Petula Sally Olwen Clark, CBE (born 15 November 1932) is an English singer, actress, and songwriter.
She has had one of the longest careers of an English singer, spanning more than seven decades.
Clark's professional career began during the Second World War as a child entertainer on BBC Radio.
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 coeur", "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 four-year run of career-defining, often upbeat singles, many written or co-written by Tony Hatch and Jackie Trent.
These songs include her signature song "Downtown", "I Know a Place", "My Love", "A Sign of the Times", "I Couldn't Live Without Your Love", "Who Am I", "Colour My World", "This Is My Song" (by Charles Chaplin), "Don't Sleep in the Subway", "The Other Man's Grass Is Always Greener", and "Kiss Me Goodbye".
In the US, Clark was sometimes called "the First Lady of the British Invasion".
Clark has sold more than 68 million records.
She has also enjoyed success in the musical film Finian's Rainbow and in the stage musicals The Sound of Music, Blood Brothers, Sunset Boulevard and Mary Poppins.
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.
Clark continued touring during the 1970s, performing in clubs in the US and Europe.
During this period, Clark also appeared in print and radio ads for the Coca-Cola Corporation, television commercials for Plymouth automobiles, print and TV spots for Burlington Industries, television and print ads for Chrysler Sunbeam, and print ads for Sanderson Wallpaper in the UK.[citation needed]
In the mid-1970s Clark scaled back her career to devote more time to her family.
On 31 December 1976, she performed her hit song "Downtown" on BBC1's A Jubilee of Music, celebrating British popular music for Queen Elizabeth II's impending Silver Jubilee.
She also hosted the television series The 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 of The Muppet Show in 1977.
In 1980 she made her last film appearance, in the British production Never Never Land.
Her last television appearance was acting in the 1981 French miniseries Sans Famille (An Orphan's Tale).
A 1981 single, "Natural Love", reached number 66 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart and number 20 on the US country singles chart in early 1982.