# Robert Goulet
**Robert Goulet**, full name Robert Gerard Goulet (November 26, 1933 – October 30, 2007), was an American-born baritone singer and actor who became an overnight Broadway star as Sir Lancelot in the original 1960 production of *[Camelot](https://www.edgepedia.org/camelot-musical)* and went on to an award-winning career in stage, recordings, and television.[1](https://robertgoulet.com/bio/) He won a Grammy and a Tony, the television program *Brigadoon* that he starred in won five [Emmy Awards](https://www.edgepedia.org/emmy-awards), and he recorded a string of popular albums for Columbia during the 1960s.[2](https://robertgoulet.com/awards/) • [3](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/robert-goulet-mn0000832341) • [13](https://playbill.com/article/vintage-brigadoon-telecast-with-robert-goulet-and-peter-falk-screens-in-nyc-com-218401)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born / died | November 26, 1933, Lawrence, Massachusetts; October 30, 2007, Los Angeles, age 73[1](https://robertgoulet.com/bio/) • [4](https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/archives/la-me-robert-goulet-20071031-snap-20161026-story.html) |
| Breakthrough role | Sir Lancelot in the original Broadway *Camelot* (1960), opposite Richard Burton and Julie Andrews; "If Ever I Would Leave You" became his signature song[1](https://robertgoulet.com/bio/) |
| Major awards | Theater World Award (1960); Grammy for Best New Artist (1962); Tony for Best Actor in a Musical, *The Happy Time* (1968); the 1966 television production of *Brigadoon*, in which he starred, won five Emmy Awards[2](https://robertgoulet.com/awards/) • [13](https://playbill.com/article/vintage-brigadoon-telecast-with-robert-goulet-and-peter-falk-screens-in-nyc-com-218401) |
| Recording career | Over 60 best-selling albums; "My Love, Forgive Me (Amore, Scusami)" reached the Top 20 in 1964, his last chart hit[5](https://www.canadaswalkoffame.com/inductees/robert-goulet/) • [3](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/robert-goulet-mn0000832341) |
| Voice work | Singing voice of Wheezy the penguin in *Toy Story 2* (1999)[6](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-nov-09-ca-49138-story.html) |
| Health advocacy | Diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1993; became a spokesman for the American Cancer Society and for early screening[1](https://robertgoulet.com/bio/) |
| Honors | Hollywood Walk of Fame star (1975); Canada's Walk of Fame (2006)[1](https://robertgoulet.com/bio/) |
## Early life and Canadian career
Goulet was born in [Lawrence, Massachusetts](https://www.edgepedia.org/lawrence-massachusetts), to Joseph and Jeannette Goulet, a family of French-Canadian descent. His father, a textile mill guard and amateur singer, encouraged him to sing from the age of five. After his father's death, his mother moved 13-year-old Robert and his sister Claire to Edmonton, Alberta, where he spent his most formative years.[1](https://robertgoulet.com/bio/)
His first professional appearance came at age 16, singing in Handel's *Messiah* with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. After two years as a radio announcer for CKUA, he won a singing scholarship to the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, where he studied with the oratorio baritone George Lambert and Ernesto Vinci.[1](https://robertgoulet.com/bio/) From 1957 through 1959 he co-starred as host of the weekly CBC network variety series *General Electric's Showtime*, becoming a popular young star in Canada; he was later described as "Canada's first matinee idol".[1](https://robertgoulet.com/bio/) • [4](https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/archives/la-me-robert-goulet-20071031-snap-20161026-story.html)
## Camelot and stardom
Goulet auditioned from Canadian television for the role of Lancelot in Lerner and Loewe's *Camelot*, joining [Richard Burton](https://www.edgepedia.org/richard-burton) as [King Arthur](https://www.edgepedia.org/king-arthur) and [Julie Andrews](https://www.edgepedia.org/julie-andrews) as Guenevere. The production opened on Broadway on December 3, 1960 and ran 873 performances.[4](https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/archives/la-me-robert-goulet-20071031-snap-20161026-story.html) • [7](https://ttabvue.uspto.gov/ttabvue/ttabvue-79152818-EXA-4.pdf) The show's tryout period was troubled and its reviews were mixed, but a week and a half after opening the cast performed 17 minutes of the show on *The Ed Sullivan Show*, and ticket lines formed around the block the next day.[8](https://playbill.com/article/return-of-the-king-com-121158) • [9](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-12-30-ca-6749-story.html) In a Variety review, a critic wrote that the 27-year-old Goulet had "the looks and the speaking and singing voice of the ideal Lancelot".[4](https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/archives/la-me-robert-goulet-20071031-snap-20161026-story.html)
