A PINT-SIZED tousled blonde with a big voice, pretty Petula Clark is taking the U.S. by song, just as she did her native England and then all of Europe. The count on her record sales in Europe was a whopping 20,000,000 when one of her disks, "Downtown,"hopped the ocean two years ago and zoomed to the top of the record charts here. Pet, as she is affectionately nicknamed, followed soon after and in appearances on TV and at a top New York night club won a span of fans-rock `n' rollers and adults, too. Her record sales in this country -half-a-dozen singles and five albums are nearing the 5,000,000 mark, and if Pet isn't already our favorite gal vocalist she will be any minute.
      No newcomer to show biz is Pet. At the beginning of World War II, she was a 9-year-old radio star, her songs and poems helping the families of British soldiers keep their chins up. At 12 she signed a movie contract and subsequently appeared in 25 films with such stars as Kay Kendall, Peter Ustinov and Alec Guiness.
      But it was with her first bit record at the age of 17 that Pet's career took off, and soon she was making radio, TV and

personal appearances all over the continent, though she knew no language other than English. (She has since become multi-lingual.)
      "My father was my manager," she said as we chatted in THE NEWS Color Studio. Looking at Pet-she's a bit over 5 feet tall and wears a size 5 dress-it was difficult to believe that she's been married half-a-dozen years and is the mother of two little girls.
      "My father," she said in her quiet, flawless British voice, "pushed me with kindness and understanding. But no one wanted to see me grow up. When I began to develop a bosom it was tied

down. I was kept on a diet, in flat shoes, and the boys were chased away. I was rather a mess, and the situation with my father became delicate. It was the usual difficult time when the child artist has to break away . . . . there comes a moment when you've got to live your own life."
      Pet was 25 when she made the break, crossing the channel to France. There she met recording executive Claud Wolff, a Frenchman who spoke no English . . . . and Pet spoke no French. Six months later they were married, and Claud became her manager.
      "I didn't want to be the secretary of my wife," he explained, "but it was never like that. We knew that the only way we can stay together is if I manage her, And now I know, and she knows, without me she couldn't do it. Her career is what we have done."
      "I think even if we weren't married I would keep him as my manager," Pet said with a gamine grin. "I have what I suppose you could call an artistic temperament in my work," she went on, "and I have my own way when it comes to my music and my act. My husband guides my career as a whole . . .. I loathe that part of the business. But when we are at home Claud takes over completely. . . . he's the boss," she smiled, "and I like it that way. I'm very European as far as that goes - I sincerely feel that the man should be boss.
      "I'm much happier now than I used to be from every point of view," she said. "My father was hurt for a while when I went off, but we are great friends now.
      "Claud and I have a wonderful life. We have a home in Paris, but now we are building a home for forever in Switzerland. We have two gor- geous children . . . . Barbara will be 5 in December and Kate is 3.

Barbara is beautiful. she has a very quiet, calm, friendly face, with that still, sure beauty. She's a end.... when I'm away from her I miss her to talk to.
      "Kate, who was born in Paris, has blonde, corkscrew-curled hair. She has a magic . she's a pixie. She lives in an enchanted land.... she always has a frog with her, an imaginary frog... . it's either sitting on her head or in her pocket It doesn't have a name, she calls it `frog,"' said Pet, rolling the r and then explain- ing, "The children spoke nothing but French until we took on an English-speaking nurse, and now Kate speaks only English, but with this funny French accent.
      "The children watch me on television and they've seen me on stage, too. I was doing a show in Montreal and they came to a matinee. (They travel all over with us but they're always in bed by 8 o-clock.) In the intermission they came backstage and Katie said to me, `We just saw mummy on stage,' and Barbara said, `But this is mummy,' and Katie said, `No, no,there's another mummy on stage!"'
      Pet smiled. "Life is hectic, but I look forward to everything. In the year ahead I'll be doing all the exciting things I've been wanting to do for years. I'll be on TV shows-Ed Sullivan, Andy Williams, Dean Martin, Danny Kaye. . . . and I'll play hotels and clubs across the country. I'm looking forward particularly to a month of college concerts in March.
      "You know," she smiled, "it wasn't till I got married that I began singing the songs a woman should-'I Couldn't Live Without Your Love' and my new one, `Who Am I?' It's marvelous that at last I am singing the kind of songs I want to and that people seem to like hearing them, because all I've got to sell is a bunch of songs and me."