Petula 56 years old

An infamous television special with Petula Clark, which is remembered for what happened off screen.

In 1968 Harry Belafonte and Petula Clark sang together her song On the Path Of Glory for this special on NBC. Not such a remarkable event in itself, but Petula touched Harry's forearm during the duet and made TV history. It was the first time a white woman had touched a black man on US television. The sponsor insisted the touch be cut from the programme, the programme makers refused. In the decade’s “year of revolt”, Clark found herself at the centre of a media controversy involving race, censorship and endemic bigotry in a newly desegregated yet depressingly divided US.

Credits

Petula Cast

Name	Character
Harry Belafonte He was 41, now 97 years old	as Himself
Petula Clark She was 35, now 91 years old	as Herself

Petula Crew

Name	Department
Steven Hilliard Stern as Writer. He was 30 (now 86) years old	Writing
Steve Binder as Director. He was 35 (now 91) years old	Directing
Mason Williams as Writer. He was 29 (now 85) years old	Writing