Petula Clark

Petula Sally Olwen Clark (born November 15 1932), CBE, is a British singer, actress, and composer, best known for her upbeat popular international hits of the 1960s. With nearly 70 million recordings sold worldwide, she is the most successful British female recording artist to date. She also holds the distinction of having the longest span on the international pop charts of any artist, an astonishing fifty-one years - from 1954, when "The Little Shoemaker" made the UK Top Twenty, through 2005, when her CD "L'essentiel - 20 Succès Inoubliables" charted in Belgium.

The post-"Downtown" era

Clark's recording successes lead to frequent appearances on variety programs hosted by Ed Sullivan and Dean Martin, guest shots on Hullabaloo, Shindig, and The Hollywood Palace, and inclusion in musical specials such as The Best on Record and Rodgers and Hart Today. In 1968, NBC invited her to host her own special, and in doing so she inadvertently made television history. During a duet of an anti-war song she had composed, "On the Path of Glory," with guest Harry Belafonte, Clark innocently touched his arm, much to the dismay of a representative from Chrysler, the show's sponsor. When he insisted they substitute a different take, with Clark and Belafonte standing well away from each other, she and husband Woolf, producer of the show, refused and delivered the finished program to NBC with the touch intact. It aired to high ratings and much critical acclaim, and marked the first time a man and woman of different races touched on American television. Clark subsequently hosted two more specials, another for NBC and one for ABC, which served as a pilot for a projected weekly series. She eventually declined the offer in order to appease her children, who disliked living in Los Angeles.

Related Topics:
Ed Sullivan - Dean Martin - Hullabaloo - Shindig - The Hollywood Palace - Rodgers and Hart - 1968 - NBC - Harry Belafonte - Chrysler - NBC - ABC - Los Angeles

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Throughout the 1960s and '70s, Clark toured in concert extensively throughout the States, and often appeared in supper clubs such as the famed Copacabana in New York City, the Ambassador Grove in Los Angeles, and the Empire Room at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel, where she consistently broke house attendance records. During this period, she also appeared in print and radio ads for Coca Cola, television commercials for Plymouth, print and TV spots for Burlington Industries in the US, television and print ads for Chrysler Sunbeam, and print ads for Sanderson Wallpaper in the U.K.

Related Topics:
Copacabana - Waldorf-Astoria hotel - Coca Cola - Plymouth - Burlington Industries

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Clark revived her film career in the late 1960s, starring in two big musical films: Finian's Rainbow (1968) opposite Fred Astaire (for which she was nominated for a Best Actress Golden Globe Award), and Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1969) with Peter O'Toole. (Her last film to date was the British production Never Never Land, released in 1980.) After this, her output of hits in the States diminished markedly, although she continued to record and make television appearances into the 1970s. By the mid-1970s, she scaled back her career in order to devote more time to her family.

Related Topics:
Finian's Rainbow - 1968 - Fred Astaire - Golden Globe Award - Goodbye, Mr. Chips - 1969 - Peter O'Toole - Never Never Land - 1980

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Herb Alpert and his A&M record label benefitted from Clark's interest in encouraging new talent. When she heard the then-unknown Carpenters perform at a premiere party for Goodbye, Mr. Chips, she brought them to his attention, and he immediately signed them to a contract. In later years, she brought French composer/arranger Michel Colombier to the States to work as her musical director and introduced him, as well, to Alpert. (He went on to co-write Purple Rain with Prince, composed the acclaimed pop symphony Wings, and a number of soundtracks for American films.)

Related Topics:
Herb Alpert - A&M - Carpenters - Michel Colombier - Purple Rain - Prince - Wings

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In 1954, Clark had starred in a stage production of The Constant Nymph, but it wasn't until 1981, at the urging of her children, that she returned to legitimate theater, starring as Maria von Trapp in The Sound of Music in London's West End. Opening to rave reviews and what was then the largest advance sale in British theater history, Clark extended her initial six-month run to thirteen to accommodate the huge demand for tickets. In 1983, she took on the title role in George Bernard Shaw's Candida. Later stage work includes Someone Like You in 1989 and 1990, for which she composed the score; Blood Brothers, in which she made her Broadway debut in 1993, followed by the US tour; and Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber's Sunset Boulevard, appearing in both the West End and U.S. touring productions from 1995 through 2000. In 2004, she repeated her performance of Norma Desmond in a production at the Cork Opera House in the Republic of Ireland, which was later broadcast by the BBC. With more than 2500 performances, she has played the role more often than any other actress.

Related Topics:
The Constant Nymph - Maria von Trapp - The Sound of Music - West End - 1983 - George Bernard Shaw - Candida - Someone Like You - 1989 - 1990 - Blood Brothers - 1993 - Andrew Lloyd Webber - Sunset Boulevard - 1995 - 2000 - 2004 - Norma Desmond - Cork Opera House - Republic of Ireland - BBC

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In both 1998 and 2003, Clark toured extensively throughout the U.K. In 2004, she toured Australia and New Zealand, appeared in sell-out performances at the Hilton in Atlantic City, the Hummingbird Centre in Toronto, Humphrey's in San Diego, and the Mohegan Sun in Connecticut, and participated in a multi-performer tribute to the late Peggy Lee at the Hollywood Bowl. A 2003 concert appearance at the Olympia in Paris has been issued in both DVD and CD formats. A studio recording of all new material is in the planning stages, and she is scheduled to appear with Andy Williams in his Moon River Theater in Branson, Missouri for several months in 2005, following another U.K. concert tour in early spring.

Related Topics:
1998 - 2003 - New Zealand - Atlantic City - Toronto - San Diego - Connecticut - Peggy Lee - Hollywood Bowl - DVD - CD - Andy Williams - Branson, Missouri

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In 1998, Clark was honored by Queen Elizabeth II by being made a CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire).

Related Topics:
Queen Elizabeth II - CBE

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