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Molly Parkin (born Molly Noyle Thomas, 3 February 1932) is a
Welsh
Welsh may refer to:
Related to Wales
* Welsh, referring or related to Wales
* Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales
* Welsh people
People
* Welsh (surname)
* Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...
painter, novelist and journalist, who became most well-known for her work on ''
Nova
A nova (plural novae or novas) is a transient astronomical event that causes the sudden appearance of a bright, apparently "new" star (hence the name "nova", which is Latin for "new") that slowly fades over weeks or months. Causes of the dramati ...
'' magazine, newspapers and television in the 1960s.
Early life
Parkin was born on 3 February 1932, the second of two daughters, in
Pontycymer
Pontycymer, also spelt Pontycymmer, is a former mining village in Wales. It is situated in the Garw Valley, in Bridgend County Borough, about 7 miles or 11 km north of the town of Bridgend.
It‘s attractions include a small Heritage rail ...
in the
Garw Valley
Garw Valley (Welsh: ''Cwm Garw'') is a community and coterminous electoral ward in the north of Bridgend County Borough, South Wales. As the name suggests, it follows and encompasses the valley of the River Garw. The community includes the villa ...
,
Glamorgan
, HQ = Cardiff
, Government = Glamorgan County Council (1889–1974)
, Origin=
, Code = GLA
, CodeName = Chapman code
, Replace =
* West Glamorgan
* Mid Glamorgan
* South Glamorgan
, Motto ...
, Wales. She and her family moved to London to live with her grandparents when the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
began in 1939.
She went to Willesden County Grammar School (now
Capital City Academy). During the war, without her parents' knowledge, at the age of 12 she worked on a paper round in
Dollis Hill
Dollis Hill is an area in northwest London, which consists of the streets surrounding the 35 hectares (86 acres) Gladstone Park. It is served by a London Underground station, Dollis Hill, on the Jubilee line, providing good links to central Lon ...
, London, in the evenings. She told her mother that she was studying art after-hours at school. Her grandfather saw her delivering papers, however, and reported this to her mother, who prevented her from continuing with the job and punished her by making her do housework. After this, Parkin earned a little money from a Mr Hill, their lodger, who took pity on her and paid her to clean his room. She idolised Hill, who she thought was a gentleman, and many years later saw similar characteristics in the actor
James Robertson Justice
James Robertson Justice (15 June 1907 – 2 July 1975) was a British actor. He is best remembered for portraying pompous authority figures in comedies including each of the seven films in the ''Doctor'' series. He also co-starred with Grego ...
. Later the family bought a tobacconist's and newsagent shop, which employed four
paperboys. When one of the paperboys was caught stealing money, her mother—needing to fill his shift quickly—made Parkin, then aged 14, do his paper round instead. On her first day, a car knocked her off her bicycle and she hit her head on the kerb. She was knocked unconscious, hospitalised, and spent about a year off school, convalescing. Parkin spent much of this period alone in her room above the shop, drawing and painting. This developed into an interest in the arts.
Career
In 1949 Parkin gained a scholarship to study
fine art
In European academic traditions, fine art is developed primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from decorative art or applied art, which also has to serve some practical function, such as pottery or most metalwork ...
at
Goldsmiths College
Goldsmiths, University of London, officially the Goldsmiths' College, is a constituent research university of the University of London in England. It was originally founded in 1891 as The Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute by the Wor ...
, London, and then a scholarship to
Brighton College of Art
Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London.
Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...
. After marriage, she became a teacher, painting throughout this period. Following a series of affairs, including a long-term association with James Robertson Justice, Parkin separated from her husband at the start of the 1960s; at this time she lost the desire, inspiration and passion to continue with her artwork.
To support her two daughters, Parkin turned to fashion. After making hats and bags for
Barbara Hulanicki
Barbara Hulanicki (b. 1936) is a fashion designer, born in Warsaw, Poland, to Polish parents and best known as the founder of clothes store Biba.
Career
Hulanicki was born in Warsaw, Poland, to Polish parents. Her father, Witold Hulanicki, ...
at
Biba
Biba was a London fashion store of the 1960s and 1970s. Biba was started and primarily run by the Polish-born Barbara Hulanicki with help of her husband Stephen Fitz-Simon.
Early years
Biba's early years were rather humble, with many of the ou ...
, and working alongside
Mary Quant
Dame Barbara Mary Quant, Mrs Plunket Greene, (born 11 February 1930)The Mary Quant exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in 2019-20 stated her year of birth as 1930, and that she became a student at Goldsmiths College around 1950. is a ...
, she opened her own Chelsea boutique, which was featured in a ''
Newsweek
''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...
'' article about
Swinging London
The Swinging Sixties was a youth-driven cultural revolution that took place in the United Kingdom during the mid-to-late 1960s, emphasising modernity and fun-loving hedonism, with Swinging London as its centre. It saw a flourishing in art, mus ...
. She sold the shop to business partner
Terence Donovan, then joined ''
Nova
A nova (plural novae or novas) is a transient astronomical event that causes the sudden appearance of a bright, apparently "new" star (hence the name "nova", which is Latin for "new") that slowly fades over weeks or months. Causes of the dramati ...
'' magazine in 1965, when the radical
Dennis Hackett
Dennis Hackett (5 February 1929 – 23 August 2016) was a British magazine and newspaper editor whom many would say played significant roles on game-changing publications that reshaped the language of British journalism.
Hackett grew up in Sheffi ...
became its editor. David Gibbs' comprehensive anthology of ''Nova'' pages and images says of Parkin: "A dynamic sense of colour and design was all she needed to guide her. Unfettered by the accepted wisdom of the fashion system, she introduced an unconventional and startling view of what women could wear... always teasing the edges of taste... She set the standard."
