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Petula Clark | |
|---|---|
_(cropped).jpg) Clark in 2010 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Sally Clark |
| Born | (1932-11-15)15 November 1932 (age 92) Ewell,Surrey, England |
| Genres | Pop,schlager,theatre,film |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1939–present[1] |
| Labels | |
| Spouse | |
| Website | petulaclark |
| Children | 3 |
Sally "Petula"Clark (born 15 November 1932) is a British singer, actress, and songwriter. She started her professional career as achild performer and has had the longest career of any British entertainer, spanning more than 85 years.
Clark's professional career began during theSecond World War as a child entertainer onBBC Radio.[1] In 1954, she charted with "The Little Shoemaker", the first of her big UK hits, and within two years she began recording in French. Her international successes have included "Prends mon cœur", "Sailor" (a UK number one), "Romeo", and "Chariot". Hits in German, Italian and Spanish followed. In late 1964, Clark's success extended to the United States with a five-year run of career-defining, often upbeat singles, many written or co-written byTony Hatch andJackie Trent. These include her signature song "Downtown" (US number one), "I Know a Place" A song that also was big on the 1970's and later UK Northern Soul scene, "My Love" (US number one), "A Sign of the Times", "I Couldn't Live Without Your Love", "Who Am I", "Colour My World", "This Is My Song" (byCharlie Chaplin; a UK number one), "Don't Sleep in the Subway", "The Other Man's Grass Is Always Greener" and "Kiss Me Goodbye". Between January 1965 and April 1968, Clark charted with nine US top 20 hits in the US, where she was called "the First Lady of theBritish Invasion". Her international chart success was unequalled in recording history. In 1968 she was the recipient of the MIDEM international award for the highest worldwide sales by a female artist. This followed on from her 1967 MIDEM award for most sales in Europe by a European artist.
It is estimated that Clark has sold between 70 and 100 million records.[2] She also enjoyed success in the musical filmFinian's Rainbow, for which she received a Golden Globe nomination for best actress in a musical, and in the stage musicalsThe Sound of Music,Sunset Boulevard andMary Poppins, for which she received BAFTA nominations. Clark along with David Cassidy rescued Blood Brothers from failure in her Broadway debut.
Petula Clark was born Sally Clark on 15 November 1932 inEwell, Surrey, England[3] to Doris (née Phillips) and Leslie Noah Clark. Both of Clark's parents were nurses atLong Grove Hospital in Epsom. Clark's mother had Welsh ancestry and her father was English. Clark's stage name, Petula, was invented by her father, who joked that it was a combination of the names of his two former girlfriends, Pet and Ulla.[4]
Clark grew up inAbercanaid, nearMerthyr Tydfil in Wales.[5] Her grandfather was a coal miner.[6] Her first ever live audience was in 1939 at the Colliers' Arms in Abercanaid.[7] She also recalls living just outside London during the Blitz, watching the dogfights in the air and running to air-raid shelters with her sister. Later, when she was eight, she joined other children to record messages with the BBC to be broadcast to members of their families in the forces. The recording event was in theCriterion Theatre, an underground theatre that was safe. When the air-raid siren sounded other children were upset and a call went out for someone to step forward and sing to calm them. Petula volunteered, and they liked her voice so much in the control room that they recorded her. Her song was "Mighty Like a Rose".[8]
As a child, Clark sang in the chapelchoir and showed a talent formimicry, impersonatingVera Lynn,Carmen Miranda andSophie Tucker for her family and friends.[9] Her father introduced her to theatre in 1944 when he took her to seeFlora Robson in a production ofMary Stuart. She later recalled that after the performance, "I made up my mind then and there I was going to be an actress. ... I wanted to beIngrid Bergman more than anything else in the world."[10] However her first public performances were as a singer. In 1945 she performed with an orchestra in the entrance hall ofBentall's Department Store inKingston upon Thames for a tin of toffee and a gold wristwatch.[11]
