YOU'RE WELCOME FOR THE SCORES, AND THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES
By Ron Kantowski
October 29, 2007 at 7:34:8 PDT
Every now and then, when we are sitting around drinking Diet Pepsi and trying to figure out what's wrong with UNLV's football team, the guys who sit next to me on the Sun sports desk start telling "only in Las Vegas" stories.
These are little anecdotes we swear could happen only here (or, possibly, in Branson, Mo.), that largely explain why we choose to live and work in Las Vegas, even when there's an opening at the Fresno Bee.
For example, only in Las Vegas could Evel Knievel call the sports desk looking for the score of the Colts game that he had bet on the night before.
Only in Las Vegas could you be sitting in a lounge at the Mirage on a Sunday afternoon, sipping a Diet Pepsi and minding your business, only to have Rip Taylor, the comedian and serial confetti tosser , sans hairpiece, walk up to your table and ask for directions.
Only in Las Vegas could you be sitting in a local tavern so far from the Strip's bright lights that you would need night-vision goggles to see them, only to bump into Steve Rossi, the comedian, wolfing down a 99-cent breakfast. And have him chuckle in appreciation of your weak "Hello Dere," impression of his old sidekick, Marty Allen.
The news that Robert Goulet was fighting for his life in the hospital made me remember another only in Las Vegas story.
Only in Las Vegas could you be sitting at your computer, the cursor blinking on a blank screen, waiting for you to put it into motion with some brilliant prose, only to be interrupted by a phone call from Robert Goulet.
The Robert Goulet.
Or Bob Goulet, which is how he identified himself to the Sun's Brian Hilderbrand one afternoon in Camelot, which is what we called the newsroom, at least on that particular day.
"Brian?" the familiar and strident voice on the other end of the line said. "Bob Goulet."
It both stunned and, if truth be known, flattered Brian that Goulet had called him by name, as if they were old pals. They had never met, although their paths had crossed at Cashman Field, when Goulet sang the national anthem at Las Vegas Stars games that Brian wrote about the next day in the paper.
Apparently, Goulet was more of a sports fan than any of us would have guessed. He said he was reading the tennis scores in that day's sports section, and wanted to know what the numbers in parentheses meant after the players' names.
Brian told him that was score of the tiebreaker. Bob Goulet said "thanks," and hung up. That was the last time we heard from him, outside of the times when he sang the anthem at Cashman, when Brian would hold the phone out the press box window and call the office, so we could hear Goulet flex his pipes.
But every year at Christmas, we'd get a card from Goulet and his lovely wife, Vera, which we would proudly display on the sports desk.
Only in Las Vegas.
Singer Robert Goulet in fight for his life
Arthur Spiegelman, Reuters
Published:Â Tuesday, October 23, 2007
LOS ANGELES - Singer Robert Goulet, who shot to stardom by playing Sir Lancelot in the original Broadway version of "Camelot," is fighting for his life at a Los Angeles hospital, his wife, Vera, said today.
In an interview with Reuters, Vera Goulet said her husband was under sedation and on a respirator at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center while awaiting a decision on whether he can receive a lung transplant.
Goulet, whose 74th birthday is next month, is on the ventilator after being diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis, which often requires a lung transplant.
"His life is hanging on the edge but he is a very strong man. He is being kept sedated because he is on a respirator and if he wasn't, he might try to rip it out," Vera Goulet said.
She added: "It is hard to watch him like that. I can't tell you how much I want to see his smile and hear his booming voice again."
A transplant committee has to decide whether he is a suitable candidate for a new lung, a decision that might be made soon, she said.
He was taken to Cedars-Sinai on the weekend after spending more than two weeks in a Las Vegas-area hospital, she added.
In 1960, Goulet went from being a nearly unknown baritone to international star with his Broadway debut in "Camelot," which also starred Richard Burton and Julie Andrews.
The son of French-Canadian parents, he was born in Lawrence, Mass., where he lived for only a few months before returning to Canada with his parents.
According to the biography on his website, he began singing at age five for his family. Their applause frightened him and for many years he was terrified of performing.
At age 11, two nuns at his school ordered him to sing at a church function and when he refused, one of the nuns grabbed him by the hair and said, "Yes you are." He did and after the show, his father told him how proud of him he was and urged him to continue singing.
After "Camelot," Goulet made over 60 bestselling albums, and appeared 17 times on the Ed Sullivan television show, where he was introduced as "the American singer from Canada."
His stage shows included "Little Women," "Dream Girl," "Carousel," "Finian's Rainbow," and "The Pajama Game."
In revivals of "Camelot" in the 1990s, he played King Arthur.
