Timeline

1938
6 March – Pauline Veronica Boty born in Croydon, south London. Youngest of four children, with three elder brothers: the eldest Arthur, and twins Albert and John

1949–54
Attended Wallington County Girls Grammar School – won the Senior Art Prize

1954
Awarded a Scholarship to Wimbledon School of Art
Visited her uncle in the USA over the summer, travelling to New York on the Queen Mary with her mother Veronica

1954–56
Took Intermediate Certificate in Arts and Crafts. Passed with Lithography as her specialist subject

1956–58
Took the National Diploma in Art and Design. Initially joined the School of Painting but switched to Stained Glass under tutor Charles Carey
12 February – 2 March – work accepted for 1957 “Young Contemporaries” exhibition, RBA Galleries, London
Visited Paris in Spring 1957

1958
May – graduated from Wimbledon School of Art
Joined Royal College of Art, School of Stained Glass [attended 1958–61]
Summer – holiday in Greece, with Natalie Gibson, Patrick Caulfield and others
19 October – following a talk about “bad building” by Ian Nairn of the Architectural Review, the Anti-Ugly Action group [AUA] was formed by students, with Boty becoming Secretary
11 December – interviewed by Alan Whicker on the AUA with William Wilkins, Roddy Maude-Roxby and Ken Baynes for BBC programme “Tonight”

1959
January – among 50 AUA students who marched on the Barclays Bank building, Lombard Street
20 February – 14 March – work accepted for 1959 “Young Contemporaries” exhibition, RBA Galleries, London
March – among 200 AUA students who marched on the new Kensington Library
16 March – article by William Hickey published in the Daily Express: “Of all things she is secretary of the ANTI UGLIES!”
Moved to Sutherland Place in Notting Hill with Jane Perceval

1960
September – work chosen for “Modern Stained Glass” Arts Council Touring exhibition [until November 1961]

1961
Moved to Addison Road in Holland Park, sharing with Celia Birtwell and Derek Boshier among others
Final Diploma Show at Royal College of Art – exhibited three stained glass works and submitted a General Studies thesis
Early summer – on graduating took first job as a waitress in Terence Conran’s first restaurant, The Soup Kitchen
30 November – 29 December – exhibited over 20 works in “Blake, Boty, Porter, Reeve” at the AIA Gallery, London
31 December – attended the new year’s eve party at Chelsea School of Art, where she met TV producer Philip Saville

1962
20 January – 8 March – filming by Ken Russell for BBC “Monitor” programme “Pop Goes the Easel”
25 March – broadcast of “Pop Goes the Easel”
27 March – opening of “The Knack” at the Royal Court Theatre, for which she designed the programme cover and poster
15 – 17 June – exhibited work at “New Art”, Festival of Labour, London
22 July – broadcast of the “ITV Armchair Theatre” play “North City Traffic Straight Ahead”
5 August – Marilyn Monroe died. Boty closely identified with and was deeply upset by the actress’s death, dedicating three major works to her
28 August – 28 September – exhibited in “New Approaches To The Figure”, Arthur Jeffress Gallery, London
8 November – cover article by Derek Marlowe with photo by Michael Seymour in Scene magazine
9 November – broadcast of BBC play “The Face They See”
December – collected Bob Dylan from the airport with Saville – the singer’s first visit to the UK, over for his appearance in the BBC Sunday Night Play “The Madhouse on Castle Street”

1962/3
Taught diploma students mosaic and stained glass at Hammersmith School of Art

1963
January – Life magazine includes The Only Blonde in the World in “The Growing Cult of Marilyn”
January – “2 POP people” article published in Vogue
January/February – auditioned for the role of Liz in John Schlesinger’s film Billy Liar (ultimately providing Julie Christie’s breakthrough role)
Photographed by Lewis Morley (with Edina Ronay and Tsai Chin) for proposed Town feature on “theatrical ladies” but article pulled by the publisher
March – “Pauline Goes Pop” article published in Men Only
14 May – 8 June – acted in “Day of the Prince” at the Royal Court Theatre. Also designed the play’s programme cover, a game within and its poster
25 May –15 June – “Pop Art” group exhibition at Midland Group Gallery, Nottingham
24 June – married Clive Goodwin at Chelsea Register Office
9 August – danced with Derek Boshier in first episode of “Ready Steady Go!” and won the Twist competition. She and Boshier danced together in a number of later episodes
22 August – acted in “Afternoon Men”, opening at New Arts Theatre
Autumn – moved from Addison Road to Addison Avenue
9 September – interviewed about Pop art on the BBC’s “Tonight” programme
10 September 10 – 5 October 5 – exhibited 12 major paintings for solo show at Grabowski Gallery, London
6 October – 22 March – presented “The Public Ear” fortnightly BBC radio show
17 December – broadcast of “Maigret: Peter the Lett” for the BBC

1964
Interviewed for “Dieu est-il pop?” documentary by Belgian director Jean Antoine
1 February – broadcast of “The Frantick Rebel” episode of “Espionage” for ITV
April – “The Two Worlds of Pauline Boty” article published in Men Only
24 May – broadcast of Ken Russell’s BBC Monitor programme “Béla Bartók”
25 – 31 May – exhibited at Jean-Jacques Lebel’s “Workshop de la Libre Expression”, Paris
20 August – broadcast of “Don’t Say a Word” quiz show with Clive Goodwin
September – “Living Doll” article in Vogue, interview by Nell Dunn with photo by David Bailey

1965
Exhibited in group exhibition “Contemporary Art”, Grabowski Gallery, London
January 1965 – broadcast of “Day of the Ragnarok” for BBC2
Apr 1 – 5 June – “Spring Exhibition”, Cartwright Memorial Hall, Bradford
May–June – broadcast of first of six-part BBC TV serial “Contract to Kill”
3 May – appeared on “Late Night Line Up” as guest TV critic
June – filming started for first film role, in “Alfie”
Moved to Cromwell Road with Clive Goodwin
11 June – attended the First International Poetry Incarnation at the Royal Albert Hall. The planning beforehand had taken place in part in Boty and Goodwin’s new flat
1 July – broadcast of “The Londoners – a Day Out for Lucy” for BBC2
August – broadcast of “The Edgar Wallace Mystery Theatre” [Episode: “Strangler’s Web”]

1966
17 February – gave birth to daughter Boty Goodwin
24 March – release of “Alfie”
Apr 1 – 5 June – “Spring Exhibition”, Cartwright Memorial Hall, Bradford
1 July – died at Royal Marsden Hospital, London