"A Wonderful Guy" is a

show tune A show tune is a song originally written as part of the score of a work of musical theatre or musical film, especially if the piece in question has become a standard, more or less detached in most people's minds from the original context. T ...

from the 1949

Rodgers and Hammerstein Rodgers and Hammerstein was a theater-writing team of composer Richard Rodgers (1902–1979) and lyricist-dramatist Oscar Hammerstein II (1895–1960), who together created a series of innovative and influential American musicals. Their popular ...

musical '' South Pacific.'' It was first introduced by

Mary Martin Mary Virginia Martin (December 1, 1913 – November 3, 1990) was an American actress and singer. A muse of Rodgers and Hammerstein, she originated many leading roles on stage over her career, including Nellie Forbush in '' South Pacific'' (194 ...

in the original

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

production and sung by

Mitzi Gaynor Mitzi Gaynor (born Francesca Marlene de Czanyi von Gerber; September 4, 1931) is an American actress, singer, and dancer. Her notable films include '' We're Not Married!'' (1952), '' There's No Business Like Show Business'' (1954), '' The Birds ...

in the 1958 film adaptation. In the show, Nellie sings this song after being convinced that despite the fact that Emile killed a man accidentally in a fight, there is good in him. And so she is elated to be in love with him. Rodgers and Hammerstein were as inspired by

's personality as they were by the character of Nellie Forbush to write this song. They introduced it to Mary Martin one night when they were at Joshua Logan's house fine-tuning the script. Hammerstein wrote this song to express the exuberance of Nellie's character at this point in the show, and it carried over to Mary Martin's performance of it. Mary Martin was so thrilled that when she sang it on stage, she performed cartwheels on the stage at every turn of "I'm in love."

Other recordings

*Hit recordings in 1949 were by Margaret Whiting (No. 12 in the Billboard charts), Fran Warren (#17) and by

Dinah Shore Dinah Shore (born Frances Rose Shore; February 29, 1916 – February 24, 1994) was an American singer, actress, and television personality, and the top-charting female vocalist of the 1940s. She rose to prominence as a recording artist during ...

(#22). *On September 22, 1952, Diana Miller with Varietéorkestern Cond.: Åke Jelving, recorded the song in Stockholm. It was released on the

78 rpm record A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English), or simply a record, is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The groove usually starts nea ...

His Master's Voice His Master's Voice (HMV) was the name of a major British record label created in 1901 by The Gramophone Co. Ltd. The phrase was coined in the late 1890s from the title of a painting by English artist Francis Barraud, which depicted a Jack Russ ...

X 7829. *In 1960, Doris Day recorded the song in her album '' Show Time''. * Keely Smith performed the song for the Reprise Musical Repertory Theatre version of "South Pacific" in 1963. *In 1967,

Blossom Dearie Margrethe Blossom Dearie (April 28, 1924 – February 7, 2009) was an American jazz singer and pianist. She had a recognizably light and girlish voice. Profile at AllMusic/ref> Dearie performed regular engagements in London and New York City o ...

recorded the song for her album ''Soon It's Gonna Rain''. * In 2009, by

Nellie McKay Nell Marie McKay (born April 13, 1982) is a singer and songwriter. She made her Broadway debut in ''The Threepenny Opera'' (2006). Early life and education McKay was born in London to an English father, writer-director Malcolm McKay, and an ...

on her album '' Normal as Blueberry Pie – A Tribute to Doris Day''.

In popular culture

* In 1953, Mary Martin sang the song before a live television audience of 60 million persons (broadcast live over the NBC and CBS networks) as part of ''

The Ford 50th Anniversary Show ''The Ford 50th Anniversary Show'', also known as ''The American Road'', was a two-hour television special that was broadcast live on June 15, 1953, from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. Ford Motor Company purchased two hours of prime time from ...

''. * The song is featured in the 2008 video game ''

Fallout 3 ''Fallout 3'' is a 2008 action role-playing game developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. The third major installment in the ''Fallout'' series, it is the first game to be developed by Bethesda after acquiring ...

'' and reprised in the 2015 video game ''

Fallout 4 ''Fallout 4'' is a 2015 action role-playing game developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. It is the fourth main game in the ''Fallout'' series and was released worldwide on November 10, 2015, for PlayStation 4, ...

''. According to the game's credits, the recording was recorded by

Tex Beneke Gordon Lee "Tex" Beneke ( ; February 12, 1914 – May 30, 2000) was an American saxophonist, singer, and bandleader. His career is a history of associations with bandleader Glenn Miller and former musicians and singers who worked with Miller. H ...

's orchestra in 1949. Tex Beneke's album, ''Here's To the Ladies (Who Sang With the Band)'', adds the featured vocalist as Claire Chatwin. * The chorus of the song is performed a cappella by Megan Mullally's character Karen Walker on the sitcom ''

Will & Grace ''Will & Grace'' is an American television sitcom created by Max Mutchnick and David Kohan. Set in New York City, the show focuses on the friendship between best friends Will Truman ( Eric McCormack), a gay lawyer, and Grace Adler ( Debra Messi ...

'' season 6, episode 23 ("I Do, Oh, No, You Di-in't"). *The first scene in the 2015 television series ''

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend ''Crazy Ex-Girlfriend'' is an American romantic musical comedy-drama television series that premiered on October 12, 2015, on The CW and ran for four seasons, ending on April 5, 2019. The series was created, written, and directed by Rachel Bloo ...

'' is

Rachel Bloom Rachel Leah Bloom (born April 3, 1987) is an American actress, comedian, writer, singer, and producer. She is best known for co-creating and starring as Rebecca Bunch in The CW musical comedy-drama series ''Crazy Ex-Girlfriend'' (2015– ...

's character, Rebecca, performing in the chorus of her camp production of ''South Pacific'' during this song. Ten years later, once she sees Josh Chan, the chorus of "I'm in love" repeats in her head when she sees him.

References

{{authority control 1949 songs Songs from South Pacific (musical) Songs with music by Richard Rodgers Songs with lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II