Robert Goulet

Here I am again, reluctantly counting my losses. Beloved, hated or just plain “Who cares?”, more celebrated people died in 2007 than any year in my memory. I always forget somebody, but here is the nucleus of the ones who will light up the headlines no more.

I suffered a particularly rough blow when my dear friend June Allyson dimmed the lights of the MGM musical era to a final fadeout.  read more »

Broadway will dim its lights Oct. 31 at 8 PM to honor the memory of legendary Camelot star Robert Goulet.

Playbill reports:

Broadway marquees as well as those in cities across North America will be dimmed at 8 PM for one minute.

Charlotte St. Martin, executive director of the League of American Theatres and Producers, said in a statement, "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."

We'll miss the machismo of Vegas crooner and Broadway star Robert Goulet, who passed away from a lung disease at 73 yesterday.

The New York Times reports:

Robert Goulet, who marshaled his dark good looks and thundering baritone voice to play a dashing Lancelot in the original “Camelot” in 1960, then went on to a wide-ranging career as a singer and actor, winning a Tony, a Grammy and an Emmy, died yesterday in Los Angeles. He was 73.

After the “Camelot” triumph, Mr. Goulet was called the next great matinee idol. Judy Garland described him as a living 8-by-10 glossy. He was swamped with offers to do movies, television shows and nightclub engagements. Few articles failed to mention his blue bedroom eyes, and many female fans tossed him room keys during performances. His hit song from “Camelot,” “If Ever I Would Leave You,” remains a romantic standard.

“Something in his voice evokes old times and romance,” Alex Witchel wrote in The New York Times Magazine in 1993. “He makes you remember corsages.”

Need cheering up? Will Ferrell pays homage to him here.