Rodgers and Hammerstein Nellie Forbush, and opera star Ezio Pinza starred as Emile de Becque, the French plantation owner. Also in the cast were Juanita Hall, Myron McCormick and Betta St. John. The 1958 film version, also directed by Logan, starred Mitzi Gaynor, Rossano Brazzi, John Kerr, Ray Walston, and Juanita Hall. Brazzi, Kerr, and Hall had their singing dubbed by others. Based on Margaret Landon's "Anna and the King of Siam"—the story of Anna Leonowens, governess to the children of King Mongkut of Siam in the early 1860s—Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical The King and I opened on Broadway on March 29, 1951,
Deborah Kerr an Academy Honorary Award for her career in 1994. She was also nominated four times for the BAFTA Award for Best British Actress: "The End of the Affair" (1955), "Tea and Sympathy" (1956), "The Sundowners" (1961) and "The Chalk Garden" (1964). She received one Emmy Award nomination in 1985 for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or a Special for "A Woman of Substance". She was also nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama for "Edward, My Son" (1949), "Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison" (1957) and "Separate Tables" (1958). Deborah Kerr Deborah Jane Trimmer