Reuters 2007
NORM: Sox help Goulet live the 'Dream'
NORM CLARKE
Oct. 29, 2007 Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
DENVER
Knowing Robert Goulet got one of his final wishes makes his dire situation easier to take.
Before he was staring at the toughest battle of his life, Goulet was invited to perform on a dream stage.
Three years ago he told a Boston area newspaper, "I would sing for free. I would bicycle there from (my home in) Las Vegas to sing at Fenway Park."
Lucky for him, someone in the Boston Red Sox front office saw the article in The Eagle-Tribune of North Andover, Mass., and Goulet soon had an invitation to Fenway, home of his beloved Red Sox.
"I was so excited I was shaking," Goulet told the Eagle-Tribune in April. "Imagine my dream coming true. They didn't realize how happy they made me."
Born to French-Canadian parents in Lawrence, Mass., Goulet was at Fenway Park on Opening Day to sing "The Impossible Dream" during a ceremony to honor Boston's "Impossible Dream" team of 1967.
Goulet had popularized the song while playing Don Quixote in "Man of La Mancha" on Broadway.
It was the theme song of the BoSox that season, when, after eight consecutive losing seasons, they turned it around to win the American League with a cast that included Carl Yastrzemski, Ken Harrelson, Tony Conigliaro, and Jim Lonborg.
Joining them on Opening Day was their manager Dick Williams, who took four teams to the World Series, winning two in a row with the Oakland As in 1972 and 1973. Williams has lived in Las Vegas since 1990 and has been working as the color analyst for the Las Vegas 51s.
The Red Sox's dream season ended in Game 7 of the 1967 World Series when Bob Gibson of the St. Louis Cardinals, one of the most dominant power pitchers that era, defeated Boston with his third complete-game victory.
Goulet, 73, is in Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles where he is awaiting a lung transplant after being diagnosed with a form of pulmonary fibrosis that has been described by his family as a "rapidly progressive and fatal condition."
Goulet Sedated While Awaiting Transplant
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
By RYAN NAKASHIMA, Associated Press Writer
LAS VEGAS — Singer and actor Robert Goulet is heavily sedated and breathing through a respirator in a Los Angeles hospital while he awaits a lung transplant, his wife told The Associated Press on Tuesday. "He can hear me but he can't respond," Vera Goulet said of the 73-year-old crooner.
Vera Goulet said doctors told her the lung transplants are the most successful operation of any transplant, with a success rate of 88 percent. A suitable donor has yet to be found, she said.
"God willing, if we proceed with this, our doctors feel that there's no reason he will not have at least 15 years of life doing what he does, going back on stage and singing," she said. "That's very encouraging."
The singer fell ill when flying home to Las Vegas after performing at a Sept. 20 concert in Syracuse, N.Y., his wife said. Doctors initially assumed it was some kind of bug, but he got weaker until he had to be rushed to the hospital 10 days later, she said.
Goulet was diagnosed with a form of pulmonary fibrosis that his official Web site described as a "rapidly progressive and fatal condition." He was transported to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles as a transplant patient Oct. 13.
Speaking by phone from the hospital, Vera Goulet said doctors inserted a breathing tube down her husband's throat and sedated him, and that they were last able to speak two weeks ago.
Robert Goulet On Waiting List For Lung Transplant
By Nicole Graham
01:01, October 25th 2007
Hospitalized 73-year actor and singer Robert Goulet is in desperate need of a lung transplant and unfortunately no suitable donor has been found until the moment.
The entertainer was diagnosed with a form of pulmonary fibrosis after having his first symptoms in September, when he was returning to his Las Vegas home after a Syracuse, N. Y concert.
At first doctors suspected that a virus was responsible to his condition, but Goulet felt even worse and need to be hospitalized. On October 13 he entered the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles and enlisted for the lung transplant waiting list.
The condition is described on his official website as “rapidly progressive and fatal”. His wife, Vera to whom he has been married since 1982 told the media that Robert is heavily sedated and breathing through a respirator.
“He can hear me but he can't respond. God willing, if we proceed with this, our doctors feel that there's no reason he will not have at least 15 years of life doing what he does, going back on stage and singing. That's very encouraging” she said. The last they talked was two weeks ago.
Sir Lancelot in Camelot was his debut role on Broadway in 1960 and then The Ed Sullivan Show made him famous. He was awarded with a Grammy in 1962 for Best New Artist and a Tony in 1968 for his role in “The Happy Time.”