His show-stopping performance of "If Ever I Would Leave You" became permanently identified with him and remained his signature song for the rest of his career.[1](https://robertgoulet.com/bio/) • [10](https://nibmehub.com/opac-service/pdf/read/Musical%20Theatre%20_%20a%20history.pdf) The Broadway debut won him a Theater World Award and launched him internationally.[1](https://robertgoulet.com/bio/)
## Recordings, television, and film
During the 1960s Goulet recorded a string of popular albums for Columbia. AllMusic notes that he became a bankable LP seller rather than a regular chart act; his surprise Top 20 showing with "My Love, Forgive Me (Amore, Scusami)" in 1964 was his last hit.[3](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/robert-goulet-mn0000832341) He won the [Grammy Award for Best New Artist](https://www.edgepedia.org/grammy-award-for-best-new-artist) in 1962.[2](https://robertgoulet.com/awards/)
On television he was a frequent guest on *The Ed Sullivan Show* and other variety programs, starred in his own specials, and appeared in televised productions of *Brigadoon*, *Carousel*, and *Kiss Me, Kate*. Through his company ROGO Productions he starred in and produced *Brigadoon*, which won five Emmy Awards in 1966.[4](https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/archives/la-me-robert-goulet-20071031-snap-20161026-story.html) • [2](https://robertgoulet.com/awards/)
His film career was limited. He appeared in the 1962 animated film *Gay Purr-ee*, providing feline vocal characterizations alongside [Judy Garland](https://www.edgepedia.org/judy-garland), and in the 1964 comedies *Honeymoon Hotel* and *I'd Rather Be Rich*, but movie stardom never followed; later appearances included cameos in *Atlantic City* (1980), *Scrooged* (1988), *The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear* (1991), *Beetlejuice*, and *Mr. Wrong*.[11](https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/goulet-robert-originally-applebaum-stanley) • [4](https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/archives/la-me-robert-goulet-20071031-snap-20161026-story.html)
**Self-parody and late fame.** Goulet's old-school show-business image made him a ready target for satire on *Saturday Night Live* and *The Simpsons*, and he embraced the joke, spoofing his own Vegas persona in a series of ESPN college-basketball commercials in the 1990s and a later Emerald Nuts spot.[4](https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/archives/la-me-robert-goulet-20071031-snap-20161026-story.html) In 1998 he provided the singing voice of Wheezy the penguin in *Toy Story 2*, performing "You've Got a Friend in Me" in his trademark style, and voiced Mikey on the Disney series *Recess* (1998–2001).[6](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-nov-09-ca-49138-story.html) • [12](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/robert-goulet/)
## Return to Camelot and later stage work
Goulet won the [Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical](https://www.edgepedia.org/tony-award-for-best-actor-in-a-musical) for his portrayal of Jacques Bonnard in [Kander and Ebb](https://www.edgepedia.org/kander-and-ebb)'s *The Happy Time* in 1968.[4](https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/archives/la-me-robert-goulet-20071031-snap-20161026-story.html) He first played King Arthur, the role that had made Burton a star in *Camelot*, in Los Angeles in 1975, opposite his then-wife [Carol Lawrence](https://www.edgepedia.org/carol-lawrence), and returned to the role repeatedly through the 1990s.[8](https://playbill.com/article/return-of-the-king-com-121158) In 1993, a national tour brought him back to Broadway for eight weeks, his first Broadway appearance since his Tony win 25 years earlier.[8](https://playbill.com/article/return-of-the-king-com-121158) He estimated in 1993 that he had performed *Camelot* a couple of thousand times over three decades.[9](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-12-30-ca-6749-story.html) Other stage credits included *Man of La Mancha*, *South Pacific*, and a 1996 non-musical turn in *Moon Over Buffalo*.[6](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-nov-09-ca-49138-story.html) • [12](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/robert-goulet/)
