Gertrude Lawrence cameras and lighting could not function properly inside a Broadway theater. In 1943, Lawrence hosted a weekly series of American radio shows, some of them featuring discussions with guests and others adaptations of Hollywood hit films. In 1947, she returned to NBC for a production of the 1913 Shaw play "The Great Catherine". To promote "The King and I", Lawrence appeared on various television programs, including the Ed Sullivan-hosted "Toast of the Town", with Rodgers and Hammerstein joining her to perform selections from the show. Additionally, she appeared on several BBC Radio interview and variety shows before and after World
Dorothy Hammerstein being successful there, she went to New York, where she joined the cast of "André Charlot's London Revue of 1924", an English musical starring Beatrice Lillie and Gertrude Lawrence. She toured the United States and Canada for a year as Lillie's understudy. In 1925, she married Henry Jacobson, a New York businessman, with whom she had two children, Henry Jacobson and Susan Blanchard, who would later marry actors Henry Fonda, Michael Wager, and Richard Widmark. While still married to Jacobson, albeit unhappily, Dorothy met Oscar Hammerstein II, whose own marriage was also unhappy. They fell in love, and divorced their