From a chance beginning at the age of seven, Clark appeared on radio, in film, in print, on television and on recordings. In October 1942 the nine-year-old Clark made her radio debut while attending a BBC broadcast with her father. She was trying to send a message to an uncle who was stationed overseas, but the broadcast was delayed by anair raid. During the bombing the producer requested that someone perform to settle the jittery theatre audience and she volunteered a rendering of "Mighty Lak' a Rose" to an enthusiastic response. She then repeated her performance for the broadcast audience, launching a series of some 500 appearances in programmes designed to entertain the troops.[12][13]
In addition to radio work, Clark frequently toured the United Kingdom with fellow child performerJulie Andrews. Nicknamed the "Singing Sweetheart", she performed forGeorge VI,Winston Churchill andBernard Montgomery. She also became known as "Britain'sShirley Temple",[14] and was considered a mascot by theBritish Army, some of whose troops plastered her photos on their tanks for good luck as they advanced into battle.[15]
While she was performing at theRoyal Albert Hall in London in 1944, Clark was discovered by the film directorMaurice Elvey, who cast her, at the age of 12, as the precocious orphaned waif Irma in his war dramaMedal for the General.[16] In quick succession she performed inStrawberry Roan,[17]I Know Where I'm Going!,[18]London Town,[19]Here Come the Huggetts,Vote for Huggett andThe Huggetts Abroad, the second, third and fourth of fourHuggett Family films.[20] She worked withAnthony Newley inVice Versa (directed byPeter Ustinov) andAlec Guinness inThe Card.[21]
In 1945 she was featured in the comicRadio Fun, in which she was billed as "Radio's Merry Mimic".[22] By then she felt that she had played child parts for too long.[14]
In 1946 Clark began her television career with an appearance on a BBC variety show,Cabaret Cartoons, which led to her being signed to host her own afternoon series,Petula Clark.Pet's Parlour followed in 1950.[23]
In 1947 she metJoe "Mr Piano" Henderson at the Peter Maurice Publishing Company. The two collaborated musically and were linked romantically over the following ten years. In 1949 Henderson introduced her to the record producerAlan A. Freeman, who, together with her father Leslie, formedPolygon Records, for which she recorded her earliest hits. She recorded her first release that year, "Put Your Shoes On, Lucy", forEMI, and further recordings with vocalist Benny Lee on Decca. The Polygon label was financed with part of her earnings. She scored a number of major hits in the UK during the 1950s, including "The Little Shoemaker" (1954), "Majorca" (1955), "Suddenly There's a Valley" (1955) and "With All My Heart" (1956).[24] "The Little Shoemaker" was an international hit, reaching number one in Australia, the first of many number-one records in her career.
Near the end of 1955 Polygon Records was sold to Nixa Records, then part ofPye Records, leading to the establishment ofPye Nixa Records (subsequently simply Pye). This effectively signed Clark to the Pye label in the UK, for which she recorded until the early 1970s.[25]
During this period she showed a keen interest in encouraging new talent. She suggested that Henderson be allowed to record his own music, and he had five chart hits on Polygon/Pye between 1955 and 1960.
In 1957 Clark was invited to appear at theParis Olympia, where, despite her misgivings and a bad cold, she was received with acclaim. The following day she was invited to the office ofVogue Records to discuss a contract. There she met her future longtime publicist, collaborator and husband, Claude Wolff. Clark was attracted immediately, and when she was told that she would be working with him if she signed with the Vogue label she agreed.[26]
In 1960 she embarked on a concert tour of France andBelgium withSacha Distel, who remained a close friend until his death in 2004.[27] Gradually she moved further into the continent, recording in German, French, Italian and Spanish.
