Petula Clark

Petula Clark, born Sally Clark on 15 November 1932 in Ewell, Surrey, England, is a British singer, actress, and songwriter whose professional career has spanned more than eight decades. Her parents, Doris and Leslie Noah Clark, both worked as nurses at Long Grove Hospital in Epsom. Her father invented her stage name, Petula, claiming it combined the names of two former girlfriends, Pet and Ulla. Clark grew up in Abercanaid, near Merthyr Tydfil in Wales, where her grandfather worked as a coal miner.

Her first live audience came in 1939 at the Colliers' Arms in Abercanaid. Her formal career began in October 1942, when the nine-year-old Clark accompanied her father to a BBC broadcast intended to send messages to troops stationed overseas. An air raid delayed the broadcast, and when the producer asked for a volunteer to calm the audience, Clark stepped forward and sang "Mighty Lak' a Rose." The performance launched a series of approximately 500 appearances in programmes designed to entertain the forces. She was nicknamed the "Singing Sweetheart" and performed for George VI, Winston Churchill, and Bernard Montgomery. British troops reportedly plastered her photographs on their tanks as a good-luck charm, earning her the additional nickname "Britain's Shirley Temple." She also toured the United Kingdom regularly alongside fellow child performer Julie Andrews.

Clark's film career began in 1944, when director Maurice Elvey discovered her performing at the Royal Albert Hall and cast her as the orphaned waif Irma in his war drama Medal for the General. A rapid succession of film roles followed, including Strawberry Roan, I Know Where I'm Going!, London Town, Here Come the Huggetts, Vote for Huggett, and The Huggetts Abroad. She also appeared alongside Anthony Newley in Vice Versa, directed by Peter Ustinov, and with Alec Guinness in The Card. In 1945 she was featured in the comic Radio Fun, billed as "Radio's Merry Mimic." Her television career began in 1946 with an appearance on the BBC variety programme Cabaret Cartoons, which led to her hosting her own afternoon series, Petula Clark, followed by Pet's Parlour in 1950.

Her recording career took shape in 1949, when pianist Joe Henderson introduced her to record producer Alan A. Freeman, who partnered with her father to establish Polygon Records. Her earliest UK chart successes came during the 1950s, among them "The Little Shoemaker" in 1954, which reached number one in Australia, "Majorca" and "Suddenly There's a Valley" in 1955, and "With All My Heart" in 1956. Near the end of 1955, Polygon Records was sold to Nixa Records, then part of Pye Records, effectively signing Clark to the Pye label, for which she recorded into the early 1970s. She also recorded in French, beginning a period of European expansion that would bring her considerable fame on the continent. In 1957, an appearance at the Paris Olympia led to a contract with Vogue Records, where she met Claude Wolff, who became her publicist, collaborator, and husband. She subsequently recorded in German, Italian, and Spanish, accumulating international hits that included "Prends mon cœur," "Sailor" (a UK number one), "Romeo," and "Chariot."

Clark's success reached the United States in late 1964, driven by a run of singles many of which were written or co-written by Tony Hatch and Jackie Trent. Her signature song "Downtown" reached number one in the US, as did "My Love." Between January 1965 and April 1968, she placed nine singles in the US top 20, earning the designation "the First Lady of the British Invasion." Additional hits from this period included "I Know a Place," "A Sign of the Times," "I Couldn't Live Without Your Love," "Who Am I," "Colour My World," "This Is My Song" (written by Charlie Chaplin, a UK number one), "Don't Sleep in the Subway," and "Kiss Me Goodbye." In 1967 she received the MIDEM award for most sales in Europe by a European artist, and in 1968 she received the MIDEM international award for the highest worldwide sales by a female artist. Her total record sales are estimated at 100 million.

Clark also achieved recognition in film and stage musicals. She received a Golden Globe nomination for best actress in a musical for her performance in the film Finian's Rainbow, and earned BAFTA nominations for her work in The Sound of Music, Sunset Boulevard, and Mary Poppins.

Her Broadway career ran from 1993 to 1998 and encompassed two productions. She made her Broadway debut in Blood Brothers, where she and David Cassidy have been credited with rescuing the production from failure. She subsequently appeared in Sunset Boulevard.