Cyril Walter Hodges
Cyril Walter Hodges was a British illustrator, designer, and author born in 1909 in Beckenham, Kent, England. He began his creative journey at a young age, writing unproduced works while studying at Dunwich College and later at Goldsmith's College of Art. His early career included roles as a costume and scenery designer at the Everyman Theatre and work in an advertising agency, but he achieved significant recognition after being commissioned by Radio Times Magazine for over six hundred illustrations over four decades. In 1936, he married ballet dancer Greta Becker and moved to New York, where he wrote and illustrated his first book, "Columbus Sails," in 1939. After World War II, Hodges returned to London and continued to explore his passion for Shakespeare, winning the prestigious Kate Greenaway Medal in 1964 for his work "Shakespeare's Theatre." He also contributed to art education as a professor at Brighton Polytechnic and illustrated notable books throughout his career. His final published work came in 1999, just before the passing of his wife, and he lived in England until his death in late 2004.
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Cyril Walter Hodges
Writer
- Born: March 18, 1909
- Birthplace: Beckenham, Kent, England
- Died: November 26, 2004
- Place of death: Moretonhampstead, Devon, England
Biography
Cyril Walter Hodges was born in Beckenham, Kent, England, in 1909. At the age of ten, he began writing a series of books titled Walks in Our Museums, which were never published. He was educated at Dunwich College.
In 1925, Hodges was accepted at Goldsmith’s College of Art. He studied there for three years before his took his first position as a costume and scenery designer at the Everyman Theatre in Hampstead, England. Unfortunately, the work at the theater was not bringing in enough money to survive, so he took a job at an advertising agency. In 1931, Hodges caught his first big break, and began to make a name for himself as an illustrator. Radio Times Magazine commissioned more than six hundred illustrations from Hodges in the following forty years.
In 1936, Hodges met and married Greta Becker, a ballet dancer. The couple moved to New York shortly after their marriage. The two would go on to have two sons. While living in New York, Hodges wrote and illustrated his first book, Columbus Sails, in 1939.
After World War II, Hodges and his wife returned to London. He took a position as a designer for the Mermaid Theatre, which would be known later as London’s Puddle Dock Theatre. While in London, Hodges spent time studying the life and work of Elizabethan playwright William Shakespeare. In 1964, Hodges won the Kate Greenaway Medal for Shakespeare’s Theatre, one of his many books on the playwright.
Aside from writing about Shakespeare, Hodges took a job as a professor for the Brighton Polytechnic School of Art and Design in the late 1950’s, and illustrated a number of different books, including Rosemary Sutclif’s The Eagle of the Ninth in 1970. His last published work was Enter the Whole Army: A Pictorial Study of Shakespearean Staging, 1576-1616 in 1999. That same year, Hodges’s wife died. Hodges himself remained in England until his death in late 2004.