While she focused on her new career in France, she continued to achieve hit records in the UK into the early 1960s. Her 1961 recording of "Sailor" became her first number-one hit in the UK, while such follow-up recordings as "Romeo" and "My Friend the Sea" landed her in the British Top-10 later that year. "Romeo" sold more than one million copies around the world and won her her firstgold disc, which was awarded by theRecording Industry Association of America.[28] In France "Ya Ya Twist" (aFrench-language cover of theLee Dorsey rhythm and blues song "Ya Ya" and the only successful recording of atwist song by a woman) and "Chariot" (the original version of "I Will Follow Him") became smash hits in 1962, while German and Italian versions of her English and French recordings charted, as well. Her recordings of severalSerge Gainsbourg songs were also big sellers. In addition, she was given at this time a present of the song "Un Enfant" byJacques Brel, with whom she toured. Clark is one of only a handful of performers to be given a song by Brel. A live recording of this song charted in Canada.
In 1963 she wrote the soundtrack for the French crime filmA Couteaux Tirés (Daggers Drawn) - released in 1964 - and made a cameo appearance as herself in the film. Although it was only a mild success,[citation needed] it added a new dimension—that of film composer—to her career. Additional film scores she composed includeEntre ciel et mer (1963),Rêves d'enfant (1964),La bande à Bebel (1966),[29] andPétain (1989). Six themes from the last were released on the CDIn Her Own Write in 2007.[citation needed]
Clark was the subject ofThis Is Your Life in February 1964,[30] April 1975[31] and March 1996, becoming the only person to receive the television tribute three times.[citation needed]
By 1964 Clark's British recording career was foundering. Composer/arrangerTony Hatch, who had been assisting her with her work forVogue Records in France andPye Records in the UK, flew to her home in Paris with new song material he hoped would interest her, but she found none of it appealing.[32] Desperate, he played for her a few chords of an incomplete song that had been inspired by his recent first trip to New York City. Upon hearing the melody, Clark told him that if he could write lyrics as good as the melody, she wanted to record the tune as her next single—"Downtown".[33] Hatch has subsequently denied originally offering "Downtown" tothe Drifters.[32]
Neither Clark, who was performing in Canada when the song first received major air play,[34] nor Hatch realised the effect the song would have on their respective careers. Released in four separate languages in late 1964, "Downtown" was a success in the UK, France (in both the English and the French versions), the Netherlands, Germany, Australia, and Italy, andRhodesia, Japan, and India as well. During a visit to London,Warner Bros. executive Joe Smith heard it and acquired the rights for the United States.[35][36] "Downtown" went to number one in the American charts in January 1965, and 3 million copies were sold in the United States.
"Downtown" was the first of 15 consecutive Top-40 hits she achieved in the U.S., including "I Know a Place", "My Love" (her second US number-one hit), "A Sign of the Times", "I Couldn't Live Without Your Love", "This Is My Song" (from theCharles Chaplin filmA Countess from Hong Kong), and "Don't Sleep in the Subway".[14][24] The American recording industry honoured her withGrammy Awards forBest Rock & Roll Recording of 1964 for "Downtown" and forBest Contemporary (R&R) Vocal Performance of 1965 – Female for "I Know a Place". In 2004, her recording of "Downtown" was inducted into theGrammy Hall of Fame.
Her recording successes led to frequent appearances on American variety programmes hosted byEd Sullivan andDean Martin, guest shots onHullabaloo,Shindig!,The Kraft Music Hall andThe Hollywood Palace, and inclusion in musical specials such asThe Best on Record andRodgers and Hart Today.