© 2007 - eNews 2.0 All Rights Reserved
Singer, Actor Robert Goulet Hospitalized
By Ray McDonald
Washington
26 October 2007
Singer and actor Robert Goulet is heavily sedated and breathing through a ventilator while awaiting a lung transplant in a Los Angeles hospital.
Speaking on October 23 to the Associated Press, his wife Vera said "He can hear me but he can't respond." She said doctors told her that lung transplants carry an 88 percent success rate, the highest of any transplant procedure. A suitable donor has yet to be found for the 73-year-old crooner.
"God willing, if we proceed with this, our doctors feel that there's no reason he will not have at least 15 years of life doing what he does, going back on stage and singing," she said. "That's very encouraging."
Goulet fell ill while flying home to Las Vegas after performing a September 20 concert in Syracuse, New York, his wife said. Doctors initially assumed it was a minor ailment, but he got progressively weaker and was rushed to the hospital 10 days later.
The singer was diagnosed with a form of pulmonary fibrosis which his web site describes as a "rapidly progressive and fatal condition." He was transported to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on October 13 as a transplant patient.
Speaking by phone from the hospital, Vera Goulet said doctors inserted a breathing tube down her husband's throat and sedated him. They were last able to speak to each other two weeks ago. "He said 'Just give me a new pair of lungs and I'll hit the high notes until I'm 100,'" she said.
October 17 marked the couple's 25th wedding anniversary. Vera Goulet said fans and performers have been calling and e-mailing from around the world, including comedian Jerry Lewis, actress Suzanne Somers, and singer Harry Connick Jr. Born to French-Canadian parents in Lawrence, Mass., Robert Goulet made his Broadway debut portraying Sir Lancelot in the 1960 production of the musical Camelot.
His multiple appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show helped make him a star. He won a 1962 Grammy Award for Best New Artist and a 1968 Tony Award for his role in The Happy Time.
Over the years, Goulet continued to perform onstage. Vera Goulet said her husband's illness forced the cancellation of planned performances in Denver and a commercial TV shoot.
Robert Goulet Awaits Lung Transplant
Associated Press
October 23, 2007
LAS VEGAS — Singer and actor Robert Goulet is heavily sedated and breathing through a respirator in a Los Angeles hospital while he awaits a lung transplant, his wife Vera told The Associated Press on Tuesday. "He can hear me but he can't respond," Vera Goulet said of the 73-year-old crooner.
Vera Goulet, speaking by phone from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, said the last time the couple spoke was two weeks ago when he was hospitalized in Las Vegas, where they live. That was before doctors inserted a breathing tube down Goulet's throat and sedated him.
"He said, 'Just give me a new pair of lungs and I'll hit the high notes until I'm 100,'" said Vera Goulet, who spent their 25th anniversary at his bedside Oct. 17.
"I told him I loved him. He told me he loves me. He was ready to have the tube inserted. And he said, 'Just watch my vocal chords.'"
The singer fell ill when flying home to Las Vegas after performing at a Sept. 20 concert in Syracuse, N.Y., she said.
They initially assumed it was some kind of bug, but he got weaker until he had to be rushed to the hospital Sept. 30, she said.
Goulet was diagnosed with a form of pulmonary fibrosis that his official Web site described as a "rapidly progressive and fatal condition." He was transported to Cedars-Sinai as a transplant patient Oct. 13.
Vera Goulet said doctors told her the planned lung transplant was the most successful operation of any transplant, with a success rate of 88 percent.
"God willing, if we proceed with this, our doctors feel that there's no reason he will not have at least 15 years of life doing what he does, going back on stage and singing," she said. "That's very encouraging."
Meanwhile, fans and performers have been calling and e-mailing from around the world, she said. Comedian Jerry Lewis called twice. Actress Suzanne Somers, whose home was endangered by wildfires in Southern California, has called and e-mailed several times. Harry Connick Jr. phoned on his way to Europe.
"Tony Orlando called and said, 'Give him a punch in the stomach for me,'" she said.
Goulet, born to French-Canadian parents in Lawrence, Mass., has won acclaim for a Broadway career that took off after his debut performance as Sir Lancelot in "Camelot" in 1960.
He was a hit after making multiple appearances on "The Ed Sullivan Show." Sullivan labeled him the "American baritone from Canada," where he had been a popular star in the 1950s, even hosting his own show on CBC-TV called "General Electric's Showtime."
He made his first professional appearance at age 16 with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra.
Goulet won a Grammy Award in 1962 for Best New Artist and a Tony Award in 1968 for his role in "The Happy Time."
Over the years, Goulet continued to perform onstage.
His illness forced the cancellation of planned performances in Denver and a commercial TV shoot, Vera Goulet said.
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