RRCBlog

EDIT: So long, Mr. Goulet.

In my family, we have an expression; when you are near death, you are said to be “on the roof”. I haven’t the slightest idea what it means but we use it nonetheless. Well, according to this site, entertainer Robert Goulet is “on the roof”.

I’m pulling for Goulet because he is one of the rare “old school” performers whose career took a trajectory from sixties-era stardom to seventies-era supper-club performance to eighties-era irrelevance to nineties-era ironic self-parody. Goulet was one of the guys who “got it”. He seemed happy not only to collect a paycheck, but to affably go along with the joke.

From his appearance in Naked Gun 2 1/2 in which his character was asked by Leslie Nielson’s Lt. Frank Drebin “I’m sure that we can handle this situation maturely, just like the responsible adults that we are. Isn’t that right, Mr… Poopy Pants?” to his guest spot on Comedy Central’s short-lived TV Funhouse, Goulet was not afraid to poke fun at himself and his image, a rare trait among entertainers of his era.

So, I’m pulling for Mr. Goulet. In his honor, I include one of my favorite Goulet sketches from SNL: