The 1927 action film Wings was the only silent film to win the Academy
Award for Best Picture.

Alton Glenn Miller (March 1, 1904 – MIA on December 15, 1944) 

The Swing bandleader, composer, and arranger went Missing in Action 
while on plane flight when performing for U.S. troops in France during
World War II.

Miller was a passenger in plane similar to the above UC-64 Norseman

Army Captain  Miller

Conrad was a recording artist of pop/rock songs in the early 1960s as
Bob Conrad before he began his acting career. He has hosted a weekly
two hour national radio show (The PM Show with Robert Conrad) on CRN
Digital Talk Radio.

The Wild Wild West was on NBC television from 1965 to 1969

The NBC series aired from 1976 to 1978

  A United Airlines Douglas DC-8-71

The Douglas DC-8 of United Airlines Flight 173, similar to above, was en route from Denver to Portland International Airport on Wednesday, Dec. 28, 1978. An alarm indicating a landing gear malfunction forced the plane to circle the Portland area 
while the problem was investigated by the crew. The big jet ran out fuel within an
hour and crash landed in a sparsely populated area near 157th and East Burnside, 
killing 10 and seriously injuring 24 of the 189 passengers who were aboard the jet..

   Howard Robard Hughes, Jr. (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976)

Hughes was a industrial magnate, investor, aviator, aerospace engineer,
and maverick film producer who was also one of the wealthiest people 
in the world. He became a Las Vegas recluse before his death due to
kidney failure.

The Hughes H-4 Hercules with Howard Hughes at the controls

 
     April 19, 1976 cover of TIME magazine