# Merton Hodge > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Merton_Hodge > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Merton_Hodge.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merton_Hodge > Source revision: 1343535563 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|New Zealand playwright, actor and medical practitioner}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}}{{Use New Zealand English|date=May 2025}} {{Infobox person | name = Merton Hodge | image = | image_size = | alt = | caption = | birth_name = Horace Emerton Hodge | birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1903|3|28}} | birth_place = [Taruheru](/source/Taruheru), [Poverty Bay](/source/Poverty_Bay), New Zealand | death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1958|10|9|1903|3|28}} | death_place = [Dunedin](/source/Dunedin), New Zealand | other_names = | known_for = | occupation = actor, medical practitioner, playwright }} '''Horace Emerton Hodge''' (28 March 1903 – 9 October 1958), known as '''Merton Hodge''' was a [playwright](/source/playwright), [actor](/source/actor) and [medical practitioner](/source/medical_practitioner).{{Cite web |last=McLintock |first=Alexander |date=10 October 1958 |title=HODGE, Horace Emerton |url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/1966/hodge-horace-emerton |access-date=11 April 2024 |website=Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand}} ==Life== Hodge was born in [Taruheru](/source/Taruheru), [Poverty Bay](/source/Poverty_Bay), New Zealand. His father was a farmer named Alfred Hodge. He studied at [Kings College](/source/King's_College%2C_Auckland) in [Auckland](/source/Auckland) and later attended The [University of Otago](/source/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](/source/United_Kingdom) and underwent postgraduate studies at the [University of Edinburgh](/source/University_of_Edinburgh).{{Cite web |title=Hodge, Horace Emerton, 1903-1958 |url=https://natlib.govt.nz/records/22396598 |access-date=2024-04-11 |website=National Library of New Zealand}} After a stint in [New York](/source/New_York_City) working in theatre, Hodge returned to [London](/source/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](/source/Dunedin), New Zealand in 1952. Hodge is believed to have married Kathleen Rutherford.{{Cite news |date=11 October 1958 |title=Obituary - Dr H.E. Hodge |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19581011.2.87 |access-date=11 April 2024 |work=The Press |pages=11}} However, some sources dispute this.{{Cite journal |date=1958-11-01 |title=Obituary: CHARLES M. FRIER, M.B., C.M |journal=British Medical Journal |volume=2 |issue=5104 |pages=1110–1111 |issn=0007-1447 |pmc=2026881}} Hodge ended his life by [drowning](/source/drowning) on 9 October 1958, aged 54. ==Plays== Hodge is best known for his comedy ''[The Wind and the Rain](/source/The_Wind_and_the_Rain_(play))'', which was performed 1,001 times, from 1933, at [St. Martin's Theatre](/source/St._Martin's_Theatre) in London's West End, and six months in 1934 at the Ritz Theatre on New York's Broadway,[https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/the-wind-and-the-rain-11555 "''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](/source/Sybil_Thorndike), Globe Theatre, 1935; * ''Men in White'' (anglicised version of the play by [Sidney Kingsley](/source/Sidney_Kingsley)), Lyric Theatre, 1935; * ''The Orchard Walls'', St James Theatre, 1937; * ''The Island'', written with actor [Godfrey Tearle](/source/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== {{reflist}} ==External links== * Hodge's personal papers are held by the '''Alexander Turnbull Library''' [https://web.archive.org/web/20040805063500/http://tapuhi.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/spydus/MSG/ARCHIVESNR/index.html], Wellington, New Zealand * {{IMDb name|1656278}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Hodge, Merton}} Category:1903 births Category:1958 suicides Category:1958 deaths Category:New Zealand male stage actors Category:University of Otago alumni Category:Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Category:New Zealand male dramatists and playwrights Category:Suicides in New Zealand Category:Suicides by drowning Category:20th-century New Zealand dramatists and playwrights Category:20th-century New Zealand male actors Category:20th-century New Zealand male writers Category:20th-century New Zealand medical doctors --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Merton Hodge](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merton_Hodge) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merton_Hodge?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.