Obituaries - Robert Goulet, 73; singer became overnight star in musical 'Camelot'

Robert Goulet, the strikingly handsome singer with the rich baritone who soared to stardom on the Broadway stage in 1960 playing Lancelot in the original production of the hit musical "Camelot," died Tuesday morning. He was 73.

Goulet, who had recently been diagnosed with interstitial pulmonary fibrosis, was awaiting a lung transplant when he died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, said Norm Johnson, a spokesman for the singer. Goulet's wife of 25 years, Vera, and his sons Christopher and Michael were with him at the time of his death.

The singer, who had fallen ill while flying home to Las Vegas after performing at a Sept. 20 concert in Syracuse, N.Y., was admitted to a Las Vegas hospital on Sept. 30. He was transferred to Cedars-Sinai as a transplant patient Oct. 14.

"Robert Goulet was a monumental presence on the stage and had one of the great voices of all time, which often overshadowed his many other talents," pianist Roger Williams said in a statement Tuesday. "He really could do it all -- act, dance and was as funny as hell, especially when he was making fun of himself. Robert always took his craft seriously, but never took himself seriously. Oh, how we will miss this great guy."

The American-born Goulet, who moved to Canada as a young teenager, was a popular singer on Canadian television when he auditioned for the role of the brave young knight in Lerner and Loewe's "Camelot," opposite Julie Andrews' Guenevere and Richard Burton's King Arthur.

In a review of the long-running hit musical, a Variety critic wrote that the 27-year-old Goulet "has the looks and the speaking and singing voice of the ideal Lancelot."

Indeed, with his dark hair, startlingly blue eyes and magnificent baritone, Goulet was the personification of a Kennedy-era leading man.

Judy Garland called him a living 8X10 glossy and Truman Capote described him as the "poinsettia of botany."

Added to the matinee-idol looks was that distinctive singing voice, which Goulet's father considered a gift from God.

Upon hearing Goulet sing "If Ever I Would Leave You" during the first day of rehearsals for "Camelot," Burton called it "the voice of an angel."

"I was stunned by his performance," recalled Miles Kreuger, president of the Los Angeles-based Institute of the American Musical, who saw "Camelot" at a preview the night before it opened.