Injured in battle, he spent a night in a "muddy shell hole" before stretcher-bearers took him to a first-aid station for initial treatment.

[4] Two days later he was moved to a field hospital, where plastic surgeons repaired the damage that shrapnel had done to his face.

Among his most notable performances was his role in the original production of Rudolf Friml's Rose-Marie, in which he introduced the songs "Rose-Marie" and "Indian Love Call",[6] and the role of Captain Fairfax in the Donaldson Award and Outer Critics Circle Award winning play Billy Budd (1951) by Louis O. Coxe and Robert H.

[2] His career turned from drama to music after Oscar Hammerstein heard him singing in his dressing room.

[10] He also was featured in TV musical productions, including Knickerbocker Holiday (1950), Babes in Toyland (1950), Jack and the Beanstalk (1956), Aladdin (1958), and The Mikado (1960).

[citation needed] King died of a heart disease in University Hospital in New York City on 21 May 1971, aged 73.