Conrad Nicholson "Nicky"Hilton Jr. (July 6, 1926 – February 5, 1969) was an American socialite, hotel heir, and businessman. He was the eldest son of Hilton Hotels founder Conrad 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.[2] His father enrolled him at École hôtelière de Lausanne in Lausanne, Switzerland but he was suspended after six months.[3][4] In 1951, he became the vice president of the Hilton Corporation and manager of the Bel Air Hotel.[5][6] In his later years, he was a director and chairman of the executive committee of the Hilton International Company.[7]
Hilton dated various Hollywood starlets and gained a reputation for being a playboy.[9]
Hilton had an affair with his stepmother, Zsa Zsa Gabor, according to claims made by Gabor after his death.[10] Gabor stated in her 1991 autobiography One Lifetime Is Not Enough, that their affair began when her marriage to Hilton's father was on the rocks and ended during his marriage to Elizabeth Taylor.[11]
In October 1949, Hilton met Taylor at the Mocambo nightclub in Los Angeles.[12] The couple were married in a highly publicized ceremony at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Beverly Hills on May 6, 1950.[13][14] They had a tempestuous eight-month marriage due to his gambling, drinking, heroin addiction, and abusive behavior.[3][15][16] During one of his violent outbursts, Hilton kicked Taylor in the stomach and caused her to have a miscarriage.[17][18][19] Taylor announced their separation in December 1950;[20] she was granted a divorce on grounds of mental cruelty on January 29, 1951.[12]
In September 1951, actress Betsy von Furstenberg announced her engagement to Hilton.[21][22] They planned to marry the following spring but they were never married.[23]
In 1958, Hilton married Patricia McClintock, an oil heiress from Oklahoma. They had two sons, Conrad Nicholson Hilton III and Michael Otis Hilton.[33] Their marriage deteriorated as Hilton became addicted to the sleeping pill Seconal and mixed it with hard liquor.[3] McClintock sued for divorce on February 10, 1964.[34] She charged Hilton with "causing her extreme mental and physical suffering" but they later reconciled.[35] In August 1967, McClintock filed for divorce again, accusing Hilton of "repeated acts and threats of violence."[36] The divorce was never granted but they were separated at the time of Hilton's death.[37]