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In 1968NBC invited Clark to host her own special in the US, and in doing so, she inadvertently made television history. While singing aduet of "On the Path of Glory", anantiwar song that she had composed, with guestHarry Belafonte, she took hold of his arm, to the dismay of a representative from theChrysler Corporation (the show's sponsor), who feared that the moment would provoke racial backlash fromSouthern viewers.[37] When he insisted that they substitute a different take, with Clark and Belafonte standing well away from each other, Clark and the executive producer of the show — her husband, Wolff — refused, destroyed all other takes of the song, and delivered the finished programme to NBC with the touch intact.[38][39] The Chrysler representative lost his job and the programme aired on 8 April 1968, four days after theassassination of Martin Luther King Jr., with high ratings, critical acclaim,[40] and aPrimetime Emmy nomination. It has erroneously been described as the first instance on American television of physical contact between a black man and a white woman,[41] forgetting many previous instances, includingFrankie Lymon dancing with a white girl on Alan Freed's live ABC showThe Big Beat on 19 July 1957,[42][43]Nancy Sinatra kissingSammy Davis Jr., on her 1967Movin' with Nancy TV special,[44] andLouis Armstrong shaking hands with "What's My Line?" panelistsDorothy Kilgallen andArlene Francis in 1953.[45] To commemorate the 40th anniversary of the 1968 Belafonte telecast, Clark and Wolff appeared at thePaley Center for Media inManhattan on 22 September 2008, to discuss the broadcast and its impact, following a showing of the programme.[46]
Clark was later the host of two more specials;Portrait of Petula, shown on both the NBC andCBC networks in early 1970,[47] and one forABC (Petula) which served as a pilot for a projected weekly series. She starred in theBBC television seriesThis Is Petula Clark, which aired from mid-1966 to early 1968.
She revived her film career in the late 1960s, starring in two big musical films. InFinian's Rainbow (1968), she starred oppositeFred Astaire, and she was nominated for theGolden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for her performance. The following year, she was cast withPeter O'Toole inGoodbye, Mr. Chips (1969), a musicaladaptation of the classicJames Hilton novella.[24]
Throughout the late 1960s she toured in concerts in the U.S., and she often appeared insupper clubs such as theCopacabana in New York City, theAmbassador Hotel's Cocoanut Grove in Los Angeles, and the Empire Room at theWaldorf-Astoria Hotel.
During this period Clark continued her interest in encouraging new talent. These efforts also supported the launch ofHerb Alpert and hisA&M record label. In 1968 she brought the French composer/arrangerMichel Colombier to the U.S. to work as her musical director, and introduced him to Alpert.[48] Colombier went on to co-write thefilm score forPurple Rain withPrince, composed the acclaimed pop symphonyWings, and a number of soundtracks for American films.Richard Carpenter credited her with bringing his sisterKaren and him to Alpert's attention when they performed at a premiere party for the 1969Goodbye, Mr. Chips.[49]
She has recalled that she andKaren Carpenter went to seeElvis Presley perform inLas Vegas and that afterwards "He was flirting with both of us, (saying) 'Wow, the two biggest girl pop stars in my dressing room. That's pretty good'... He didn't have us, exactly, but he had a darned good try. Not going to talk about that any more."[50]
Clark was one of the backing vocalists onJohn Lennon'sPlastic Ono Band anthem "Give Peace a Chance." She was performing inMontreal in June 1969, and was being heckled by the audience due to her bilingual performance. She went to see Lennon for advice on dealing with this. His wife Yoko Ono and he were staying at the city'sQueen Elizabeth Hotel during theirbed-in protest. Clark subsequently ended up on the recording ofGive Peace a Chance.[51] On 15 November 1969, her concert,An Evening with Petula, from theRoyal Albert Hall in London, was the first BBC One colour transmission.[52]
During the early 1970s Clark had chart singles on both sides of the Atlantic with "Melody Man" (1970), "The Song of My Life" (1971), "I Don't Know How To Love Him" (1972), "The Wedding Song (There Is Love)" (1972), and "Loving Arms" (1974). In Canada, "Je Voudrais Qu'il Soit Malheureux" was a major hit. She continued touring during the 1970s, performing in clubs in the US and Europe. During this period, she also appeared in print and radio ads for theCoca-Cola Corporation, television commercials forPlymouth automobiles, print and TV spots forBurlington Industries andChrysler Sunbeam,[53] as well as print ads forSanderson wallpaper in the UK.[54]
In the mid-1970s she scaled back her career to devote more time to her family. On 31 December 1976, she performed her hit song "Downtown" onBBC1'sA Jubilee of Music, celebrating British popular music forQueen Elizabeth II's impendingSilver Jubilee. She also hosted the television seriesThe Sound of Petula (1972–74), and through the 1970s, made numerous guest appearances on variety, comedy, and game-show television programmes. She appeared as a special guest star in an episode ofThe Muppet Show in 1977. In 1980 she made her last film appearance, in the British productionNever Never Land. Her last television appearance was acting in the 1981 French miniseriesSans Famille (An Orphan's Tale). A 1981 single, "Natural Love", reached number 66 onBillboard's Hot 100 chart and number 20 on the US country singles chart in early 1982.
