I should also add that starring in the tiny, but important role of 'McTique,' the police sketch artist, was American actor Robert J. Elisberg. And yes, the character did have a name. Several crew members referred to me as 'McTigue' throughout the production.)
Back to Robert Goulet. He was a reasonably pleasant person who had the ego you might expect from his persona, though it was much smaller than you'd think, and he was enjoyable to deal with. He also had a very good sense of himself and was able to make fun of that public persona.
Probably less fun for him was the the day in the makeup trailer when he was getting ready for filming. As a sort of tribute, the makeup artists had a tape of one of his albums playing while they did their work. Sitting in a chair nearby was a dayplayer, a young actress who was there for her day of filmming. Having no idea what was playing, eventually she got annoyed at the music and called out, "What is this shit?" Very politely, the makeup artist (who was probably cringing inside) said, "Oh. That's Mr. Goulet here." The actress was embarrassed, and did her best to help the situation and make it better. She made it worse. "Oh! Mr. Goulet," she said enthusiastically. "My mother is a big fan of yours."
I'm not big on getting autographs, having someone signed a scrap of paper just because they are A Celebrity. But I do like getting autographs of things that have historical significance or add perspective to an object. And unlike many people, I tend to keep them. (I still have an autograph by Ella Fitzerald in my "trip journal" from high school when I took a summer bicycle trip through Europe and saw her perform at Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen.) So, there was no question in my mind that I was going to bring in my original cast recording LP of Camelot to get signed, as well a cast recording of The Happy TIme, for which he won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical. (I just realized -- with Richard Griffiths, that means the movie has two Tony-winning Best Actors.) However, I waited until his last day of filmming, so as not to seem too geeky. It was this latter album that stunned Goulet, something he said he hadn't seen (or thought about) in a very long time. The show was the first musical by Kander and Ebb after Cabaret, but it wasn't a big hit and is not well-known. It's rarely performed, and having the cast album is even more rare. So, he did a big double-take when he saw it. And was impressed that someone was a geek enough to have such a thing.
And at that, I paused my walk and spoke up, standing behind the group: "And not only that," I said, and everyone suddenly turned to look at me. "But he also caught a fish! And it was -- " and here I spread my arms as wiiiiide as I could -- "THIS big!!"
There was the briefest hesitation of silence, and then a big grin broke out across Goulet's face and with a smile, he said, "Ohhhhh, fuck you."
I would like to note that if I didn't get along with him and have the impression that he had a sense of humor, I would never have said that. But I'm glad I did. And am equally glad he answered as he did.