The King and I (1956 film) autobiographical, although various elements of them have been called into question. The film stars Deborah Kerr and Yul Brynner. The film was a critical and commercial success, and was nominated for nine Academy Awards, winning five, including Best Actor for Brynner. Another film adaptation of the same musical, the animated film "The King and I", was released in 1999. Strong-willed, widowed schoolteacher Anna Leonowens arrives in Bangkok from Wales with her young son Louis after being summoned to tutor the many children of King Mongkut. The two are introduced to the intimidating Kralahome, King Mongkut's confidant and Siam's prime minister.
Anna Leonowens Anna Leonowens Anna Harriette Emma Leonowens (born Anna Harriette Emma Edwards; 5 November 1831 – 19 January 1915) was an Anglo-Indian or Indian-born British travel writer, educator and social activist. She became well known with the publication of her memoirs, beginning with "The English Governess at the Siamese Court" (1870), which chronicled her experiences in Siam (modern Thailand), as teacher to the children of the Siamese King Mongkut. Leonowens' own account has been fictionalised in Margaret Landon's 1944 best-selling novel "Anna and the King of Siam", as well as films and television series based on the book, most notably Rodgers