As Clark moved away from film and television, she returned to the stage. In 1954, she had starred in a stage production ofThe Constant Nymph, but at the urging of her children, did not return to legitimate theatre until 1981, starring asMaria von Trapp inThe Sound of Music at theApollo Victoria Theatre, West End of London. Opening to positive reviews and what was then the largest advance sale in British theatre history, Clark—proclaimed byMaria Von Trapp herself as "the best Maria ever"—extended her initial six-month run to 13 to accommodate the huge demand for tickets[24][55] and receiving aLaurence Olivier Award nomination for Best Actress in a Musical. On 6 February 1983, during a concert at theAlbert Hall she gave a heart-rending performance ofFor All We Know in tribute to her friendKaren Carpenter who had died two days previously.[56] Also in 1983, she took on the title role inGeorge Bernard Shaw'sCandida.
Her later stage work includesSomeone Like You in 1989 and 1990, for which she composed the score;Blood Brothers, in which she made herBroadway debut in 1993 at theMusic Box Theatre, followed by the American tour; andAndrew Lloyd Webber'sSunset Boulevard, appearing in both the West End and American touring productions from 1995 to 2000.[57] In 2004, she repeated her performance ofNorma Desmond in a production at theOpera House inCork, Ireland, which was later broadcast by the BBC.[58] With more than 2,500 performances, she has played the role more often than any other actress.[citation needed]
A new disco remix of "Downtown", called "Downtown '88", was released in 1988, registering her first UK singles chart success since 1972, making the Top 10 in the UK in December 1988.[59] A live vocal performance of this version was performed on the BBC showTop of the Pops.[citation needed] Clark recorded new material regularly throughout the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, and in 1992 released "Oxygen", a single produced byAndy Richards and written byNik Kershaw.
In 1998 Clark was made aCommander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) byQueen Elizabeth II.[60] In 2012 she was installed as a Commander of theOrdre des Arts et des Lettres of France by the French Minister of Culture.[citation needed]
In both 1998 and 2002 Clark toured extensively throughout the UK. In 2000, she presented a self-written, one-woman show, highlighting her life and career, to large critical and audience acclaim at theSt. Denis Theatre in Montreal. A 2003 concert appearance at the Olympia in Paris has been issued in both DVD and compact disc formats. In 2004, she toured Australia and New Zealand, appeared at theHilton inAtlantic City, New Jersey; theHummingbird Centre in Toronto; Humphrey's inSan Diego; and theMohegan Sun Casino inUncasville, Connecticut; and participated in a multiperformer tribute to the latePeggy Lee at theHollywood Bowl.[61] Following another British concert tour in early spring 2005, after which, in May she contributed to theV45 televised BBC concert in Trafalgar Square at which she sang "A Nightingale sang in Berkeley Square", she appeared withAndy Williams in hisMoon River Theatre inBranson, Missouri, for several months, and she returned for another engagement in autumn of 2006, following scattered concert dates throughout North America.[citation needed]
In November 2006 Clark was the subject of aBBC Four documentary titledPetula Clark: Blue Lady, and appeared withMichael Ball andTony Hatch in a concert at theTheatre Royal, Drury Lane broadcast by BBC Radio the following month.[citation needed] In December that year, she made her first appearance inIceland.[citation needed]Duets, a compilation includingDusty Springfield,Peggy Lee,Dean Martin,Bobby Darin andthe Everly Brothers, among others, was released in February 2007; andSolitude and Sunshine, a studio recording of all new material by composerRod McKuen, was released in July of that year.[citation needed] She was the host of the March 2007PBS fundraising specialMy Music: The British Beat, an overview of the musicalBritish invasion of the United States during the 1960s, followed by a number of concert dates throughout the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.[citation needed] She can be heard on the soundtrack of the 2007independent filmDowntown: A Street Tale.Une Baladine (in English, a wandering minstrel), an authorised pictorial biography by Françoise Piazza, was published in France andSwitzerland in October 2007, and the following month she promoted it in bookshops and at book fairs.[citation needed]
In 2005 she took part in theBBC Wales programmeComing Home, about herWelsh family history.
