The Howard Hughes I knew began to change after his plane crash in 1941.

Gene Tierney is reflecting on a perceived turning point in Howard Hughes’s personality and behavior, linking it to a traumatic aviation accident. The remark suggests that the Hughes she “knew” (personally or socially) was altered by the physical and psychological aftermath of the crash—injury, pain, and the long-term effects of trauma—implying a before-and-after divide in his temperament and habits. In a broader sense, the quote underscores how catastrophic events can reshape identity and relationships: the speaker’s memory of a person becomes anchored to a single incident that explains later estrangement, eccentricity, or withdrawal. It also hints at the limits of intimacy with a public figure whose private life became increasingly guarded.