In her two years as fashion editor, the flamboyant Parkin raised the bar with her coverage – shot by the new generation of young photographers – that again affirmed the Swinging City, which ''
Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
'' magazine reported in 1966 as the hub of creativity and hedonism. Parkin moved on to become fashion editor of ''
Harpers & Queen'' in 1967, and ''
The Sunday Times
''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...
'' in 1969, being named Fashion Editor of the Year in 1971. After becoming a television personality in the 1970s, Parkin was banned from the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
for swearing.
In the 1970s, as a chatshow celebrity and libidinous novelist, Parkin wrote an uninhibited weekly interview in the Saturday edition of the ''
Evening Standard
The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format.
In October 2009, after be ...
''. She also wrote a 750-word outline for a novel entitled ''
Love All
''Love All'' is the first novel by the journalist, writer and artist Molly Parkin, originally published in 1974.
Publication history
The book was originally submitted as a 750-word outline to publishers Blond & Briggs. Although editorial sta ...
''. Although it was disliked by publishers
Blond & Briggs
Anthony Bernard Blond (20 March 1928 – 27 February 2008) was a British publisher and author, who was involved with several publishing companies over his career, including several he established himself, or in partnerships, from 1952.
Biograph ...
, the office secretary commented that she liked it, and it was picked up for publication in 1974. Her second novel was more sexually-oriented. Published in 1975, ''Up Tight'' was highly publicised, thanks to fashion photographer
Harry Peccinotti's cover shot of a French model wearing see-through knickers; this jacket design resulted in booksellers
Hatchards
Hatchards claims to be the oldest bookshop in the United Kingdom, founded on Piccadilly in 1797 by John Hatchard. After one move, it has been at the same location on Piccadilly next to Fortnum & Mason since 1801, and the two stores are also neig ...
keeping it under the counter. After returning from living in New York City in 1980, Parkin split from her second husband,
Patrick Hughes, and was again in need of funds to pay for her daughters' education. By the time her novel ''Breast Stroke'' was published in 1983, she had become an
alcoholic
Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomin ...
. The three publications, plus various articles for men's magazines, earned her the position of 24th in ''
Time Out'' magazine's review of London's best erotic writers.
After the publication of her autobiography ''Moll: The Making of Molly Parkin'' in 1993, Parkin started painting again, with her first exhibition in more than a decade at the Washington Gallery in
Penarth
Penarth (, ) is a town and Community (Wales), community in the Vale of Glamorgan ( cy, Bro Morgannwg), Wales, exactly south of Cardiff city centre on the west shore of the Severn Estuary at the southern end of Cardiff Bay.
Penarth is a weal ...
. Much of her new work was inspired by Celtic landscapes, in particular Pontycymer—although she also found her travels in India moved her to produce more vibrantly coloured works. In October 2010, her memoirs ''Welcome to Mollywood'' were published.
In 2010, a portrait of Parkin painted by
Darren Coffield was exhibited at the
National Portrait Gallery, London
The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London housing a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. It was arguably the first national public gallery dedicated to portraits in the world when it ...
for the
BP Portrait Award
The BP Portrait Award is an annual portraiture competition held at the National Portrait Gallery in London, England. It is the successor to the John Player Portrait Award. It is the most important portrait prize in the world, and is reputedly ...
.
She was a "castaway" on the
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...
programme ''
Desert Island Discs
''Desert Island Discs'' is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It was first broadcast on the BBC Forces Programme on 29 January 1942.
Each week a guest, called a " castaway" during the programme, is asked to choose eight recordings (usu ...
'' in May 2011.
In May 2012, she was awarded a
Civil List Pension
Pensions in the United Kingdom, whereby United Kingdom tax payers have some of their wages deducted to save for retirement, can be categorised into three major divisions - state, occupational and personal pensions.
The state pension is based on ...
by the Queen for her services to the arts.
Parkin featured in an episode of
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
's ''Britain's Weirdest Council Houses'' in February 2016, in which she was filmed in her council flat in a tower block in the World's End Estate at the
World's End area of
Chelsea
Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to:
Places Australia
* Chelsea, Victoria
Canada
* Chelsea, Nova Scotia
* Chelsea, Quebec
United Kingdom
* Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames
** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
. She had moved into the flat in 2002, after she was declared
bankrupt
Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debt ...
following a period of alcoholism.
In 2017 Parkin appeared live in a one-woman show at a London salon hosted by Simon Oldfield of
Pin Drop Studio
Pin Drop Studio is an arts and entertainment studio founded in 2012 by Simon Oldfield and Elizabeth Day, with a particular focus on short fiction.
Pin Drop Studio publishes short fiction, stages an annual short story award for new writing in as ...
.
References
Further reading
* Parkin, Molly (17 November 1996). "She Ain't Heavy, She's... the woman who bedded Brando, shared a flat with Monroe, and upstaged Gielgud. She is Shelley Winters, Molly Parkin's new soul sister". ''The Sunday Telegraph Magazine''. pp
2526
External links
Molly Parkin's personal website*
* Kim Howells
BBC, Wales Arts, 27 May 2011.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Parkin, Molly
1932 births
Living people
20th-century British novelists
20th-century Welsh painters
21st-century Welsh painters
20th-century Welsh women artists
21st-century Welsh women artists
Alumni of Goldsmiths, University of London
Alumni of the University of Brighton
British erotica writers
People educated at Willesden County Grammar School
People from Pontycymer
Welsh journalists
Welsh women journalists
Welsh women painters