She was presented with the 2007 Film and TV Music Award for Best Use of a Song in a Television Programme for "Downtown" in the ABC seriesLost.[citation needed] She completed a concert tour ofEngland and Wales in summer 2008, followed by concerts in Switzerland and thePhilippines.[citation needed]Then & Now, a compilation of greatest hits and several new Clark compositions, entered the UK Albums Chart in June 2008 and won Clark her first silver disc for an album.[citation needed]Open Your Heart: A Love Song Collection, a compilation of previously unreleased material and new and remixed recordings, was released in January 2009.[citation needed] Additionally, her 1969 NBC specialPortrait of Petula, already released on DVD for Region 2 viewers, is also being produced for Region 1.[citation needed] A collection of holiday songs titledThis Is Christmas, which includes some new Clark compositions in addition to previously released material, was released in November 2009.[citation needed]
At theMontreux Jazz Festival on 14 July 2008 Clark joined withPaolo Nutini to perform "Goin' to Chicago Blues" in celebration ofQuincy Jones' 75th birthday.
In 2010 she became president of theHastings Musical Festival;[62] she toured Australia, New Zealand andQuebec to sell-out crowds,[citation needed] and appeared on theVivement Dimanche show on French television, where she promised a return to Paris in the new year. Her triple albumUne Baladine included 10 new tracks and one new studio recording: "SOS Mozart", a writing collaboration ofGilbert Bécaud and Pierre Delanoë.[citation needed] Both her album set and the new recording of "SOS Mozart" were produced by David Hadzis at the Arthanor Productions studio inGeneva and appeared on the French charts. She was patron of 2011 Dinard British Film Festival.[63]
Early in 2011 the Lark Street Business Improvement District in a section of the downtown area ofAlbany, New York, needed a name for its logo/mascot, a graphic image of a blue lark. An internet poll was held, and the winner wasPetula Lark, clearly a reference to the singer of the adopted anthem of New York City's urban area, "Downtown".[64] In November 2011, at age 78, Clark performed at theCasino de Paris, a Parisianmusic hall. She entertained for more than 90 minutes and introduced five new songs, one of which she had recently written with friendCharles Aznavour. A French album of all new material was to be released on 7 February 2012 on the Sony label, her first in that language since the late 1970s.[65]
On 11 December 2011the Saw Doctors released their version of "Downtown", featuring Clark. She appeared in the video for the song, which they recorded inGalway, and she in Paris.[66] On 22 December 2011, the record reached number two on the Irish chart.[67] In February 2012 Clark completed her first New York City show since 1975.[68] Her show featured a parody of "Downtown", an idea that came from her musical director Grant Sturiale.[68] After the end of her season, which was extended due to the demand for tickets, she returned to Paris to promote her new album, before flying to Australia for a tour.[69]
Clark appeared as a guest on Radio 4'sThe Reunion in August 2012. In January 2013, she released a new album titledLost in You. The album contains new music and somecovers. She remade her famous "Downtown", and performed a cover ofGnarls Barkley's "Crazy". She also performed a new song called "Cut Copy Me",[70] which had a 14-week run in the Belgium chart. The album entered the UK national album chart at number 24 on Sunday, 3 March 2013. Two of the songs, "Crazy" and "Downtown", were performed inJools Holland's New Year "Hootenanny" on 1 January 2013, along with her 1966 number-six hit, "I Couldn't Live Without Your Love". On 20 June 2015 she appeared with the Midtown Men at the Beacon Theatre in New York City, performing "Downtown". Clark released a new English-language album,From Now On, in October 2016, and completed a tour of the UK to promote it.[71][72] She made a cameo appearance in the 2017 London Heathrow Airport Christmas television commercial, accompanied by her song, "I Couldn't Live without Your Love".[73]
