THE WASHINGTON POST Towkr. APrila. 1976 1313: Jack Anderson and .1,s Whitten ughes Loved But One Sources close to the late Ifoivaid While Hughes closeted himself in his Hughes agree on at least one thing: bedroom, Jean tried to behave like a Jean Pete= vasas the only woman he normal housewife. One Sunday, she dis- ever loved and probably the only patched an aide to buy a mop so she woman who ever loved him. could tidy up behind the servants. But The brooding billionaire met her, ac- the billionaire's wife had no money. cording to our sources, at a party in the The aide had to borrow. $5 from a late 1940s. As she burst into stardom, friend to buy it. Hughes rassigned a bodyguard-spy to ■ Because of Hughes' reclusiveness, stick close to her when her film work Jean also became shut off from the took her away from Hollywood. world. For awhile, her relatives would This constant companion reported. ,visit, and invariably would want to back to Hughes how the actress spent meet "Uncle Howard." But Hughes her time. Sometimes, she would step, 'would never see them. out with other stars such as Joseph Cot- Jean Peters finally obtained a di. ten and Marilyn Monroe. More often,: vorce from Hughes in 1970 after 13 she would stay in her room and work years of marriage. By remaining hif on crossword puzzles. wife, she could have claimed a large Our sources say Jean Peters was an- share of his multibillion-dollar fortune noyed over the Hughes watchdog and today. the stage whispers he generated. But But those who know the actress say the billionaire insisted that the security she wanted to live her own life and was man stay at her side. happy to settle for a $150,000 home and In the mid-1950s, a man named Stuart 450,000 a year alimony for life. She has Cramer sat down next to her on an air- now settled down to a quiet life with liner. They became friends and were aher third husband, Stan Hough, in the married. Los Angeles environs, Far off in Miami, holed up in the old, 'Report Denied Columbus Hotel, Hughes continued to keep watch on the attractive actress. Anaalated Pres! Once he dispatched a security man to • Commerce Secretary Elliott L. Ri- observe the Cramers on a fishing chardson termed ridiculous a report that he initiated a leak of confidential cruise. information while Under Secretary of . It turned out to be a short, Hollywood. State six years ago in order to get Presi- marriage, lasting only about a month. dent Nixon's attention, a Commerce About two years later, Jean Peters ab- Department spokesman said. nandoned her acting career, became • Jack Anderson and Les Whitten re- Mrs. Howard Hughes and disappeared ported last Thursday that a Pentagon into his shadowy world. investigation quoted a termer Richard- Our sources caught fleeting glimpses Son aide as saying that he leaked confi- dential information to Daniel Ellsberg of their strange life together. They at Richardson's orders. leased a home. for example, in Bel Air, Calif. But before Hughes selected the The former Richardson aide, Charles house, he ordered round-the-clock M. Cooke Jr.. was quoted in the Penta- gon report as saying "Richardson ap- guards to keep people out of six pro- parently desired a leak of this data to spective mansions. They remained focus President Nixon's attention in it, empty for three months until Hughes !which he had been unable to do," An- was satisfied that they were germ-free. derson reported. .