He was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts, the son of Joseph and Jeannette Goulet. After hearing his son sing "Lead Kindly Lightly", in their church hall, his father told him, "I'm proud of you, son". A few weeks later his father, lying on his death bed, called Robert to his side and told him the Lord had given him a beautiful voice and he must go and sing. His father died when he was 13 and he moved to Edmonton, Canada, a year later. Goulet won a singing scholarship to the Royal Conservatory of music in Toronto and in 1951 made his concert debut at Edmonton in Handel's Messiah. Goulet was also a DJ on Canada's CKUA in Edmonton for two years. In 1960 he landed one of his biggest roles as Lancelot in Broadway's Camelot opposite Richard Burton and Julie Andrews. He received a Tony award in 1968 for his role in "Happy Time". He and first wife Louise Longmore had one daughter, Nikki. His second wife, actress and singer Carol Lawrence, produced two sons, Christopher and Michael. In 1982, with Glenn Ford giving the bride away, he was married in Las Vegas to Vera Novak, a Yugoslavian-born writer, photographer and artist. When not living at their home in Las Vegas, they reside on their yacht "Rogo" in Los Angeles. Goulet has performed at the White House for three presidents as well as a command performance for Queen Elizabeth II. He is recently recovering from cancer treatment.
Had a cancerous prostate removed. [December 1993] He appeared in Weird Al Yankovic's "You Don't Love Me Anymore" music video. Has been awarded a 'Fellowship' at the Royal Conservatory of Music, University of Toronto, Canada, his alma mater. Longstanding rumor that his real name is Stanley Applebaum is false, although many web sites and even reference books continue to report this. The rumor results from an in-joke that Goulet tried to make to a group of reporters that wasn't understood. Goulet tells the story behind the rumor on his web site. Guest-starred in an episode of Police Squad! as himself. He later co-starred in _Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear, The (1991)_ . Is of French-Canadian extraction. Won Broadway's 1968 Tony Award as Best Actor (Musical) for "The Happy Time."