On 10 November 2017 an English-language album was released,Living for Today. She embarked on a tour of the US in November 2017. It was her first US tour in five decades.[74] On 20 April 2018 a French-Canadian album was released,Vu d'ici.[75] In March 2019 she was announced as returning to the West End stage in London for the first time in 20 years, performing in the upcoming revival ofMary Poppins as The Bird Woman.[76] In March 2020 the United Music Foundation releasedA Valentine's Day at the Royal Albert Hall, a collector's edition including the complete recording of her legendary concert at the Royal Albert Hall on 14 February 1974.[77]
Clark appeared inStephen Sondheim's Old Friends concert which aired on theBBC in January 2023. She performed "I'm Still Here" fromFollies. The CD recording of this performance was released physically and digitally in December 2023.
In 1955 Clark became linked romantically withJoe "Mr Piano" Henderson. Speculation that the couple planned to marry became rife. However, with the increasing glare of the public spotlight and her growing fame – her career in France was just beginning – Henderson, reportedly not wanting to end up as "Mr Petula Clark", decided to end the relationship,[78] although they remained on friendly terms. Their professional relationship continued for a few years, culminating in the BBC Radio seriesPet and Mr Piano, which was the last time they worked together.[79] In 1962, he penned a ballad about their break-up, called "There's Nothing More To Say", for Clark's LPIn Other Words. In 1967 inLas Vegas, she was a witness at the wedding of her friend, French singerCharles Aznavour, alongsideSammy Davis Jr.
In October 1957, Clark was invited to appear at theParis Olympia for Europe's premier live radio show,Musicorama. The next day, she was invited to the office of Vogue Records' chairman Léon Cabat to discuss recording in French and working in France. There she met her future husband, publicist Claude Wolff, to whom she was attracted immediately, and when she was told that he would work with her if she recorded in French; she agreed.[26][13] They were married in June 1961 and have two daughters and a son. They also have two adult grandchildren.[6][50] Clark has expressed regret about not being closer to her children when they were younger, as her busy schedule kept her away. In 2013, Clark stated that she and Wolff were "not in a romantic relationship anymore."[6] Wolff died on 20 March 2024.[80]
Following the1979 UK general election, in whichMargaret Thatcher won a majority for theConservatives, becoming Britain's first femaleprime minister, Clark sent Thatcher a congratulatory telegram, saying, "Felicitations – so happy for you and for Britain."[81][82] The same year, Clark performed at aYoung Conservatives rally.[83] However, in 2002, she attended a fundraiser forLabour prime ministerTony Blair.[84]
Since the 1960s, Clark has calledGeneva, Switzerland home.[6] She also has a holidaychalet in theFrench Alps, where she likes toski, and apied-à-terre in London'sChelsea.[citation needed]
Source:[85]
All four songs were released in 1964 in Spain on HispavoxEP "Petula Clark canta en Español" (Cat.-No. HV 27–126).
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