Many people know about Howard Hughes, America's first billionaire. He was an aviation engineer, an Oscar-winning motion picture producer and director, and a hotel and casino owner in Las Vegas and Reno, with seven establishments. He built the biggest airplane in the world at the time-known as the Spruce Goose-and the Glormar Explorer supership for the CIA. He owned RKO Motion Picture Studios in Hollywood, as well as tens of thousands of acres in California, Nevada, and Texas.

Fewer people, however, know the Howard Hughes of the neon world of Las Vegas in the 1970s. Reclusive and...

Many people know about Howard Hughes, America's first billionaire. He was an aviation engineer, an Oscar-winning motion picture producer and director, and a hotel and casino owner in Las Vegas and Reno, with seven establishments. He built the biggest airplane in the world at the time-known as the Spruce Goose-and the Glormar Explorer supership for the CIA. He owned RKO Motion Picture Studios in Hollywood, as well as tens of thousands of acres in California, Nevada, and Texas.

Fewer people, however, know the Howard Hughes of the neon world of Las Vegas in the 1970s. Reclusive and...