Robert Goulet - LA Times
Bob Feigel
From the Los Angeles Times
Robert Goulet, singer who shot to fame in 'Camelot,' dies
By Dennis McLellan
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
October 31, 2007
Robert Goulet, the strikingly handsome singer with the rich baritone
who soared to stardom on the Broadway stage in 1960 playing Lancelot
in the original production of the hit musical "Camelot," died Tuesday
morning. He was 73.
Goulet, who had recently been diagnosed with interstitial pulmonary
fibrosis, was awaiting a lung transplant when he died at Cedars-Sinai
Medical Center in Los Angeles, said Norm Johnson, a spokesman for the
singer. Goulet's wife of 25 years, Vera, and his sons Christopher and
Michael were with him at the time of his death.
The singer, who had fallen ill while flying home to Las Vegas after
performing at a Sept. 20 concert in Syracuse, N.Y., was admitted to a
Las Vegas hospital on Sept. 30. He was transferred to Cedars-Sinai as
a transplant patient Oct. 14.
"Robert Goulet was a monumental presence on the stage and had one of
the great voices of all time, which often overshadowed his many other
talents," pianist Roger Williams said in a statement Tuesday. "He
really could do it all -- act, dance and was as funny as hell,
especially when he was making fun of himself. Robert always took his
craft seriously, but never took himself seriously. Oh, how we will
miss this great guy."
The American-born Goulet, who moved to Canada as a young teenager, was
a popular singer on Canadian television when he auditioned for the
role of the brave young knight in Lerner and Loewe's "Camelot,"
opposite Julie Andrews' Guenevere and Richard Burton's Arthur.
In a review of the long-running hit musical, a Variety critic wrote
that the 27-year-old Goulet "has the looks and the speaking and
singing voice of the ideal Lancelot."
Indeed, with his dark hair, startlingly blue eyes and magnificent
baritone, Goulet was the personification of a Kennedy-era leading man.
Judy Garland called him a living 8X10 glossy and Truman Capote called
him the "poinsettia of botany."
Added to the matinee-idol looks was that distinctive singing voice,
which Goulet's father considered a gift from God.
Upon hearing Goulet sing "If Ever I Would Leave You," during the first
day of rehearsals for "Camelot," Burton called it "the voice of an
angel."
"I was stunned by his performance," recalled Miles Kreuger, president
of the Los Angeles-based Institute of the American Musical, who saw
"Camelot" at a preview the night before it opened.
"At the time, before reviews were published, Robert Goulet was
entirely unknown in New York," Kreuger told The Times. "When he
appeared early in the show to sing 'C'est Moi' and swept his huge cape
with a glorious flourish, the entire audience, male and female, gasped
at the presence of this striking young man with a powerful,
beautifully modulated baritone.
"In seconds, he went from unknown to a star. Two days later, when the
reviews appeared, he was the talk of the town."
Goulet, who won a Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 1962, went on to
win a Tony Award as best actor in a musical for his portrayal of
Jacques Bonnard in Kander and Ebb's "The Happy Time" in 1968.
During his 1960s and early `70s heyday, Goulet turned out a string of
hit record albums, appeared frequently on "The Ed Sullivan Show" and
other popular TV variety shows, and starred in his own TV specials, as
well as TV productions of "Brigadoon," "Carousel" and "Kiss Me, Kate."
Goulet segued into movies in 1962 when he and Judy Garland provided
the lead feline vocal characterizations for the animated film "Gay
Purr-ee."
He went on to star in several films, including the 1964 comedies
"Honeymoon Hotel" (with Nancy Kwan) and "I'd Rather Be Rich" (with
Sandra Dee). He also guest-starred on TV series such as "The Bell
Telephone Hour" and "The Patty Duke Show" and starred in his own
short-lived spy drama series "Blue Light" in 1966.
During his heyday, Goulet also sang at the White House for Presidents
Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon and headlined in Las Vegas. He even
earned a footnote in the saga of Elvis Presley: Goulet was performing
on television when Elvis famously blasted his TV screen with a
handgun.
Goulet returned to the Broadway stage a number of times over the
years, including playing Arthur in a brief 1993 revival of "Camelot,"
and taking over the lead in a revival of the musical comedy "La Cage
aux Folles" in 2005.
He also performed frequently in regional theaters and touring
companies in "Man of La Mancha," "South Pacific," "On a Clear Day You
Can See Forever" and other shows.
The man who had hosted "The Bob Goulet Special Starring Robert Goulet"
on television in 1970 also continued to draw audiences to his concert
performances across the country. And he appeared in films such as
"Atlantic City," "Scrooged," "Beetlejuice," "The Naked Gun 2½: The
Smell of Fear" and "Mr. Wrong."
But the aging entertainment idol, who at one point began sporting a
mustache, became something of a camp icon, whose old-school show-biz
image made him ripe for satire on TV shows such as "Saturday Night
Live" and "The Simpsons."
Goulet didn't object and, in fact, periodically spoofed his Vegas
persona, including appearing as himself in a series of wacky
commercials in the `90s to promote ESPN's college basketball schedule
and, more recently, a goofy commercial spot for Emerald Nuts.
"If you can't laugh at yourself, you're a fool," Goulet told the
Orange County Register in 1996. "I don't like those who pat themselves
on the back. My job is to entertain, not to go out there and be
myself."
Added Goulet: "I wish I knew the secret of my endurance. Perseverance,
maybe. I want to be better than I sound. You can be tired or in pain,
but you must perform for those people. You give it your best shot."
Born Nov. 26, 1933, in Lawrence, Mass., Goulet grew up in the city's
French-Canadian enclave (his father was born in Quebec and his
Maine-born mother also had family ties to Quebec).
