Howard Hughes Life's Journey

Businessman, film producer, film director, and aviator. Born Howard Robard Hughes, Jr. on December 24, 1905, in Houston, Texas. While he is largely known for being one of the wealthiest men and one of the most famous recluses, Hughes had many professional accomplishments before withdrawing from public life. Son of a successful oil drill tool manufacturer, he inherited the family business in 1923 at the age of 18. He used some of his fortune to finance films, beginning in 1926. He produced several movies, including the World War I epic Hell's Angels (1930), which featured expensive aerial fight sequences and a then-unknown actress named Jean Harlow. Some of his other significant films were Scarface (1932) and The Outlaw (1941). During his days in Hollywood, Hughes developed a reputation for being a playboy, dating such actresses as Katherine Hepburn, Ava Gardner, and Ginger Rogers.
Hughes developed a passion for flying and founded his own aircraft company in the early 1930s. Besides designing and building planes, he risked his own life several times testing planes and setting new world air speed records in the mid- to late 1930s. While he is credited with many aviation innovations, such as the first retractable landing gear, he is also remembered for one of his biggest flops—the Spruce Goose. Hughes labored on this oversized wooden sea-plane for years, finishing it in 1947. It was only flown once.
After a terrible plane crash in 1946, Hughes began to retreat from the world. He bought part of RKO Pictures in 1948, but he never visited the studio. In the 1960s, he lived on the top floor of the Desert Inn in Las Vegas, Nevada, and conducted all of his business from his hotel suite. Few people ever saw him, which led to much public speculation and rumors about his activities. It was thought that he suffered from obsessive-compulsive disorder and had a drug problem. Hughes eventually left Las Vegas and began living abroad. In 1971 an allegedly authorized biography of famed recluse was announced, but it turned out to be a scam. The authors were later imprisoned for fraud.
Hughes died on April 5, 1976. After his death, numerous fake versions of his will surfaced, leading to a battle over his fortune. In 2004, Hughes' life returned to the spotlight with the feature film The Aviator, which depicted his early days. Leonardo DiCaprio played the billionaire as a dashing, troubled young man. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his portrayal of Hughes.

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Brian De Palma Life's Journey

Film director, screenwriter.  Born on September 11, 1940, in Newark, New Jersey. De Palma attended Columbia University in New York, New York. He made his first film, Icarus, as a student there. After De Palma graduated in 1962, he spent time at Sarah Lawrence College on a writing fellowship. In the mid-1960s De Palma began working on his feature-length debut with The Wedding Party, which co-wrote and co-directed with Wilford Leach and Cynthia Munroe. The film was released in 1969 and featured an up-and-coming actor named Robert De Niro.

De Palma’s career really began to take off in the 1970s with the horror classic Carrie, based on a Stephen King novel. Sissy Spacek starred as an often overlooked and mistreated teen with special powers who takes her revenge on those who harmed her. Often compared to the legendary director Alfred Hitchcock, De Palma has helmed numerous thrillers, such as Dressed to Kill (1980) and Body Double (1984). He has also created one of the organized crime classics of all time, Scarface (1983). Al Pacino stars as a Cuban who immigrates to Miami in the 1980s and becomes the leader of a drug cartel. Audiences were riveted by the rise and fall of Pacino’s character as well as the film’s graphic depiction of violence and drug use.

The 1980s was a time of mixed success for De Palma. He scored a box office hit with organized crime-busting drama The Untouchables. Released in 1987, the film starred Kevin Costner as federal agent Eliot Ness who wants to take down Al Capone, the crime kingpin of Chicago, played by Robert De Niro. Two years later, De Palma’s next directorial effort, Casualties of War, failed to register with movie audiences. But this was nothing compared to the critical drubbing he received for Bonfire of the Vanities (1990), an adaptation of the Tom Wolfe novel.

De Palma has experienced many twists and turns in his career, with several hits and misses over the past two decades. He directed the well-received Carlito’s Way (1993) and the mainstream action hit Mission: Impossible (1996). Snake Eyes (1998), Mission to Mars (2000), and Femme Fatale (2002) all failed to catch on with the movie-going public. His latest film, The Black Dahlia, was based on the James Ellroy novel about the infamous murder of an aspiring actress in Hollywood during the 1940s. While a lot of publicity surrounded its release in 2006, the film received mixed reviews and had fair ticket sales.

Married and divorced three times, De Palma’s first wife was actress Nancy Allen. He has two daughters: Lolita, from his second marriage to producer Gale Anne Hurd, and Piper, from his third marriage to Darnell Gregorio-De Palma.

sumber : biaografi.com

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