Robert Goulet

Robert Goulet

Robert Gerard Goulet (November 26 1933 – October 30 2007) was a Grammy and Tony Award-winning American entertainer.

Goulet rose to international stardom in 1960 as Lancelot in Lerner and Loewe's hit Broadway musical Camelot. His long career as a singer and actor encompassed theatre, radio, television and film.

Early years

Robert Goulet was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts as the only son of French Canadian parents, Joseph Georges Andre Goulet and Jeanette Gauthier. Goulet's mother Jeanette was Jewish but non-practicing. The family returned to Canada when Goulet was three months old, and he spent his formative years there.

Goulet's rise to fame started at the age of five. At a family gathering, Goulet's aunts and uncles blackened his face with burnt cork and prompted him to do Al Jolson impressions. Though his performance was well-received by his relatives, the experience was deeply traumatic for the young Goulet, and left him with performance anxiety, which would plague him for many years.

In spite of his stage fright, Goulet was encouraged by his parents to continue performing. When he was in his early teens, his recently widowed mother moved herself and her son from Girouxville, Alberta, to the provincial capital of Edmonton so that he could take advantage of the performance opportunities offered in the city. There, he attended the famous voice schools founded by Herbert G. Turner and Jean Letourneau, and later became a radio announcer for radio station CKUA. Upon graduating from high school, Goulet received a scholarship to Toronto's Royal Conservatory of Music. There, he studied voice with famed oratorio baritones, George Lambert and Ernesto Vinci.

In 1952, he competed in CBC Television's "Pick The Stars," ultimately ascending to the semifinals. This led to other network appearances on shows like "Singing Stars of Tomorrow," "Opportunity Knocks," and the Canadian version of "Howdy Doody" (in which he starred opposite another future star, William Shatner).

Rise to stardom

In 1959, Goulet was introduced to librettist Alan Jay Lerner and composer Frederick Loewe, who were having difficulty casting the role of Lancelot in their stage production Camelot. Lerner and Loewe, impressed by Goulet's talent, signed the virtual newcomer to play the part, opposite Richard Burton (King Arthur) and Julie Andrews (Queen Guenevere), with whom he was in love at the time.

In October 1960, Camelot opened in Toronto, ran for a four-week engagement in Boston, and finally opened on Broadway two months later. Goulet received favorable reviews, most notably for his show-stopping romantic ballad, "If Ever I Would Leave You". After Camelot's run, Goulet appeared on The Danny Thomas Show and The Ed Sullivan Show, which made him a household name among American audiences.

In 1966, Goulet starred as a double agent in the World War II television drama, Blue Light.

Entertainment career

In 1968, Goulet was on Broadway in the Kander and Ebb musical The Happy Time. He appeared in a 1982 production of Rose Marie with Inga Swenson, and in 2005 appeared in the Broadway revival of Jerry Herman's La Cage aux Folles. Goulet began a recording career with Columbia Records in 1962, which resulted in more than 15 albums.

Goulet began working in films in 1962, providing the voice of one of the characters in the animated feature Gay Purr-ee, opposite Judy Garland. His first acting role was in His and Hers (1964), but it was not until a cameo appearance as a singer in Louis Malle's film, Atlantic City (1980) that Goulet was given critical acclaim. He recorded the song "Atlantic City (My Old Friend)" for Applause Records in 1981.

He was absent from the screen for seven years, until he was cast by Tim Burton as a houseguest blown through the roof by Beetlejuice and also played himself in Bill Murray's Scrooged (both 1988) In 1990 he sang the Canadian national anthem at the beginning of "WrestleMania VI", which was held at the Toronto Skydome.

In 1991, Goulet starred, along with John Putch and Hillary Bailey Smith, in the unsold television series pilot Acting Sheriff. That same year, he appeared as Quentin Hapsburg, opposite Leslie Nielsen, in the comedy The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear. (He also had a cameo in the 1982 TV series Police Squad, in the episode "The Butler Did It". The television series spawned "The Naked Gun" movie series).

In 1993, he played himself in the "Simpsons" episode "$pringfield". In that episode, Bart Simpson booked him into his own casino (actually Bart's treehouse), and he sang the well-known Jingle Bells (Batman Smells), although he never recorded the song commercially. In 1996, he appeared in Ellen DeGeneres' first starring vehicle, Mr. Wrong, as an insecure TV host. Goulet has also appeared in the Disney cartoon Recess, as the singing voice for Mikey Blumberg, in numerous episodes.

Personal life

Goulet and his first wife Louise Longmore had one daughter, Nicolette.

He had two sons, Christopher and Michael, with his second wife, actress and singer Carol Lawrence.

In 1982 he married Vera Novak in Las Vegas, Nevada. When not at their home in Las Vegas, Robert and Vera Goulet resided on their yacht in Los Angeles.

In March 2006, it was announced that Goulet would receive a star on Canada's Walk of Fame. Although he was not born in Canada, he was born of Canadian parents, and he moved back at three months old. Robert also spent his formative years in Canada. At the time of his death, Goulet was seeking Canadian citizenship, with the help of fellow Albertan bandleader and senator Tommy Banks.

Illness and death

On September 30 2007, Robert Goulet was hospitalized in Las Vegas, where he was diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, "a rare but rapidly progressive and potentially fatal condition." On October 13 he was transferred to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles after it was determined he "would not survive without an emergency lung transplant."

Goulet died on October 30 2007, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, while awaiting a lung transplant.

Popular culture references

• Goulet guest starred in The Simpsons episode "$pringfield", in which he sings at Bart's casino.
• Goulet was regularly parodied by Saturday Night Live cast member Will Ferrell, selling ridiculous merchandise, such as the "Robert Goulet cell phone" — a phone encased in an exact replica of Goulet's head — to pay off debts to criminal organizations.

Album discography

Columbia Records (except as noted):

• Always You, 1962
• Two of Us, 1962
• Sincerely Yours, 1962
• The Wonderful World of Love, 1963
• Annie Get Your Gun, studio cast, with Doris Day, 1963
• In Person, 1963
• This Christmas I Spend with You, 1963
• Without You, 1964
• Manhattan Tower, 1964
• My Love, Forgive Me, 1964
• Summer Sounds, 1965
• On Broadway, 1965
• I Remember You, 1966
• Travelin' On Tour, 1966
• On Broadway Volume 2, 1967
• Hollywood Mon Amour, 1967
• Woman, Woman, 1968
• Both Sides Now 1968
• Come Back To Sorrento 1969
• Today's Greatest Hits, 1970
• Robert Goulet's Wonderful World of Christmas, 1968
• I Never Did as I Was Told, MGM Records, 1971
• After All Is Said And Done" 1976
• Close to You, Applause Records, 1982

Filmography

• Gay Purr-ee (1962) (voice)
• Honeymoon Hotel (1964)
• I'd Rather Be Rich (1964)
• The Daydreamer (1966) (voice)
• I Deal in Danger (1966)
• Underground (1970)
• Atlantic City (1980)
• Beetlejuice (1988)
• Scrooged (1988) (cameo)
• The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear (1991)
• Mr. Wrong (1996)
• Boy Meets World
• Toy Story 2 (1999) (voice)
• The Last Producer (2000)
• G-Men from Hell (2000)
• Recess: School's Out (2001) (voice)
• Broadway: the Golden Age, by the Legends Who Were There (2003) (documentary)

External links

• Official Website
• Robert Goulet at IMDb
• Robert Goulet at the All Music Guide
• Template:Voice actor
• Robert Goulet's Coda from E! News Online