George Hodel

**Dr. George Hodel** is an infamous gynecologist involved in the darkest Hollywood debauchery.

He is a major character in ‘I Am the Night’ and is portrayed by Jefferson Mays.

## Official Description

"*A former child prodigy, now a brilliant doctor who entertained and inspired a Hollywood salon of the avant-garde in the 40’s until a scandal broke and sent his famous friends scurrying.*"

## Character Overview

George Hodel is the scion of an elite American family. From an early age he is encouraged to refine his artistic skills such as playing the piano and painting. Like Hodel he has many open doors in society. He excelled in medical studies and became so famous that he became the personal physician to many Californian film stars. However, George also develops other inclinations - he is a sadist who takes perverse pleasure in mutilating and sexually abusing women.

This macabre secret is partially exposed when his own daughter Tamar accuses him of sexual abuse. The court dismisses the accusations and the fourteen years old girl is deemed to be of unsound mind and to have acted in this way out of teenage rebellion. George then returns free to practise despite the scandal affecting his reputation. During this period he separates from his wife Corinna Harrington whilst Tamar, who is pregnant, disappears into thin air.

A reporter tries to link Hodel to the murder of Elizabeth Short reported in the newspapers as the Black Dahlia case, but is unsuccessful because of George's high connections. This allows George to commit other murders till he sets his eyes on Tamar's daughter.

## Biography

In 1917, little George Hodel plays the piano under the watchful eye of the tutor. He is not convinced of the child's artistic abilities no matter what his mother says. Hearing this, George is seized with anger and even has a vision of a bull at the top of the stairs.

The George Hodel Trial

Los Angeles, 1945. George Hodel hosts an orgy at Sowden House. Together with four guests he sexually abuses a group of masked women wearing only negligees. His young daughter Tamar spies on them hidden behind a wall, but George is so aware of her presence that he catches his daughter's attention by playing peek-a-boo. George then has sexual intercourse with one of the masked women - so that they are anonymous sex objects - while maintaining eye contact with his daughter. The situation worsens and the men become violent. One of the women is hooded and her clothing is cut off. George then puts on a bull mask and rapes her.

Los Angeles, 1949. The George Hodel Trial is taking place. A psychiatrist is called to the stand to dismiss Tamar Hodel's charges against her father. He believes the girl is in the grip of delusions of grandeur and youthful rebellion prone to unfounded fantasies. Diagnosing her as a 'hysterical nymphomaniac' despite her tender age of fourteen, the psychiatrist states that these mental disorders go back much further when she was eleven years old, as testified by George Hodel himself. He goes on, bringing in a 'psychosexual competition' with her stepmother in what is called the Electra complex.

With all this medical evidence on the defense side, the judge closes the case in George Hodel's favor. Despite this, reporters like Jay Singletary believe Tamar's rape allegations against her father and also George Hodel's guilt in unsolved cases like the infamous Black Dahlia case.

Fauna

Los Angeles, California. 1965. George Hodel receives the sudden phone call from a young girl who introduces herself as his long-lost granddaughter Fauna Hodel. Intrigued by the situation, he invites her to visit him in Los Angeles after making sure that she has not contacted her mother.

A few days later, Dr. Hodel meets with Fauna at a bus stop and the two have a brief conversation about the girl's destination before taking separate roads. However, the man doesn't reveal his true identity to her. When the young woman finally arrives in Los Angeles, Dr. Hodel makes himself difficult to reach while attending a party at Sowden House.

George Hodel is with his protégé Sepp at the art gallery. They comment on some impressionist paintings as Fauna, led there by Corinna, spies on them from afar.

George continues to mentor Sepp and visits him at his accommodation. Here the doctor studies the artist's latest work, a cello that resembles the body of a bound woman seen from behind. According to George, Sepp has improved and made a great leap. While Sepp begs him to let him be of a better use for him, Hodel looks at black and white photos of gagged, bound and tortured women used as inspiration. However, Sepp's job is to look for the girl.

At Sowden House, a few nights later, George claims he is not happy that Sepp has lost track of Fauna. However, he is busy with some patients so George cannot openly reproach Sepp. The doctor leads the couple to his office, where he subjects the woman to an illegal abortion.

With Fauna constantly slipping out of his hands, George visits Jimmy Lee, the girl's adoptive mother. He comes out into her kitchen after overhearing her talking to Fauna on the phone. Jimmy Lee offers to make him a steak - she knows he prefers his steak rare. George begins to sharpen a meat knife and closes the back door, confirming the reason behind his visit to the woman. He is not satisfied that Jimmy Lee has let out too many secrets with her daughter and now not only is Fauna working with the reporter Singletary, but they have also killed his protégé. When one of the neighbors knocks on the door, Jimmy Lee throws the pan with the fried oil at George but he manages to dodge it. Since the woman has attracted the neighbors' attention, he savagely stabs her and leaves her in a pool of blood.

