Rupert Hughes

A staunch anti-Communist, in the 1940s he served as president of the American Writers Association, a group of anti-Communist writers.

• Name — Rupert Hughes • Birth Name — Rupert Raleigh Hughes • Born — 31 January 1872 • Birthplace — Lancaster, Missouri, U.S. • Died — 9 September 1956 • Place of death — Los Angeles, California, U.S. • Occupation — * Novelist • historian • film director • Notable Works — George Washington: The Human Being and the Hero (1926) • Children — 1 • Relatives — * Howard R. Hughes Sr. (brother) • Howard Hughes (nephew)

Hughes was born on January 31, 1872, in Lancaster, Missouri, the son of Jean Amelia (née Summerlin; 1842–1928) and Judge Felix Moner Hughes (1837–1926). He spent his early years in the Lancaster area until age seven when the family moved to Keokuk, Iowa, where his father established a successful law practice. Hughes first published a poem while still a child growing up in Lancaster. After receiving his basic public education in Keokuk and at a private military academy near St. Charles, Missouri, he attended Western Reserve Academy preparatory school in Hudson, Ohio. At age 16, he entered Adelbert College in Cleveland, Ohio, now known as Case Western Reserve University. Hughes was a noted founding member of the student newspaper The Adelbert beginning in 1890, contributing numerous submissions of poems, satire, comedy, and storytelling. Hughes earned his BA in 1892 and MA in 1894. Intending a career teaching English Literature, he later attended Yale University, earning a second MA in 1899.

• Illustration — Rupert Hughes (far right) directing one of his stories, Goldwyn Studios, Culver City, circa 1920s Hughes' first foray into the tough world of New York City theater was a failure. In 1895, with financial backing from his father, Hughes and a business partner staged the aforementioned The Bathing Girl at the Fifth Avenue Theater. It lasted only one performance. He persevered however, and between 1902 and 1909 no less than six Hughes-penned plays were staged by touring companies across the United States and in London, England. Hughes cast his second wife, Adelaide Mould Bissell, alongside a young Douglas Fairbanks in his first New York theater role in the 1908 production All for a Girl. His 1909 play The Bridge, starring Guy Bates Post, ran in New York for a respectable thirty-three performances before going on tour for three years. Hughes' next effort, 1910's Two Women, starring the famed stage actress Leslie Carter, made forty-seven performances before also touring extensively. Excuse Me, a comedy farce based on a train trip, premiered in February 1911 and was one of the years biggest hits in New York that year. It would tour worldwide, including Australia, and later twice be made into movies. A stage version of the novel Tess of the Storm Country followed, and in 1920 Hughes' final play, The Cat Bird, starring John Drew, Jr. In 1921 his novel The Old Nest (1912), based upon his family and early life, was adapted into a movie. Its success led Hughes to move to Hollywood and join the burgeoning motion picture industry in 1923. The behind-the-scenes goings on of show business provided ample fodder for Hughes' novel Souls for Sale (1922), a scathing look at Hollywood scandals of the era. In the 1940s he served as president of the American Writers Association, a group of anti-Communist writers. • Illustration — Rupert Hughes (left) with Director Herbert Brenon in 1917

Hughes enlisted in the New York National Guard as a private in 1897, serving in the famous 69th New York regiment, the "Fighting 69th". When President Woodrow Wilson sent U.S. troops to Mexico in 1916 in pursuit of bandit Pancho Villa, Hughes, now a captain, and the 69th were one of the regiments assigned to the mission. With America's entry into World War I the following year Hughes expected to see service in France, but a slight hearing impairment prevented him from overseas duty and he was assigned to work in Military Intelligence in Washington, D.C. in early 1918 and promoted to Major. While still a captain, Hughes designed and patented a new type of trench knife for use by the U.S. Army. Containing a spring-loaded blade that extended via push-button, it was similar to what would later be considered a "switchblade". The Hughes Trench Knife was evaluated as a potential military arm by a panel of U.S. Army officers from the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) in June 1918. After testing, however, the board found the Hughes design to be of no value, and it was never adopted. Hughes remained on active duty until mid-1919, meanwhile continuing his writing career in off-duty hours. Hughes continued his part-time military career after moving to California, joining the state militia. He was a key member of its reorganization in 1940 into the California Army National Guard and as Colonel commanded one of its regiments from 1941 to 1943. At age 71 and with health becoming frail, Colonel Hughes was passed over for service in a combat zone again and retired from military service.

• Illustration — Rupert Hughes (top center) as he appeared with other Hollywood notables in a 1921 Vanity Fair caricature by Ralph Barton His first marriage, to Agnes Wheeler Hedge in 1893, ended in divorce in 1903. The couple had one child, daughter Elspeth, born in 1897. (In 1981, heirs to Howard Hughes feuding over his estate claimed that Elspeth was not really Rupert Hughes's daughter, but the child of Agnes's illicit lover. Family noted that Rupert had mumps as a child which left him sterile.) His second marriage, to actress Adelaide Manola Mould Bissell, took place in 1908. She starred in his stage production All for a Girl that same year. In December 1923, she died of an apparent suicide while on tour in Hai Phong, French Indochina. Rupert Hughes' final marriage, to Elizabeth Patterson Dial, took place the next year, 1924. The third Mrs. Hughes died from complications of sleeping pills and heart condition in 1945. Hughes' daughter, Elspeth, from his first marriage died a few months later. Hughes supported Thomas Dewey in the 1944 United States presidential election.

Hughes' health began to fail in the late 1940s, leading to a non-fatal stroke in 1953. He suffered a fatal heart attack while working at his desk on September 9, 1956. Rupert Hughes is buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale in suburban Los Angeles, California.

• The Dozen from Lakerim (1899), New York, The Century Co. • Famous American Composers (1900) • Tommy Rot (1902), co-wrote book for musical • The Biographical Dictionary of Musicians (1903) • The Real New York (1904), New York, The Smart Set Publishing Company, with drawings by Henry Mayer • Excuse Me! (1911), novel • Mrs. Budlong's Christmas Present (1912), short story, New York & London, D Appleton & Company • What Will People Say? (1914), novel, New York, Harper & Brothers • The Last Rose of Summer (1914), novel, New York, Harper & Brothers • We Can't Have Everything! (1917), novel, New York, Harper & Brothers • In a Little Town (1917), 14 short stories, New York, Harper & brothers. • The Cup of Fury, a Novel of Cities and Shipyards (1919), New York, Harper & brothers • Within These Walls (1923) • Destiny (1925), novel • The Facts About Puritan Morals (1926) • The Old Home Town (1925) • George Washington: The Human Being and the Hero (1926) • We Live but Once: (1927) novel, New York, Harper & Brothers • Washington 1789—1933 Roosevelt, article from Cosmopolitan March (1933) • Attorney for the People: The Story of Thomas E. Dewey (1940), Boston, Houghton Mifflin • The Complete Detective (1950) • The Triumphant Clay (1951), novel • The War of the Mayan King (1952, his final novel) • The Love Affairs of Great Musicians, Volume 1 and Volume 2 Hughes wrote and directed the silent film Reno (1923). His short story "The Mobilization of Johanna" was filmed as Johanna Enlists (1918). His "Don't Call Me Madame" was filmed as Tillie and Gus (1933). Another one of his stories was filmed as Miss Fane's Baby Is Stolen (1934).