LITTLE ROCK — Robert Goulet, who marshaled his dark good looks and thundering baritone to play Lancelot in the original Camelot in 1960, then went on to a wide-ranging career as a singer and actor, winning a Tony, a Grammy and an Emmy, died Tuesday in Los Angeles. He was 73.
He died awaiting a lung transplant, said his spokesman, Norm Johnson, The Associated Press reported. In September, Goulet received a diagnosis of interstitial pulmonary fibrosis, a rapidly progressive, potentially fatal condition, his wife, Vera, said in a statement released Oct. 25 on Goulet's Web site. On Oct. 13, he was transferred from a hospital in Las Vegas, where he lived, to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles to await the transplant.
After the Camelot triumph, Goulet was called the next great matinee idol. Judy Garland described him as a living 8-by-10 glossy. He was swamped with offers to do movies, television shows and nightclub engagements.
In 1962, he won a Grammy Award as best new artist for his first two albums, Always You andTwo of Us, and his hit single "What Kind of Fool Am I." Two years later, his album My Love Forgive Me went gold; 17 of his albums from1962 to 1970 made the charts.
Robert Gerard Goulet was born on Nov. 26, 1933, in Lawrence, Mass. He took singing lessons, dropped out of high school in his senior year and made his firstprofessional appearance around the age of 16. He took a job as a disc jockey in Edmonton. He next studied opera at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto on a scholarship.
Goulet's first marriage, to Louise Longmore, ended in divorce in March 1963. That November, he married the singer and actress Carol Lawrence. The couple divorced in 1981 and an acrimonious tell-all book by Lawrence followed.
Besides his wife, the former Vera Novak, Goulet is survived by a daughter, Nicolette, from his first marriage; his sons Christopher and Michael from his second; and two grandchildren.
Front Section, Pages 2 on 10/31/2007