The story of Howard Hughes, the inventor, director, business mogul, and ace pilot, is one that is hard to summarize in a single sentence.

One aspect of his character that stands out, however, is his tendency to control the careers of the actresses he was romantically involved with, and his desire to ruin the career of Jane Greer, a former girlfriend, is a prime example of this.

Jane Greer was a young and aspiring actor when she was spotted by Howard Hughes in a magazine.

He decided to put her under a “personal contract” and immediately let her know that he did not want her to ever get married or act.

He did not cast her in a single movie or even let her do a screen test.

However, Greer was not one to be easily controlled. She defied Hughes by marrying middle-aged crooner Rudy Vallee, and then sued him for breach of contract.

To avoid a drawn-out scandal, Hughes was forced to let Greer buy out her contract for a lump sum of $7,572, which she paid back to him in installments of $25 a week over a period of six years.

Despite this, Hughes still had a hold on Greer’s career.

She managed to find a new studio to act for at RKO Pictures, but her career was finally getting on track when she found out that the studio had been bought by none other than Howard Hughes himself.

When she met with her new boss, she found him to be the same controlling megalomaniac as before.

Greer did go on to have one major breakthrough performance despite Hughes’ meddling.

When an actress dropped out of The Big Steal, a film noir, because her co-star Robert Mitchum was a dangerous reefer-head, Hughes needed a bankable RKO name last-minute and the only one whose schedule was wide open was Jane Greer.

However, Hughes did not stop there.

Since Greer was hiding a pregnancy at the time, Hughes refused to pay for a new wardrobe, forcing her to get creative with hiding her baby bump in crop tops originally meant for an 80-pound waif.

Greer succeeded in keeping her pregnancy a secret and delivered a career-defining performance.

Despite her obvious talent, a few key noir roles in movies like Out Of The Past, and a wonderful late-in-life career revival, Hughes’ revenge stalking did cost Greer the best and most lucrative acting years of her life.

After six years of barely any work at RKO, she managed to pay off her original contract.

In a final show of bravado, to make up for all the hurt he put her through, Greer asked Hughes to let her off the hook for the last $50.

However, the billionaire refused, illustrating the control he had over Greer’s career and the impact it had on her life.

Howard Hughes was a colossally compulsive creep who coerced college coeds into consenting to cash cow contracts to control their careers and condemn them to become call girl concubines.