Petula (1968)

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.

Casting arrow_drop_down

Petula Clark
as Self

Harry Belafonte
as Self

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Crew arrow_drop_down

Bill Belew
Costume Design

Steven Hilliard Stern
Writer

Mason Williams
Writer

Steve Binder
Director

Allan Blye
Writer

Gordon Farr
Writer

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