Robert Goulet took Broadway by storm and won the Theatre World Award with his debut as Sir Lancelot in the original Camelot (1960) also starring Richard Burton and Julie Andrews and achieved instant recognition as one of the American Theater’s most charismatic and talented musical stars. He was considered one of the greatest baritones of our times and his vocal talents illuminated every medium of the entertainment world.
Robert Gerard Goulet was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts, the only son of French Canadian parents, Joseph and Jeannette Goulet. He began singing when he was five years old at family gatherings. At one gathering young Robert’s aunts and uncles blacked out his face with a burnt cork, put on his mother’s white gloves and he entertained everyone with an Al Jolson impersonation. The applause terrified him, and for many years left him with a fear of performing. At age eleven, returning home from school, two nuns stopped him and said, “You are going to sing Saturday night at the church function.” Young Robert looked at them and said, “No, I am not,” and started to leave. One nun grabbed him by the hair and leading him away said, “Yes, you are.” That Saturday night he sang at the church function. After hearing him sing “Lead Kindly Light” in their church hall, his father came down from the balcony with a tear in his eye, hugged him and said, “I’m proud of you, my son,” instilling in him a glowing feeling, thrilled that he had pleased his father.
A scant few weeks later, Robert’s father called his son to his deathbed and said, “God gave you a voice, you must sing.” His father’s last words carried weight that left lasting imprints upon young Robert and he knew, then, that the stage was to be his life.
After his father’s death at age thirteen Jeanette Goulet moved to Canada with young Robert and his sister Claire, where he spent his most formative years. Mr.Goulet’s first professional appearance was at age 16 with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. Following a two-year stint as a radio announcer, he was awarded a singing scholarship to the Royal Conservatory of Music, University of Toronto, Canada. In 1993 they awarded him with their highest honor, a ‘Fellowship’ - one of his most cherished awards. He received a Star on Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1975 and in 2006, thirty one years later he was privileged to receive The Canadian Walk of Fame Star.
He was a popular young star in Canada in the 1950s, and appeared in scores of theatrical, radio and television productions — culminating as host of the weekly network variety show for CBC-TV, “General Electric’s Showtime” but Goulet’s Broadway bow launched him internationally. It paved the way for a stunning array of over 60 best-selling albums (he is a Grammy winner), international concert appearances, motion pictures, numerous television specials, variety and episodic television guest appearances, and his own popular television series “Blue Light.”
Ed Sullivan was one of his most enthusiastic fans, and invited “The American Baritone from Canada” to appear seventeen times on his weekly variety show.
His fear of live audiences was noticed by Lord Laurence Olivier during a performance of Camelot. Speaking to him backstage he said “We can’t see enough of your eyes. Can you wiggle your ears?” Goulet answered, “Yes I can.” Olivier then said “try it.” At the next matinee he tried it (only because Olivier asked him to), and found that the audience was not made up of ogres or green-eyed monsters.
A theater veteran, his many stage credits include: Little Women, Sunshine Town, Thunder Rock, The Optimist, Dream Girl, Carousel, Finian’s Rainbow, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, The Pajama Game, Beggars Opera, Bells Are Ringing, Meet Me in St. Louis, The Happy Time (Tony Award), I Do, I Do, On A Clear Day, Kiss Me Kate, The Fantasticks, South Pacific (1987-89), Camelot (as Lancelot 1960, as King Arthur 1992-94 & 1998), Moon Over Buffalo (1996 Broadway), Man Of La Mancha (1996-1997), South Pacific (2000), La Cage Aux Folles (2005 Broadway).
Equally adept at comedy and drama he starred in a score of television presentations. Along with his television series, Blue Light, he had his own specials: An Hour with Robert Goulet, The Robert Goulet Special, The Bob Goulet Special-Starring Robert Goulet as well as The Name Of the Game, Big Valley, Police Story, Cannon, Dream Merchants, Fantasy Island, Make My Day, In the Heat Of The Night, The Simpson’s (Radio Mercury Gold Award - Humor), Based On An Untrue Story, Burke’s Law, Get Smart, ESPN College Basketball Campaigns (Sports Emmy), Disney’s Recess, George and Leo, Just Shoot Me, Two Guys and a Girl, Nikki and My Favorite Broadway, Las Vegas, King Of Queens, Emerald Nuts 2007 Super Bowl commercial, My Music PBS.
His film credits range from the animated feature film Gay Purr-ee co-starring the voice of Judy Garland to Honeymoon Hotel, I’d Rather Be Rich, I Deal In Danger, Underground, Atlantic City, Beetlejuice, Scrooged, Naked Gun 2½, Mr. Wrong, Toy Story II, Disney’s animated feature Recess, G-Men From Hell,The Last Producer with Burt ReynoldsandEverything Is Illuminated (voice).
His Simpson’s episode and ESPN college basketball commercials are considered “classics” They became immensely popular and brought him an influx of new fans as did the well received Mercedes Benz TV commercial. With Toy Story II he has garnered an audience from the five to fifty year olds - they just love Wheezy and his rendition of “You’ve Got a Friend In Me.” His 2007 Super Bowl commercial for Emerald Nuts has become as popular as his ESPN spots.
A father of three children; sons Christopher and Michael, and daughter Nicolette, who is the mother of his grandchildren, Jordan Gerard and Solange.
In 1982 he married Macedonian-Yugoslavian-born Vera Chochorovska Novak. Vera runs their companies ROGO & ROVE and she is also his business manager. They were a team in marriage as well as in business, but most importantly, they were each other’s best friends.
Mr. Goulet was very actively involved with his local community in Las Vegas as well as in many charitable causes worldwide. For many years one of his dreams was to build a Performing Arts Center in Las Vegas and bring Musical Theater, plays ballet and opera to the city. He was pleased to see that some of the major Las Vegas hotels were finally presenting Broadway musicals. He was also a spokesman for the American Cancer Society and periodically gave lectures on Cancer Awareness, Prevention and Early Detection.
Mr. Goulet’s remarkable sense of humor, his ability to laugh at himself always endeared him to his audiences.
“You have to have humor, and be able to laugh at yourself,” said Goulet.“One of the lines in Man Of La Mancha spoken of the Duke in the play by Cervantes/ Don Quixote is, ‘He carries his self importance as if afraid of breaking it’ amuses me immensely. No one should take himself that seriously.”
Fear of performing long gone, he continued to obey his father’s orders and after every performance he left audiences with smiles on their faces.
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