Petula Clark

Born on November 15, 1932, in Epsom, Surrey, Petula Clark began her entertainment career as a child star during World War II, performing on BBC radio broadcasts to boost troop morale during the London Blitz. In the 1950s, she transitioned to film acting in Britain and achieved enormous musical success in France and across Europe, recording fluent chart-toppers in French, German, and Italian. In November 1964, collaborating with British songwriter and producer Tony Hatch, Clark recorded 'Downtown'. With its soaring horn arrangements and joyous lyrical celebration of urban energy, 'Downtown' became a global pop sensation, hitting number one in the United States and Britain and earning Clark the Grammy Award for Best Rock & Roll Recording of 1964. She followed with a string of Top Ten international hits, including 'I Know a Place', 'My Love', 'A Sign of the Times', and 'Don't Sleep in the Subway'. In Hollywood, Clark starred alongside Fred Astaire in Francis Ford Coppola's musical 'Finian's Rainbow' (1968)—earning a Golden Globe nomination—and opposite Peter O'Toole in 'Goodbye, Mr. Chips' (1969). On television, her 1968 NBC special made civil rights history when she took Harry Belafonte's arm during a duet, defying racial segregation pressure from corporate sponsors. In 1998, she was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). Continuing to perform well into her nineties, Petula Clark remains the epitome of British musical elegance and transatlantic pop stardom.