[2] Later in one of her appearances on The Merv Griffin Show, she treated viewers to her impression of singer Billy Eckstine, one of her American favorites growing up.

[citation needed] She was best known for her Oscar-winning role as Katsumi in Sayonara (1957), as Mei Li in both the Broadway musical and 1961 film Flower Drum Song, and as Mrs. Livingston in the television series The Courtship of Eddie's Father.

[2][5] After appearing on the Arthur Godfrey Talent Scouts (she was a series regular for one season), she signed with the Mercury Records label and released several singles and two albums.

[2] Her appearances on Godfrey's program brought her to the attention of director Joshua Logan, who cast her in Sayonara, for which she won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

That same year, she was also nominated for a Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical for her performance in the Broadway premiere production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Flower Drum Song,[3] where she played Mei Li.

Although a guest on many television variety shows, she appeared in only three more movies through 1962, including Cry for Happy (also 1961), The Horizontal Lieutenant (1962), and A Girl Named Tamiko (1963).

From 1969 to 1972, she appeared in The Courtship of Eddie's Father as Mrs. Livingston the housekeeper, for which she was nominated for another Golden Globe Award.