Yes, the title of this story sadly is correct. Robert Goulet has passed, making this perhaps one of the hardest stories lalate news has ever written, because of the enormous talent of this man, and the tragic way he has left us ….. and the stage.

It was revealed moments ago on Reuters that Goulet died on Monday while waiting for an emmergency lung transplant, reports his wife Vera to Reuters.

The tragic death of this enormous talent came after he recently learned that he suffered from a rare form of the lung disease pulmonary fibrosis. He had been rushed just recently to Cedars Sinai Medical Center and there awaited a decision whether he could receive a lung transplant.

Goulet was only 73.

This story is enormously difficult to write because of what this man brought to the American theatre. If you’ve ever been in a musical, or had a child in a musical, you knew who Goulet was.

His most famous role was Lancelot. He played the lead role in the original 1960 Broadway production of “Camelot” opposite Julie Andrews and Richard Burton.

“Robert Goulet was a monumental presence on the stage and had one of the great voices of all time, which often overshadowed his many other talents,” pianist Roger Williams said in a statement Tuesday. “He really could do it all — act, dance and was as funny as hell, especially when he was making fun of himself. Robert always took his craft seriously, but never took himself seriously. Oh, how we will miss this great guy.”

Goulet won a Theatre World Award for young performers for the part. In 1966, he starred in a television adaptation of “Brigadoon”. And in 1968, he won a Tony for his performance in the 1968 Broadway musical “The Happy Time.”

Movie credits included “Honeymoon Hotel” (1964), “Atlantic City” (1980), “Scrooged” (1988) and “Beetlejuice” (1988), and he voiced the role of Wheezy the Penguin in “Toy Story 2′”(1999). He won the best new artist Grammy Award in 1962.

He is survived by three children and his current wife Vera Novak.

Our deepest thoughts to his family….. a Great has left us.

Source: Reuters