Petula Clark has been an international star for more than 60 years as either a singer or actress but, at the age of 75, she accepts that many youngsters don't even know her.

Yet the Over 30s will be packing The Fairfield Halls, Croydon, on April 26 to see this remarkable artist who has recorded around 1,000 songs, sold in excess of 70 million records and appeared in 30-plus films as well as starring in her own TV shows and on stage in The Sound of Music, Blood Brothers and Sunset Boulevard.

Petula, born in West Ewell on November 15, 1932 and a resident of Kingston and Surbition during the Second World War, went on to become one of the most successful stars the UK has ever known. But she admits: "Maybe many youngsters don't know who I am because most of them are so engrossed in the current pop scene. I don't find that frustrating - just somewhat amusing.

"The world is constantly changing and longevity cannot be guaranteed. Perhaps Madonna will be the last big star to survive the test of time."

Even those youngsters to whom the name Petula Clark means nothing should instantly recognise Downtown, her smash hit record which topped the USA charts and launched her American career 43 years ago. She recalls: "Downtown earned me a Grammy in 1965, but it only made number two in Britain - it was kept off the top of the hit parade by You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' by the Righteous Brothers."

Petula's incredible talent first brought her to prominence as a child star during the Second World War when she entertained the troops, both on radio and in concert.

Petula - the British Shirley Temple -- made her first movie at the age of 12 in 1944 and later starred in Hollywood musicals Finian's Rainbow with Fred Astaire and Goodbye, Mr Chips with Peter O'Toole.

Her fame spread to France in the 1950s and she married Frenchman Claude Wolff in June 1961. They set up home in Geneva and she still lives in Switzerland - as well as the States and London.

But she reflects: "Appearing in Croydon is almost like returning home. I remember my childhood in Kingston and Surbiton during the war - there was a fair amount of bombing and a lot of shrapnel flying around. So my parents took me to stay with my grandparents in Wales.

"I'm looking forward to playing the Fairfield Halls. I'll be performing some new songs I have written myself and playing the piano as well. But I'd be crazy not to sing Downtown and other hits from Sunset Boulevard and Blood Brothers and perhaps The Sound of Music.

"Starring as Maria in The Sound of Music in the 1980s was a new departure for me and I had to be talked into doing it, but the show was a big success.

"I then did my own musical Someone Like You, for which I wrote the music, Blood Brothers and Sunset Boulevard, in which I played silent movie star Norma Desmond. I started off disliking the character, but I grew to have great affection for her."

So, at 75, has Petula thought of retiring? "No, I have no plans to stop performing," she said, firmly. "Neither do I intend to carry on so long that I drop dead on stage. But I still sing in the same key and my voice is better than ever. So I won't be quitting yet."

  • Petula Clark; Thursday, April 26; 8pm; Fairfield Halls, Park Lane, Croydon; £20.50-£21.50; 020 8688 9291; fairfield.co.uk.