MILTON BODE


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Picture of Milton Bode

Milton Bode, born William Ernest Bode. Click here to read about Milton's family.

"Bode represented big business in the world of the provincial theatre .. he was more of the hard-headed man of business than his predecessors .. [not] the type of man to be content with a single theatre, nor yet a couple of them. He was ambitious, systematic, calculating and perhaps even ruthless"
"The Mackenzies called Compton" by Lou WARWICK

"He was a very odd man with a very loud voice and a most overpowering manner - and beneath his rather terrifying methods was a heart of gold"
"Shirt fronts and sables" by Walter James MACQUEEN-POPE

"All who intimately knew Milton Bode, his goodness of heart curiously hidden behind strange mannerisms, and his constant help for the poor and needy, will mourn his death"
Frank COUCH (obituary in The Stage)

"his genial - and on occasions, rather dominant - personality..."
"had an extremely generous disposition, and did many good works in a quiet way. Behind his somewhat brusque exterior was a heart of gold and many people have cause to be thankful to him for generous help in difficult times"
Obituary in TMA Journal

"I can picture Bode now, in his tightly fitting Chesterfield overcoat & jaunty bowler hat, wearing lavender gloves & with a large carnation in his button-hole. He has a narrow outlook, a wide vocabulary & a high-pitched voice"
Clarkson ROSE

"There was a small stage and theatre within Cliffe House…the scene of some pretty wild parties in its heyday”
He frequented the Caversham Bridge Hotel (on opposite side of Thames from Cliffe House) with a friend and would call for his butler to pick them up by rowing boat.
A.”Joe” George (member of Reading Forum

“He adored animals and birds – he actually presented a bird bath to Monte Carlo – and campaigned against all people whom he suspected of ill-treating birds or beasts – especially those who trained performing animals. Let a friend of acquaintance have such a troupe in a pantomime and a postcard immediately come from Bode: ‘I see you’ve got animals in the panto, you cruel b___. Stop it at once!”
"Shirt fronts and sables" by Walter James MACQUEEN-POPE