Max Hodge (February 12, 1916 – August 17, 2007)MAX HODGE (1916-2007), Social Security Death Index
/ref> was an American

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

writer who worked on shows including '' The Girl From U.N.C.L.E.'', ''

CHiPS ''CHiPs'' is an American crime drama television series created by Rick Rosner and originally aired on NBC from September 15, 1977, to May 1, 1983. After the final first-run telecast on NBC in May 1983, the series went into reruns on Sundays fr ...

'' and '' Mission: Impossible'', and is perhaps best known for creating

Mr. Freeze Mr. Freeze is the name of two supervillains appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Dave Wood and artists Sheldon Moldoff and Bob Kane, the character initially debuted in ''Batman'' #121 (February 1959) as Mr. ...

for ''

Batman Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...

''. Hodge grew up in

East Moline, Illinois East Moline is a city in Rock Island County, Illinois, United States. The population was 21,374 at the 2020 census. East Moline is one of the Quad Cities at the confluence of the Rock and Mississippi rivers, along with neighboring Moline and ...

and

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

, later graduating from the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

then enlisting in the

Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He then attended Pasadena Playhouse College of Theater Arts and began his television career in the 1950s as a producer working on industrial shows for

Oldsmobile Oldsmobile (formally the Oldsmobile Division of General Motors) was a brand of American automobiles, produced for most of its existence by General Motors. Originally established as "Olds Motor Vehicle Company" by Ransom E. Olds in 1897, it produc ...

. In his time at University of Michigan- Ann Arbor, Hodge was chief editor of the student magazine the Gargoyle and president of the men's dramatic union, the Mimes. His writing career spanned the 1960s through the early 1980s, with Hodge writing for '' Dr. Kildare'', ''

The Wild Wild West ''The Wild Wild West'' is an American Western (genre), Western, spy film, spy, and science fiction on television, science fiction television series that ran on the CBS television network for four seasons from September 17, 1965, to April 11, 19 ...

'', '' Marcus Welby, M.D.'', '' Ironside'', ''

The Waltons ''The Waltons'' is an American historical drama television series about a family in rural mountainous Western Virginia of the Appalachian Mountains / Allegheny Mountains / Blue Ridge Mountains chain, during the economic hardships and mass unemp ...

'', ''

The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan ''The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''The Amazing Chan Clan'') is an American animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, animated by Eric Porter Studios in Australia and broadcast on CBS from ...

'' in addition to the aforementioned ''ChiPS'', ''Mission: Impossible'', ''The Girl From U.N.C.L.E.'' and ''Batman''. He also served as an associate producer on ''The Girl From U.N.C.L.E.'' Hodge is credited for creating Mr. Freeze for the ''Batman'' show, having taken the existing

comic character Mr. Zero which was created by

Bob Kane Robert Kane ( Kahn ; October 24, 1915 – November 3, 1998) was an American comic book writer, animator, and artist who created Batman and many early related characters for DC Comics. He was inducted into the comic book industry's Jack Kirby ...

and modifying elements to him. Mr. Zero first appeared in ''

'' #121 in February 1959, but Hodge took the character and introduced the trademark ice suit which he needed to survive, first appearing in the ''Deep Freeze'' episode. Mr. Freeze is addressed once as "Dr. Shimel" by Batman in the episode. In the comics, Freeze's other identity became "Art Shivel" (apparently a mishearing of how he was addressed on "Batman"). His name in the comics was later changed to Victor Fries. Hodge died August 17, 2007, in Woodland Hills, California. He was 91 years old. Most of his works, scripts, and related supplemental material(including his script for "Mr.Freeze") were donated to his alma mater and can be found in the Donald Hall Collection of University of Michigan.

Filmography

Films

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hodge, Max 1916 births 2007 deaths University of Michigan alumni American television writers American male television writers People from East Moline, Illinois Screenwriters from Illinois 20th-century American screenwriters 20th-century American male writers United States Navy personnel of World War II