France sings for Petula Clark: "We Saw a Star Coming from England. . ."

      Each record she records is a hit which sells more than 500,000 copies. She has been at the top of all international record charts and box-offices; her name is known by everybody and for the past few days it is in bright bold letters on the marquee of the most celebrated music-hall theater of all of France. For Petula Clark, the most charming and most feminine foreign singer that France adopted, this is her consecration.
      Many things have happened since February 1958 when Petula who was unknown to the French public came here for a radio interview, sang "With all my Heart" (Gondolier) in English, because she didn't speak a word of French, at this same Olympia theater.
      Today Petula speaks French fluently, she is one of the biggest recording stars, but one who is also very private. That is the reason we went at her home, in Montparnasse, right in the middle of the neighbourhood she adores, to ask her a few questions.

Who are you Petula Clark?
     "Come in, but please do not make any noise, Barbara is sleeping." Once these few words said with her unusual accent and her marvellous smile, wearing an ordinary, short black dress; Petula greets me in her small apartment, where she, Claude and Barbara live. The apartment is located on the third floor of a modern building. Barbara, who is 11 months old, is her daughter, she has blond hair just like her mother, she is Petula's pride and joy.
      "Of course I'm a singer, but I'm also and mainly a mother and a wife. Come with me to the living-room, I'll introduce you to my husband Claude."
      Half asleep in his lazy-boy armchair, a tall brown hair man suddenly stands up and shakes hands with me. "Excuse me, we went to bed very late last night. After Petula's performance at the Olympia, she had to go to a TV studio to record a program."
      Apart from being artistic director at Vogue records, Claude Wolff is more or less Petula's manager. He helps her, advises her with the choice of her songs, arranges the lights when she works on stage and finally drives the car when they are on tour.
     

"By doing so, we are always together," says Petula.

"You are definitely established in France. Don't British people feel that you've abandoned them?"
      "I sometime receive letters making some reproaches concerning my moving to France, but in general they understand very well that since I'm married to a Frenchman, my life is here next to him. Anyhow I haven't abandoned them. I go back to England and sing there from time to time."

Which audience do you prefer? The French one or the English one?"
      "It's hard to say, they are so different. However, I have a small preference for the French audiences, they are so nice with me."

Why do you think you have such an extraordinary popularity in France?"
      "Maybe because of my accent, but mostly because of love. Yes, if I hadn't fallen in love with Claude Wolff on my first trip to France in 1958, I would have gone back to England and I would have never come back."

"What do you do when you have some time to yourself?"
      "I take care of my daughter, I bathe her, feed her and go for strolls with her in Les Jardins du Luxembourg. Also I experiment with French cuisine, Claude likes to eat."
      "That's not true," Claude says with a smile!
      "We also go to the movies from time to time," Mrs Wolff adds, "but you know we prefer to stay home. We like being at home!"

What about vacations?
      "We go to Vallauris to a small house that we bought last year. There is a bit of land and a palm tree. You know the palm tree is the secret dream of many English people. When I was a little girl, I dreamt I had a beautiful house with a beautiful palm tree in the middle of the garden. Today my dream is fulfilled."

If one day you can no longer conciliate your career and your family life, what will you do?
      "I would certainly abandon my singing career. It would break my heart for sure, but I don't want my child to be raised outside the environment of a home and family, like children of many artists."
      We are interrupted by small sharp screaming sounds coming from the adjacent room. It is Barbara who is waking up. One has to see Petula taking her daughter in her arms, talking to her tenderly in French, rocking her. I have trouble imagining that this young mother (Petula turned 30 years old just last week) who is showing her motherly love to her child, is the same person who sings and dances every night on the stage of the Olympia. Claude Wolff during that time went to get a big stuffed rabbit and plays around with it to the greatest joy of Barbara. Yes, in fact, the Wolff family is a happy family.


Is it true that you are expecting a baby for next spring?
"Yes, it's true, and I wish with all my heart that it is a brother for Barbara!"

After the Olympia, what will you do?
      "First I will tour in the south of France, afterwards we're going to Lebanon, then we'll go to America."

So you're leaving us!
      "Oh no! France is now my country, and I enjoy it so much, I'm happy here."
      Petula Clark is a great performer, an adorable mother and a charming wife but also an all around kind person.