I’m a ‘rock star’ funeral director who rubbed shoulders with A-listers – PMs admired me

The man who walks in the room is decked out in an immaculate suit of which James Bond would be proud and is a dead ringer for Hollywood legend Robert Redford.

But Howard Hodgson, despite his deep tan and louche manner, is not an ageing Hollywood A-lister but the UK’s most successful funeral director dubbed ‘Mr Death’.

A Union Jack tie completes his outfit which as he now lives in Monaco he says he likes to wear because it ‘winds up’ the French.

Hodgson’s incredible journey has taken him on a ride from a privileged upbringing, which included a stint at a Swiss school, to the edge of bankruptcy and destitution and back to where he is now as resident of Monaco with a boat and all the trappings of the super-rich. He has chronicled his incredible story in the first volume of his autobiography This Life in Death.

He was brought up in Birmingham where he eventually took over the family undertaking business which was revolutionising the industry.

The father of six, 74, told Metro: ‘My father should take the credit. He raised that people had different needs and wanted different things from a funeral.

‘Depending on the religion of the people and other sensitivities.

‘Now you can have what music you want played and dictate the service. It was not the case then.

‘My father taught me all this and he always said ‘treat others how you want to be treated’ and that advice stuck with me and made me a successful funeral director.’

Hodgson’s family business had been a source of wonderment to his classmates at the select school on Switzerland where he was sent when the firm was making big money.

He said: ‘All the kids there were from families from big industrial firms known across the world. When I said I was from a family who ran an undertakers in Birmingham they simply could not understand or believe it.

‘To show how successful we were I produced a photo of my father next to his Aston Martin like the one James Bond drives.

‘So from then on the rumour was that I was the son of a spy. I rather enjoyed that.’

Despite previous riches the family business nosedived when many districts in Birmingham are demolished and the population dropped.

Mr Hodgson explained: ‘Fewer people meant fewer families, fewer deaths, fewer funerals. The business was in real trouble it was on the edge.’

However after a very rocky patch amid financial struggle he developed a business model of buying up other funeral firms across the Midlands and then the country shrewdly cutting costs by running them in clusters.

He took over the firm in 1975 and by 1991 he had 569 branches.

The business listed on the stock exchange in 1986 and he was made entrepreneur of the year the following year after shares rocketed by 400 per cent.

He was also admired by the then prime minister Margaret Thatcher and was named as one of the Maggie’s Dozen favourite entrepreneurs.

Hodgson, a lifelong Aston Villa fan, said: ‘When I was young I wanted to be a Beatle, a rock star. But I have found success in another way. Some called me the rock star funeral director!’.

Through his success he has rubbed shoulders with the likes of David Beckham who he described fondly as a ‘very nice, smart guy’. He has also written a book about King Charles who he knows personally and has met childhood idol Sir Paul McCartney who he says ‘didn’t disappoint.’

Along the way he has ensured that he is the face of the business and has always liked dealing with clients even when faced with quirky requests.

He told Metro: ‘One Sikh man thought that if I gave the word I could bring his loved one back to life as we stood next to the body. With all due respect if I had that sort of power I would not be working in a funeral parlour in Birmingham!’

In another encounter a woman requested a secret visit to see the body of a man she had been having a secret affair with over a number of decades.

Hodgson said: ‘Believe it not she said “he looks well, our week away was good for him”. I mean the guy was dead.’

Hodgson’s life has been hit by personal tragedy with the death of his young son who drowned on a holiday in Thailand in 1982 which he described as ‘sudden and devastating’ and he has had mental health struggles.

MORE: I’m a funeral director but when my son died I didn’t know how to deal with the grief

He said: ‘At one stage I came off the rails. I was believing my own publicity. Sleeping with lots of people.

‘I was drinking, drinking was not the real problem though. I had to confront the real issues. If you have a broken arm you can see the problem that needs to be fixed, it’s so different with mental health.’

However, he appears to enjoying life in Monaco after getting his life back on track and has now stepped back from his crematoriam business Memoria.

He occasionally returns to the UK including a recent visit to see his beloved Paul McCartney at the 02 after he treated 19 family members to prized tickets.

He described how music at funerals reflected the generation padding away, adding: ‘There will be lots of Duran Duran coming up.’

However, when asked what he would request for his funeral in keeping with his positive go getter attitude which has fuelled his success he answers without hesitation ‘Get Back’ a Beatles classic.

*This Life in Death by Howard Hodgson is out now. It is published by Chipmunka.

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