Robert Goulet or Mr G: The Days When They Could Belt Them Out

My kids listen to voices that are stifled. The singers mumble words and toss out lyrics that have the same monotonous rhythm, and every line ends in a rhyme. "Day, may, bay, say, kay, way.." you get the drift.

But when I was growing up, Broadway stars were on the TV. From Julie Andrews to Ethel Merman, we had them all. Pearl Bailey, and even Barbra Streisand were introduced on hour-long variety shows and one thing they all had in common --they could belt out the tunes with a full voice. None of this stringy, raspy stuff where the guy sounds like he needs a dose of B-12 and maybe a round of whiskey to loosen things up. No wonder Josh Groban is such a standout. His voice sings above all the whiny (almost apologetic) voices, as well as the mumblers.

Anyway, to the point of my post. Robert Goulet died today here in L.A. He was awaiting a lung transplant, and was sedated and intubated when he died. It seems a sad way for a man renown for his voice to go out. Robert Goulet was one of those guys on the TV when I was a kid. He was always a little bit too good looking and intense --the sort that would make me want to crawl under a sofa until he stopped singing. Not because his voice was bad, but one glance at those blue eyes, that grin, the way he could toss out a line rendered me shy.

When I watch him now all I can think is how damned lucky he was to have such a great career. This French-Canadian kid arrives on the stage with ...Richard Burton and Julie Andrews. He also happened to get best song in the musical, "If Ever I Would Leave You." The rest is history, as they say. He did the whole dinner circuit thing, variety shows, even when the crowds got older. Turns out he was a voracious reader, and could poke fun at himself as well. He belted out tunes until the day he got sick. Had he not died, Goulet would've of kept them coming, would've played with the words and the rhythm and continued to tell a story. I found the remaster of the original cast. Wow, could he sing. He had it all. Looks, charm, & song.



Even Will Ferrell loved him:


and then read of a friendship between Mr. G and columnist Joel Stein, which includes: "He reads four newspapers a day and all the newsmagazines, which he clips. That, plus the slapping and his habit of breaking into song, and he reminded me a bit of a dangerous homeless man, only better looking."

And then watch him and Broadway luminaries in the Tony Awards. Just watching ride in on the back of the Rolls Royce is proof enough of his appeal on the stage.