Goulet learned early on that he had a talent for singing.
"When I was 6," he once recalled, "I refused to sing at a family
party. My father scolded me and said I must not waste God's gift."
While growing up, Goulet told the Toronto Star in 2005, "I sang in the
church choir, but I didn't think much of it. Then one night when I was
13, my [ailing] father called me to his bedside and said, 'Robert, God
gave you a voice. You must sing.' He died later that night" of
Hodgkin's disease.
After his father died, the Goulets moved to Alberta, eventually
settling on his grandfather's farm 200 miles north of Edmonton.
By 16, Goulet was singing with the Edmonton Symphony. "I sang two
songs with the Summer Pops and they gave me $25," he recalled. "I
said, 'You get paid, too?' and that was the first time I thought there
might be something in this after all."
After graduating from high school, he spent two years as a disc jockey
and announcer for an Edmonton radio station. After his appearance in a
1951 production of Handel's "Messiah" in Edmonton, he won a
scholarship to the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto.
While studying singing and acting at the conservatory, he began
performing on television, in theater and in revues.
Goulet was a popular regular on "Showtime," Canada's leading
television variety program -- he was dubbed "Canada's first matinee
idol" and had a growing number of fan clubs -- when he auditioned for
"Camelot."
Goulet married his first wife, Louise Longmore, with whom he had a
daughter, Nicolette, in 1956. They were divorced in 1963, the same
year Goulet married stage star Carol Lawrence. His marriage to
Lawrence -- with whom he had two sons, Christopher and Michael -- has
been described as tempestuous. They separated in 1976 and were
divorced four years later.
In her 1990 memoir "Carol Lawrence: The Backstage Story," Lawrence
described briefly meeting Goulet for the first time backstage after
seeing him in "Camelot."
She was initially unimpressed but once they got to know one another,
she found him "funny, charming, and loving." But after they were
married, she discovered that "Bobby," as she called him, also had a
hair-trigger temper, extreme mood swings and a serious drinking
problem.
Of the book, Goulet told the New York Times in 1993: "I've not read
it, and I'm not going to read it. . . . She wants to cut me to shreds.
She hates me. . . . She was terribly angry because when I left I
didn't leave her for another woman. . . . "
As for his drinking, he said: "I never was a run-down-in-the-gutter
alcoholic. I never missed a performance." Then he sighed and said,
"That's all in the past."
In 1982, Goulet married Vera Novak, a writer and artist who began
serving as his business manager and whom, he said, helped get his life
back in order.
"She's an influence on me, and I love her dearly," he told the Toronto
Star in 2005.
Goulet, who underwent surgery for prostate cancer in 1993, began
speaking candidly about the disease and the need for annual medical
examinations.
In addition to his wife, sons and daughter, Goulet is survived by two
grandchildren, Jordan and Solange.
A memorial service is pending.
--
"It's not that I'm afraid to die. I just don't want to be there when it happens." - Woody Allen
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wax-up and drop-in of Surfing's Golden Years: <http://www.surfwriter.net>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Richard
> http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-goulet31oct31,0,4053999.story...
>
> From the Los Angeles Times
>
> Robert Goulet, singer who shot to fame in 'Camelot,' dies
>
> By Dennis McLellan
> Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
>
> October 31, 2007
>
> Robert Goulet, the strikingly handsome singer with the rich baritone
> who soared to stardom on the Broadway stage in 1960 playing Lancelot
> in the original production of the hit musical "Camelot," died Tuesday
> morning. He was 73.
>
>
> speaking candidly about the disease and the need for annual medical
> examinations.
there is a radio PSA he did for prostate screening that sounded as
though it were recorded in a large empty room with a portable cassette
recorder vintage 1972. when i would work overnight, the all-dead-
people-all-the-time AM radio station i like to listen to would play
that spot every hour along with a terribly melodramatic PSA for
macular degeneration. whenever a song by goulet was played there was a
rush in the office to be the first to say. "this is robert goulet..."
with hands cupped around your mouth to try to replicate the hollow
sound of the PSA.
mack
"A" <aa...@hot.net> wrote in message
news:13ifuqa...@corp.supernews.com...
> x-no-archive: yes
>
> "Bob Feigel" <b...@surfwriter.net.not> wrote in message
> news:sqsfi3p2v05dgpgf9...@4ax.com...
>> http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-goulet31oct31,0,4053999.story?coll=la-home-center
>
> Comments in various parts of this obit.
>
>> From the Los Angeles Times
>>
>> Robert Goulet, singer who shot to fame in 'Camelot,' dies
>>
>> By Dennis McLellan
>> Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
>>
>> October 31, 2007
>>
>> Robert Goulet, the strikingly handsome singer with the rich baritone
>> who soared to stardom on the Broadway stage in 1960 playing Lancelot
>> in the original production of the hit musical "Camelot," died Tuesday
>> morning. He was 73.
Sorry, but I can't agree about the "strikingly handsome" part....in fact
Goulet's looks always tended to creep me out a bit, and his manner always
seemed as phonily ebullient as that of Jack Cassidy. Watching either of
them smiling made me think that someone ought to digitally enhance it with a
tiny starburst on one of their teeth.
When I heard of his death today, the first thing that came to mind was the
line in the play TRU, about Capote, in which Capote (Robert Morse) receives
a potted poinsettia at Christmas, and opines that "poinsettias are the
Robert Goulet of flowers". (and he doesn't add ...'and I mean that in a
good way')
However, RIP, Mr. Goulet, lots of people enjoyed your work.