George finally manages to meet Fauna through the intervention of his ex-wife Corinna. The woman drugged the girl, leaving her at George's mercy. George takes the girl's vital values, judging her as healthy as a horse. While George goes on to do small talk, Fauna confronts him about what is being argued by Tamar and Jay Singletary. George denies such claims, expressing sadness at Tamar's delusions. They are so realistic to her that the woman firmly believes in them. George likens them to a Shakespearean tragedy. Or at least, one of Eugene O'Neill. With the excuse of feeling unwell, Fauna looks for an escape but realizes that she is trapped. Sergeant Billis visits briefly, but George gets rid of him immediately.

At dinner, George and Fauna are at their respective heads of the table. Since she is not hungry George suggests moving into his studio for a portrait. The studio, however, is an eerie basement lit with cool lights. Fuana tries to get the truth out of George, but he is insidious and begins to pour out delusions of grandeur. He is actually what Tamar says, but he has absurd justifications for his actions. Fauna realizes he is on the verge of death - the subject of George's next portrait - and manages to overpower George with a pistol found among the art tools. However, Fauna, overwhelmed by her emotions, is unable to shoot him and runs away, giving George the opportunity to run away before he can be arrested.

Together with his faithful wife Yuna, George disappears from public life. All his delusions of grandeur vanished and he reduced to who he really really is - a man with no talent.

## Quotes

**Dr. George Hodel:** “*Tamar, are you dreaming again?*”
**Dr. George Hodel:** “ *Take this kiss upon the brow! / And, in parting from you now, / Thus much let me avow — You are not wrong, who deem / That my days have been a dream; / Yet if hope has flown away / In a night, or in a day, / In a vision, or in none, / Is it therefore the less gone? /All that we see or seem /Is but a dream within a dream.*”
— Dark Flower

**Dr. Hodel** (to Sepp): “*There's no way out, friend.*”
— Matador

**George Hodel**: “*Oh, my goodness. You must think I'm Lucifer himself.*”
**George Hodel**: “*You can’t compare me to normal, ordinary men or expect me to follow their laws.*”
**George Hodel** (to Fauna): “*Whatever you are, you’re mine most of all. Mine more than anything.*”
— Queen’s Gambit, Accepted

## Appearances

I Am the Night

* Ep. 1: "Pilot"
* Ep. 2: "Phenomenon of Interference"
* Ep. 3: "Dark Flower"
* Ep. 4: "Matador"
* Ep. 5: "Aloha"
* Ep. 6: "Queen’s Gambit, Accepted"

## Notes

* Dr. George Hodel is based on George Hill Hodel Jr., an American physician that in 1947 was suspected of the murder of Elizabeth Short, a.k.a. the Black Dahlia. Although he was never formally charged with the crime, he became a major suspect after his death when his son Steve Hodel, a Los Angeles homicide detective, accused him of committing several other murders along with Short's murder.
	+ Listen to the “Root of Evil” podcast for more information.

* Contrary to the limited series, in 2018, DNA analysis positively eliminated Dr. George Hodel as the biological father of Fauna Hodel.

## Gallery

* Stills
* Videos

I Am the Night "There You Are" CLIP TNTI Am the Night Season 1 Ep. 5 “I’ll Get You A Drink” CLIP TNTI Am the Night Season 1 Ep. 6 “Please, Don’t Hurt Me” CLIP TNTI Am the Night Season 1 Ep. 6 “Dear Jay” CLIP TNT
## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1  *Official Overview for Jefferson Mays's George Hodel — TNT Pressroom*
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Sam Sheridan (writer); Carl Franklin (director); (March 4, 2019); "Queen’s Gambit, Accepted". Episode 6. *I Am the Night*. TNT.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Sam Sheridan (writer); Patty Jenkins (director); (February 11, 2019); "Dark Flower". Episode 3. *I Am the Night*. TNT.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Sam Sheridan (writer); Carl Franklin (director); (February 25, 2019); "Aloha". Episode 5. *I Am the Night*. TNT.
5. ↑ Sam Sheridan (writer); Patty Jenkins (director); (January 28, 2019); "Pilot". Episode 1. *I Am the Night*. TNT.
6. ↑ Sam Sheridan (writer); Patty Jenkins (director); (February 4, 2019); "Phenomenon of Interference". Episode 2. *I Am the Night*. TNT.
7. ↑ Sam Sheridan (writer); Victoria Mahoney (director); (February 18, 2019); "Matador". Episode 4. *I Am the Night*. TNT.
8. ↑  Quoting “A Dream Within a Dream” by Edgar Allan Poe.
9. ↑ Anatomy of a Podcast: Root of Evil: The True Story of the Hodel Family and the Black Dahlia- DNA Test Answers Question of Fauna Hodel’s Paternity — Steve Hodel