Gertrude Lawrence but when he proved to be unenthused by the suggestion, Lawrence sent the book to Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. Rodgers initially demurred because he felt Lawrence's vocal range was limited and she had a tendency to sing flat. But he realised the story had strong potential, and the two men agreed to write what ultimately became "The King and I". It opened on Broadway in March 1951, and ultimately, Lawrence won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her performance. Her triumph was short-lived; her health deteriorated rapidly, forcing her to miss numerous performances until
Pat Carroll (actress) as "The Red Buttons Show", "The Danny Kaye Show", "The Red Skelton Show", and "The Carol Burnett Show". In 1965, she co-starred as "Prunella", one of the wicked stepsisters in the 1965 production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical version of "Cinderella". In the late 1970s Carroll's successful one woman show on Gertrude Stein, "Gertrude Stein, Gertrude Stein, Gertrude Stein" (by playwright Marty Martin), won several major theater awards, her recorded version won a 1980 Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word, Documentary or Drama. In early 1976, Carroll was cast as Lily, the mother of Shirley Feeney (played by Cindy Williams)