Actress Terry Moore, 94, Says Ex Howard Hughes Did 'Unthinkable Things': 'I Was Too Naive' (Exclusive)
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The actress, now 94, tells PEOPLE about eccentric billionaire Howard Hughes, who died a recluse in 1976
At 94, actress Terry Moore is one of the last surviving actors from Hollywood's golden era.
"I started at 10 years old and never quit," says Moore now starring in Silent Life, a film about the silent screen star Valentino, screening Saturday, April 22, at the USA Film Festival in Dallas. "I have worked longer than anybody else."
Along the way, the actress — who was nominated for an Oscar for her role opposite Burt Lancaster in the 1952 film Come Back Little Sheba — has known many of the biggest legends: Marilyn Monroe (who was "adorable and very sensitive") Elvis Presley (she turned him down for a date because "I knew nothing would ever come of it") and Howard Hughes, the tycoon with whom she fell in love as a young actress.
To this day, Moore remains conflicted about the eccentric billionaire, an aviator and film producer 23 years her senior. He died a recluse in 1976.
"It was very complicated," she tells PEOPLE of their on-and-off relationship that spanned eight years. "It was the first time I was ever in love. [But] I would have been just as happy if it hadn't had happened."
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They first met in the late '40s at a Hollywood restaurant. Moore was a young teenage actress then out with her boyfriend.
"My agent brought him [Hughes] over," recalls Moore over a recent Zoom interview from her Los Angeles home. "We thought it was accidental but nothing was accidental with Howard. It was all set up."
"It developed into a friendship and then into a great love," says Moore. "You can't be more eccentric than he was. Everything was bigger with him."
"He taught me to fly and we spent a lot of time in airplanes," she says. "And he would take me to meet his pilot friends. He was dashing, exciting, adventurous."
"He was the most charming man you could ever find," she recalls of the man who once owned RKO Studios, adding: "He was also a liar. And he did unthinkable things. He did so many things that hurt me. Was he cruel? I guess you could say he was cruel but I didn't know that he was cruel. He was just too much for me to handle. I was too naive."
Looking back, she says, "I think he paid for it in the end. He had a terrible death. He could manipulate so much. I was too young and too innocent."
Hughes died of kidney failure in 1976, leaving behind a fortune of some $1.5 billion. His final years were spent living in various hotels surrounded by a few close aides and shrouded in secrecy. His 6'4" frame had shrunk to a reported 100 lbs.
Moore later claimed they had been married on a ship in 1949 in international waters.
But, to this day she's not sure if it was a valid ceremony. "I don't know if it was," she says. "We got married on a boat by his captain who could marry anyone, but who knows?"
The ceremony was never verified and Hughes reportedly tore up the records. Before long, Moore (who was raised in a strict Mormon faith) returned to live with her mom. In 1957, Hughes married actress Jean Peters. In 1959, Moore married Stuart Cramer with whom she had two sons.
After Hughes's death, a Texas court rejected Moore's claim of marriage. However in 1984, his heirs awarded her an undisclosed financial settlement.
At the time, Moore, who wrote a book about their relationship titled The Beauty and the Billionaire, said it was "not more than eight figures."
Today, she prefers to think of happier times. She reminisces about her long-ago costar Tyrone Powers (he was "so sexy and beautiful") and onetime date James Dean (he was "okay, but not compared to Tyrone Power"), and appreciates a new generation of actors, including Leonard DiCaprio.
She says DiCaprio reached out when he was preparing for his role as Hughes in the 2004 Martin Scorsese film The Aviator. "He called me a few times and he was so nice," she says. "I mean, he was such a sweet boy."
She also got to know Warren Beatty when he made Rules Don't Apply in 2016, a film loosely based on Hughes' life. "I met with him and told him all I could. I let him hear some recordings of Howard and me talking on the phone." Her take? "Warren did a good job."
He still calls, she says, along with a few other old Hollywood pals such as Robert Wagner and Angie Dickinson.
Moore is excited about her new film Silent Life, which recently won the Independent Spirit Award at the Sedona International Film Festival and will continue on the festival circuit. In the film, she plays the "Lady in Black," an unidentified woman who brought a red rose to Valentino's grave every year on the anniversary of his death.
"I felt I had to do this part," says Moore.
Silent Life director Vladislav Kozlov says, "Terry plays the Lady in Black, who loves someone who doesn't love her back but she keeps that love all of her life. This is who Terry is. She loved someone who didn't love her back."
"She's the oldest working actor to play the lead part in a feature film," adds Kozlov, who's also making a short documentary about Moore's life. "Before her was Lillian Gish when she was 93. Terry recorded her voiceover at 94. She's a trouper. She's a strong woman."
"Feel great," says Moore says. "My health is wonderful. I love to watch movies and exercise and read." She recently watched the film Elvis starring Austin Butler. "I loved it," she says. "Elvis was a friend. I've had such an amazing and interesting life."
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