes was granted a divorce. Lightly creased with folds, not at signature. Fine condition. Framed to an overall size of 41x21.