Melvin and Howard was a 1980 movie directed by Jonathan Demme and written by Bo Goldman, based upon the claims of Utah service station owner Melvin Dummar concerning a purported will written by Howard Hughes, leaving Dummar 1/16th of his $2 billion estate, which would have amounted to $156 million. Dummar claimed that Hughes bestowed the $156 million to him after Dummar picked him up as a lost hitchhiker late one evening in December 1968 and at Hughes's request, drove him to the Sands hotel-casino in Las Vegas, but the subsequent legal proceedings found his claims to be false. Notable performers in the film are Jason Robards as Hughes, Paul LeMat as Melvin Dummar and Mary Steenburgen who later won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role as Dummar's first wife, Lynda. 1980 is a leap year starting on Tuesday. ... Jonathan Demme (born February 22, 1944 in Baldwin, New York) is an American film director, producer and writer. ... Melvin Dummar was the man who claimed that in 1968 he had picked up the reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes late one night along a desolate dirt road in the Nevada desert. ... Howard Robard Hughes, Jr. ... 1968 was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1968 calendar). ... Jason Robards, Jr. ... Mary Steenburgen (born February 8, 1953) is an American actress. ...

External links

• Melvin and Howard at the Internet Movie Database