Show business friends share fond memories

Millions loved Robert Goulet for his big voice. His Las Vegas friends loved him as much, if not more, for his big heart.

The longtime performer's death Tuesday prompted a flood of memories from fellow show business veterans who also call Las Vegas home.

"I'm crushed," said Phyllis McGuire, who had known Goulet since the 1950s. "He was the best."

It's "a sad day for all of us who knew him and loved him," performer Wayne Newton -- Goulet's longtime neighbor near Sunset Park -- said in a prepared statement. "I will always treasure his friendship and wonderful sense of humor that kept my spirits up in some of the lowest valleys in my life."

Impressionist Rich Little, now performing at the Golden Nugget, knew Goulet for 50 years, first in Canada -- where Goulet was "a big star" for the Canadian Broadcasting Co. -- then in the United States.

"He was full of life -- and larger than life," said Little, who has the same birthday (Nov. 26) as Goulet. The two used to serenade each other on the telephone with renditions of "Happy Birthday," the impressionist recalled. "But he could sing it much stronger."

Beyond Goulet's musical prowess, however, "he loved to kid and joke and clown around," Little noted. "I suspected he wanted to be a comedian." (As Goulet proved in numerous movie and TV appearances, from "Get Smart" and "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In" to "Scrooged" and "South Park.")

"I don't think a lot of people realized how funny he was," said Paige O'Hara of the Las Vegas Hilton's "Menopause: The Musical," who toured with Goulet in "South Pacific" in the late '90s and performed with him at The Venetian in 2001.

As a youngster, O'Hara had a crush on Goulet during his heyday as a Broadway heartthrob. When she finally got to play opposite him, she told Goulet, prompting a hearty laugh from her girlhood crush.

"He had a great sense of humor," she said. "He always made me laugh."

And "he had the greatest laugh," added Phillip Randall, Goulet's production stage manager since 1995. "He was so caring -- about everything."

That included his performances.

Although "his natural voice was God-given," Randall said, "the man never stopped studying the art. He knew what a lyric was, what interpretation was. He knew how to tell a story."

Onstage, Goulet "didn't go by rote," O'Hara explained. "We would try out new things." And up until his final illness, Goulet "was still sounding like he was 30 years old," she said.

Comedian Marty Allen remembered seeing Goulet early in his career, performing at the Plaza Hotel's Persian Room in New York.

Audiences reacted almost like he was Elvis Presley, Allen said. "They went wild. And I thought, 'This guy's gonna make his mark.' "

Decades later, Goulet still had that kind of star quality, said Duke Morgan of KJUL-FM, 104.7, who remembered Goulet's impact during live broadcasts at The Orleans and Sunset Station.

"When he walked into the room, you knew it was someone extremely special," Morgan noted. "He just knew how to command a room." Even during broadcasts from the station, "the phones would ring like crazy."

Morgan broadcast a tribute to Goulet on Thursday afternoon, interspersing recordings with tales of his award-winning career.

Although Goulet hadn't had a hit recording for years, "people still remembered," Morgan said, and reacted to him "like a superstar."

Which was only fitting, Little said, who described Goulet as "a superstar -- and a super person."

As his friend and neighbor Newton said: "His incredible voice will live on in his music, and as Bob so brilliantly sang, 'There will be another song for him and he will sing it,' for God now has another singing angel by his side."

Contact reporter Carol Cling at ccling@reviewjournal.com or (702) 383-0272.