Mike Hodges
Hodges in 2015
Born	Michael Tommy Hodges (1932-07-29)29 July 1932 Bristol, England
Died	17 December 2022(2022-12-17) (aged 90) Dorset, England
Occupation(s)	Film director, screenwriter, television director
Years active	1968–2003
Spouses	Jean Alexandrov ​ ​ (m. 1962; div. 1984)​ Carol Laws ​ (m. 2004)​
Children	2

Michael Tommy Hodges (29 July 1932 – 17 December 2022) was a British screenwriter, film and television director, playwright and novelist. His films as writer/director includeGet Carter (1971),Pulp (1972),The Terminal Man (1974) andBlack Rainbow (1989). He co-wrote and was the original director onDamien: Omen II. As director, his films includeFlash Gordon (1980) andCroupier (1998).

Hodges was born in Bristol on 29 July 1932, and was raised inSalisbury andBath.^[1][2] He qualified as a chartered accountant and spent two years ofnational service on the lower deck of aRoyal Navyminesweeper.^[3]

Hodges found a job in British television as ateleprompter operator. The job allowed him to observe the workings of the studios, and gave him time to start writing scripts.^[1] One of these scripts wasSome Will Cry Murder, written for ABC'sArmchair Theatre series. Although never performed, it served to get him enough writing commissions to quit his job as a technician.^{[citation needed]}

After that, Hodges quickly progressed to producer/director status, with series such asSunday Break forABC Television,World in Action^[4] forGranada Television and the arts programmesTempo^[5] andNew Tempo forThames Television. He wrote, directed and produced two filmed thrillers,Suspect (1969) andRumour (1970), again for Thames Television. These films formed the basis for the creation ofEuston Films, the influential television production company that continued into the 1980s. These two films also led to Hodges being asked to write and directGet Carter (1971), which has been described as "one of the great British gangster films of all time."^[6] Hodges worked withCarter starMichael Caine again inPulp (1972), before proceeding to make films such as theMichael Crichton adaptationThe Terminal Man (1974) and the space operaFlash Gordon (1980). Some of Hodges' later films includeA Prayer for the Dying (1987),Croupier (1998) andI'll Sleep When I'm Dead (2003).^[1]

Interspersed with Hodges's cinema work are some critically successful television films, includingThe Manipulators (1973),Squaring The Circle (1984; scripted byTom Stoppard),Dandelion Dead (1994; scripted byMichael Chaplin), andThe Healer (1994; scripted byG. F. Newman).^[7] Hodges also collaborated on the English language version ofFederico Fellini'sAnd the Ship Sails On (1983).^[8]

Hodges wrote and narrated the biographical documentaryAll At Sea, which was in post production in 2022.^{[citation needed]}

Hodges's theatre plays includedSoft Shoe Shuffle (1985) andShooting Stars and Other Heavenly Pursuits (2000), which was adapted forBBC radio. Other radio plays includedKing Trash (2004). His first novel,Watching The Wheels Come Off, was published first in French by Rivagse/Noir (Quand Tout Se Fait La Malle) in 2009 then in English in 2010. In 2018 his trio of novellas ('Bait', 'Grist' & 'Security') was published by Unbound.^{[citation needed]}

Hodges was married twice. His first marriage was to Jean Alexandrov; they had two sons and later divorced.^[1] He then married Carol Laws.^[2]

Hodges died from heart failure at his home inDorset on 17 December 2022, at the age of 90.^[1][9]

Hodges was awarded the degree of 'Doctor of Letters' by theUniversity of the West of England, Bristol in 2005.^{[citation needed]}

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• The Tyrant King (1968)
• Rumour (1969)
• Suspect (1970)
• The Manipulators (1972)
• Missing Pieces (1982)
• Squaring the Circle (1984)
• The Hitchhiker season 3, episode 4: "W.G.O.D." (1985)
• Florida Straits (1986)
• Dandelion Dead (1994)
• The Healer (1994)
• Murder by Numbers (2001 – documentary)

• Steven Paul Davies:Get Carter And Beyond: The Cinema of Mike Hodges, Batsford, 2003,ISBN 0-7134-8790-9
• Douglas Keesey:Neo-Noir: Contemporary Film Noir From Chinatown to The Dark Knight Kamera Books, 2010,ISBN 978-1-84243-311-9
• Steve Chibnall & Robert Murphy:British Crime Cinema, Routledge, 1999,ISBN 978-0-415-16870-0
• Steve Chibnall:Get Carter (British Film Guides #6), I.B. Tauris, 2003,ISBN 978-1-86064-910-3
• Geoff Mayer:Guide to British Cinema (Reference Guides to the World's Cinema) Greenwood Press, 2003ISBN 978-0-313-30307-4
• Interview with Mike Hodges
• Interview with Mike Hodges 2000
• The Telegraph, Film-makers on film-Mike Hodges 2004
• The National: Get Carter turns 40
• Interview with Mike Hodges 2010
• The Michael Klinger Papers; Interview with Mike Hodges by Tony Klinger and Andrew Spicer

• Mike Hodges atIMDb
• Mike Hodges discography atDiscogs
• Interview at The Guardian
• Interview by Dan Lybarger

• 1932 births
• 2022 deaths
• 20th-century Royal Navy personnel
• British film directors
• British male screenwriters
• British television directors
• Deaths from congestive heart failure
• Film people from Bristol
• Military personnel from Bristol
• People from Salisbury
• Royal Navy sailors
• Science fiction film directors

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• Short description matches Wikidata
• EngvarB from September 2013
• Use dmy dates from December 2022
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• Articles with unsourced statements from December 2022
• Articles with unsourced statements from December 2024
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