Robert Goulet, internationally renowned singer/actor, has passed away at age 73 after spending weeks hospitalized in critical condition with a rare form of pulmonary fibrosis. He is survived by his wife of 25 years and manager, Vera, and his son Michael and Christopher.
Goulet died Tuesday morning in a Los Angeles hospital while awaiting a lung transplant, said Goulet spokesman Norm Johnson.
As the Broadway community mourns the loss of Robert Goulet, the marquees of Broadway theatres in New York and in cities
across North America will be dimmed in his memory on Wednesday, October 31,
2007 at exactly 8PM for one minute.
On his loss, Charlotte St. Martin, Executive Director of the
League of American Theatres and Producers, commented: "We will dearly miss this
enchanting and charismatic entertainer who has charmed audiences throughout the
world. He is a national treasure who gave his life to his first love, theatre."
Robert Goulet last starred on Broadway in the revival of La Cage aux Folles but is most notable for originating his Theatre Award-winning role as Lancelot in Lerner and Loewe's Camelot in 1960 also starring Richard Burton and Julie Andrews. He later earned the 1968 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for his performance in The Happy Time. For more information on Goulet's illustrious career on stage, in film and on television visit RobertGoulet.com
Goulet, a Tony, Emmy and a Grammy winner, first experienced
a slight shortness of breath a few months ago but dismissed it as
insignificant. In mid-August after a shoulder surgery for a torn rotator cuff,
the shortness of breath got worse and he consulted with his doctors. After
returning from a concert in Syracuse,
New York on September 20, he felt
weak with increased shortness of breath. Goulet was rushed to a Las Vegas hospital on
September 30, where he was diagnosed with Interstitial Pulmonary Fibrosis, a
rare but rapidly progressive and fatal condition.
After 12 days in the Las
Vegas hospital Goulet's medical team determined that
without an emergency lung transplant he would not survive. Since lung transplants are not performed in Las
Vegas, his long time physician, the renowned Dr. David Kipper,
orchestrated his emergency transfer to Cedars-Sinai
Medical Center
in Los Angeles
which accepted him as a transplant patient on October 12.
Goulet was transported to Cedars-Sinai on Saturday, October
13; his life dependent on finding a donated
lung. Kirk and Ann Douglas, Suzanne Somers, Harry Connick Jr. Tony
Orlando, Jerry Lewis were among many friends who have given the Goulets' their
support.
