Fly Away Goulet: Legendary Peformer Dead at 73

October 30, 2007: The day the music died. That's right, Robert Gerard Goulet, has passed away at the age of 73 in a Los Angeles hospital, where the actor and singer had been awaiting a lung transplant since October 22.


The 73-year-old Goulet, who was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts in 1933 as an only child to parents Joseph and Jeanette, both of whom were of French-Canadian descent, made his mark on Broadway when he appeared in Broadway's Camelot. The twentysomething actor so impressed the team of Lerner and Loewe that they awarded him the part of Lancelot in the 1960 production, placing the young Goulet in a cast that included Richard Burton as King Arthur and Julie Andrews as Queen Guenevere; in '62 he won a Grammy for "Best New Artist." Not long after, in 1968, Goulet won a Tony for his performance in The Happy Time, a Kander and Ebb musical.
* A suave, tuxedoed Goulet (sans moustache) circa 1963.
* Mr. Goulet, appearing as only he can, with his trademark black coif, wide, full moustache, and piercing blue eyes.

Goulet, in terms of film, appeared in Tim Burton's Beetlejuice, with Bill Murray in Scrooged, and as Quentin Hapsburg in Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear. However, it was the singer's ability to embrace his kitschiness as a lounge lizard with a velvety voice that endeared him to the masses, appearing in television commercials for ESPN and Emerald Nuts. This Goulet persona was spoofed by Will Ferrell in several popular Saturday Night Live sketches. * Just one of Will Ferrell's riotously funny skits where he appeared as Robert Goulet.

Robert Goulet is survived by his wife of 25 years, Vera, his daughter Nikki from his first marriage, and his sons Christopher and Michael, who he had with actress/singer Carol Lawrence, his second wife. Funeral arrangements have yet to be announced.