Reuters North American News Service, October 24th, 2007
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Singer Robert Goulet, who
shot to stardom by playing Sir Lancelot in the original
Broadway version of "Camelot," is fighting for his life at a
Los Angeles hospital, his wife, Vera, said Tuesday.
In an interview with Reuters, Vera Goulet said her husband
was under sedation and on a respirator at Cedars-Sinai Medical
Center while awaiting a decision on whether he can receive a
lung transplant.
Goulet, whose 74th birthday is next month, is on the
ventilator after being diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis, which
often requires a lung transplant.
"His life is hanging on the edge but he is a very strong
man. He is being kept sedated because he is on a respirator and
if he wasn't, he might try to rip it out," Vera Goulet said.
She added: "It is hard to watch him like that. I can't tell
you how much I want to see his smile and hear his booming voice
again."
A transplant committee has to decide whether he is a
suitable candidate for a new lung, a decision that might be
made soon, she said.
He was taken to Cedars-Sinai on the weekend after spending
more than two weeks in a Las Vegas-area hospital, she added.
In 1960, Goulet went from being a nearly unknown baritone
to international star with his Broadway debut in "Camelot,"
which also starred Richard Burton and Julie Andrews.
The son of French-Canadian parents, he was born in
Lawrence, Massachusetts, where he lived for only a few months
before returning to Canada with his parents.
According to the biography on his Web site, he began
singing at age 5 for his family. Their applause frightened him
and for many years he was terrified of performing.
At age 11, two nuns at his school ordered him to sing at a
church function and when he refused, one of the nuns grabbed
him by the hair and said, "Yes you are." He did and after the
show, his father told him how proud of him he was and urged him
to continue singing.
After "Camelot," Goulet made over 60 best-selling albums,
and appeared 17 times on the Ed Sullivan television show, where
he was introduced as "the American singer from Canada."
His stage shows included "Little Women," "Dream Girl,"
"Carousel," "Finian's Rainbow" and "The Pajama Game."
In revivals of "Camelot" in the 1990s, he played King
Arthur.
