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Robert Goulet, a born entertainer

In this light-hearted 1993 radio clip, actor, singer and entertainer Robert Goulet chats with CBC's Vicki Gabereau. The performer discusses his early days on the Howdy Doody show, a very odd singing teacher he once had, and why he cut back on alcohol. He also talks about the fact that he's not a Canadian citizen, and reflects on how his father's dying words -- "God gave you a voice, you must sing" -- influenced his life.
• Robert Goulet was born on Nov. 26, 1933, in Lawrence, Mass. He was the son of French-Canadian parents, Joseph and Jeannette Goulet. Although he and his family moved back to Canada when he was young, he never became a Canadian citizen.
• Goulet's first professional performance was at the age of 16 singing with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. During the 1950s, he also did a lot of work in Canadian television, including a stint hosting CBC-TV's General Electric's Showtime.

• In 1960, he was cast in the role of Sir Lancelot in the stage musical Camelot. The musical first opened in Toronto, then did a four-week run in Boston, and then opened on Broadway a couple of months later. As Goulet's official website explains, his success on Broadway "paved the way for a stunning array of over 60 best-selling albums (he is a Grammy winner), international concert appearances, motion pictures, numerous television specials, variety and episodic television guest appearances, and his own popular television series Blue Light."

• Ed Sullivan was a big fan of Goulet's, and Goulet appeared 17 times on his program.
• Goulet's film credits include Atlantic City, Beetlejuice, Scrooged, and Naked Gun 2½, and his many theatre credits include Little Women, Carousel, Meet Me in St. Louis, Kiss Me Kate, South Pacific, Camelot and La Cage Aux Folles.

• In 2006, Goulet announced that he was seeking Canadian citizenship. "My formative years were in Canada and I have so much love for Canada," he said in a Canadian Press story. But the difficulty was that he was not born in Canada and was not living in the U.S. at the time. Nevertheless, he was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame in 2006, alongside other famous Canadians such as Eugene Levy, Pamela Anderson and singer Jann Arden.

• Goulet was married three times. At the time of his death, he was married to Vera Goulet, a Macedonian-born woman who was also his business manager. They were married in 1982.
• Robert Goulet is survived by his wife Vera, his three children (Christopher, Michael and Nicolette) and his two grandchildren (Jordan Gerard and Solange).

• Robert Goulet became ill on Oct. 13, 2007 and was hospitalized with a form of pulmonary fibrosis. He died on Oct. 30, 2007, while waiting for a lung transplant in a Los Angeles hospital.
Medium: Radio
Program: Gabereau
Broadcast Date: Jan. 13, 1993
Guest(s): Robert Goulet
Host: Vicki Gabereau
Duration: 9:11

Last updated: March 15, 2012

Page consulted on October 1, 2012

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