## Health advocacy and personal life
Goulet underwent surgery for prostate cancer in 1993 and began speaking candidly about the disease and the need for annual medical examinations; his own site describes him as the first celebrity to go public with a battle against prostate cancer. He was a spokesman for the [American Cancer Society](https://www.edgepedia.org/american-cancer-society) and gave motivational lectures urging men 40 and older to get routine prostate screening, and in 2005 The Wellness Community honored him with its Human Spirit Award.[4](https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/archives/la-me-robert-goulet-20071031-snap-20161026-story.html) • [1](https://robertgoulet.com/bio/)
He married three times: Louise Longmore in 1956 (divorced 1963), the stage star Carol Lawrence in 1963, with whom he had sons [Christopher](https://www.edgepedia.org/christopher) and Michael, and, from 1982, the Macedonian-born writer and artist Vera Chochorovska Novak, whom he had met in London in 1966 and who became his business manager.[4](https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/archives/la-me-robert-goulet-20071031-snap-20161026-story.html) • [1](https://robertgoulet.com/bio/)
## Death and tribute
Diagnosed in July 2007 with a form of pulmonary fibrosis, Goulet continued performing until he fell ill on a flight home after a September 20 concert in [Syracuse, New York](https://www.edgepedia.org/syracuse-new-york). He was admitted to a Las Vegas hospital on September 30, transferred to [Cedars-Sinai Medical Center](https://www.edgepedia.org/cedars-sinai-medical-center) in Los Angeles as a transplant patient on October 14, and died there on October 30, 2007, while awaiting a lung transplant.[4](https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/archives/la-me-robert-goulet-20071031-snap-20161026-story.html)
On November 9, 2007, the day of his funeral, Las Vegas closed the Strip for his funeral procession, with hotel-casino marquees carrying his name in farewell.[1](https://robertgoulet.com/bio/) His wife Vera and his sons Christopher and Michael were with him at his death, and he is also survived by a daughter, Nicolette, and two grandchildren.[4](https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/archives/la-me-robert-goulet-20071031-snap-20161026-story.html)
## References
1. [Bio – Robert Goulet, official website](https://robertgoulet.com/bio/)
2. [Awards – Robert Goulet, official website](https://robertgoulet.com/awards/)
3. [Robert Goulet – Biography, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/robert-goulet-mn0000832341)
4. [Robert Goulet, 73; singer became overnight star in musical 'Camelot', Los Angeles Times (October 31, 2007)](https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/archives/la-me-robert-goulet-20071031-snap-20161026-story.html)
5. [Robert Goulet – Canada's Walk of Fame](https://www.canadaswalkoffame.com/inductees/robert-goulet/)
6. [Singer of 2,000 Charts, Los Angeles Times (November 9, 2000)](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-nov-09-ca-49138-story.html)
7. [Camelot (musical), excerpt filed with USPTO TTAB](https://ttabvue.uspto.gov/ttabvue/ttabvue-79152818-EXA-4.pdf)
8. [Return of the King, Playbill (July 30, 2004)](https://playbill.com/article/return-of-the-king-com-121158)
9. [Q&A With Robert Goulet: Sharing Some Brief, Shining Moments, Los Angeles Times (December 30, 1993)](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-12-30-ca-6749-story.html)
10. [Musical Theatre: A History (excerpt on Camelot)](https://nibmehub.com/opac-service/pdf/read/Musical%20Theatre%20_%20a%20history.pdf)
11. [Goulet, Robert, Encyclopedia.com](https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/goulet-robert-originally-applebaum-stanley)
12. [Robert Goulet – Actor, TV Insider](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/robert-goulet/)
13. [Vintage Brigadoon Telecast, With Robert Goulet and Peter Falk, Screens in NYC](https://playbill.com/article/vintage-brigadoon-telecast-with-robert-goulet-and-peter-falk-screens-in-nyc-com-218401)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › Canadian actors › Surnames G to I*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license