Merton Hodge

Horace Emerton Hodge (28 March 1903 – 9 October 1958), known as Merton Hodge was a playwright, actor and medical practitioner.

Life

Hodge was born in Taruheru, Poverty Bay, New Zealand. His father was a farmer named Alfred Hodge. He studied at Kings College in Auckland and later attended The University of Otago to study medicine in 1925. During his time at university, Hodge developed an interest in performing arts and was a member of the University Dramatic Society. He wrote a play for the society that later became ''The Wind and the Rain''.

Hodge graduated from the University of Otago in 1928 (M.B., Ch.B). He briefly worked at Wellington Public Hospital as a casualty officer and also as a doctor aboard the 'Port Pirie' ship. In 1931, Hodge arrived in the United Kingdom and underwent postgraduate studies at the University of Edinburgh.

After a stint in New York working in theatre, Hodge returned to London in 1939 and worked for Camberwell Hospital for Nervous Diseases. He later toured with ENSA before resuming medicine in 1948. Hodge relocated from London to Dunedin, New Zealand in 1952.

Hodge is believed to have married Kathleen Rutherford. However, some sources dispute this.

Hodge ended his life by drowning on 9 October 1958, aged 54.

Plays

Hodge is best known for his comedy '' The Wind and the Rain'', which was performed 1,001 times, from 1933, at St. Martin's Theatre in London's West End, and six months in 1934 at the Ritz Theatre on New York's Broadway,"''The Wind and the Rain''"
IBDB, accessed 16 August 2021 toured the world and was translated into nine languages.

Plays produced in London:
* ''The Wind and the Rain'', St Martin's Theatre, 1933–1935;
* ''Grief Goes Over'' which starred Sybil Thorndike, Globe Theatre, 1935;
* ''Men in White'' (anglicised version of the play by Sidney Kingsley), Lyric Theatre, 1935;
* ''The Orchard Walls'', St James Theatre, 1937;
* ''The Island'', written with actor Godfrey Tearle, Comedy Theatre, 1938;
* ''The Story of An African Farm'', New Theatre (from Olive Schreiner's novel), 1938;
* ''To Whom We Belong'', Q Theatre, 1939;
* ''Once There Was Music'', Q Theatre, 1942;

Recordings

* ''My Life in the Theatre'', series for overseas broadcast for British Broadcasting Service.

Publications

The plays ''The Wind and the Rain'', ''Grief Goes Over'', ''Men in White, ''The Island'', ''The Story of An African Farm'' and a novelised version of ''The Wind and the Rain'', 1936.

References

External links

* Hodge's personal papers are held by the Alexander Turnbull Library''

Wellington, New Zealand
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hodge, Merton
1903 births
1958 suicides
1958 deaths
New Zealand male stage actors
University of Otago alumni
Alumni of the University of Edinburgh
New Zealand male dramatists and playwrights
Suicides in New Zealand
Suicides by drowning
20th-century New Zealand dramatists and playwrights
20th-century New Zealand male actors
20th-century New Zealand male writers
20th-century New Zealand medical doctors