Conrad Nicholson Hilton Jr. (July 6, 1926 – February 5, 1969) was an American

socialite A socialite is a person from a wealthy and (possibly) aristocratic background, who is prominent in high society. A socialite generally spends a significant amount of time attending various fashionable social gatherings, instead of having traditio ...

, hotel heir, and businessman. He was the eldest son of Hilton Hotels founder

Conrad Hilton Conrad Nicholson Hilton Sr. (December 25, 1887 – January 3, 1979) was an American businessman who founded the Hilton Hotels chain. From 1912 to 1916 Hilton was a Republican representative in the first New Mexico Legislature, but became disil ...

and the first husband of actress

Elizabeth Taylor Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor (February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011) was a British-American actress. She began her career as a child actress in the early 1940s and was one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 1950s. ...

Life and career

Conrad Hilton Jr. was born in Dallas, Texas. His father,

, was the founder of Hilton Hotels, and his mother was Mary Adelaide Barron. Hilton grew up with three younger siblings: William Barron Hilton, Eric Michael Hilton and

Constance Francesca Hilton Constance Francesca Gabor Hilton (March 10, 1947 – January 5, 2015) was an actress and comedian who was the only child of Hilton Hotels founder Conrad Hilton and his second wife, actress and socialite Zsa Zsa Gabor. Early life and family H ...

. He is the great-uncle of Paris Hilton and Nicky Hilton. Growing up he did not take interest in the family business and he dropped out of Loyola University in Los Angeles to join the Navy. His father enrolled him at École hôtelière de Lausanne in Lausanne, Switzerland but he was suspended after six months. In his later years, he was a director and chairman of the executive committee of the Hilton International Company. Hilton died at the age of 42 from a sudden heart attack due to alcoholism on February 5, 1969. His funeral was held at St. Paul's Church in Los Angeles. He is interred in

Holy Cross Cemetery Holy Cross Cemetery may refer to: United States California *Holy Cross Cemetery (Colma, California) *Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City, California * Holy Cross Cemetery (Menlo Park, California) * Holy Cross Cemetery (Pomona, California) *Holy C ...

Culver City, California Culver City is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,779. Founded in 1917 as a "whites only" sundown town, it is now an ethnically diverse city with what was called the "third-most d ...

Personal life

Hilton had an affair with his stepmother, Zsa Zsa Gabor, in 1944, according to claims made by Gabor after his death. In October 1949, Hilton met

at Mocambo nightclub in Los Angeles. The couple were married at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Beverly Hills on May 6, 1950. They had a tempestuous 8-month marriage due to his gambling, drinking, heroin addiction, and abusive behavior." During one of his violent outbursts, Hilton kicked Taylor in the stomach and caused her to have a

miscarriage Miscarriage, also known in medical terms as a spontaneous abortion and pregnancy loss, is the death of an embryo or fetus before it is able to survive independently. Miscarriage before 6 weeks of gestation is defined by ESHRE as biochemical lo ...

. Taylor announced their separation in December 1950; she was granted a divorce on grounds of mental cruelty on January 29, 1951. In September 1951, actress Betsy von Furstenberg announced her engagement to Hilton but they never wed. Hilton gained a reputation for being a playboy and becoming violent when he was intoxicated. In May 1954, Hilton was arrested on a drunk charge. Hilton dated various actresses such as Terry Moore, Mamie Van Doren, Arlene Solof, and Jeanne Carmen. In 1957, he dated actresses Natalie Wood and Joan Collins. Shortly after, he dated Mexican actress Silvia Pinal, whom he met at the opening of a hotel in

Acapulco Acapulco de Juárez (), commonly called Acapulco ( , also , nah, Acapolco), is a city and major seaport in the state of Guerrero on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, south of Mexico City. Acapulco is located on a deep, semicircular bay and has bee ...

. In 1958, Hilton married Patricia McClintock, an oil heiress from

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

. They had two sons, Conrad Nicholson Hilton III and Michael Otis Hilton. Their marriage deteriorated as Hilton came addicted to the sleeping pill Seconal and mixed it with hard liquor. McClintock filed for divorce from Hilton on February 10, 1964, which was granted in 1965.

Life and career

Personal life

References

Further reading