Singer Robert Goulet in fight for his life

By Arthur Spiegelman

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - 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 on Tuesday.

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.