Anna Leonowens Yul Brynner. The then ambassador of Thailand to the US gave another reason for Thailand's disapproval of "The King and I": its ethno-centric attitude and its barely hidden insult on the whole Siamese nation as childish and inferior to the Westerners. In 1972, Twentieth Century Fox produced a non-musical American TV series for CBS, "Anna and the King", with Samantha Eggar taking the part of Leonowens and Brynner reprising his role as the king. Margaret Landon charged the makers with "inaccurate and mutilated portrayals" of her literary property and sued unsuccessfully for copyright infringement. The series was not a success
Anna and the King of Siam (novel) Anna and the King of Siam (novel) Anna and the King is a 1944 semi-fictionalized biographical novel by Margaret Landon. In the early 1860s, Anna Leonowens, a widow with two young children, was invited to Siam (now Thailand) by King Mongkut (Rama IV), who wanted her to teach his children and wives the English language and introduce them to British customs. Her experiences during the five years she spent in the country served as the basis for two memoirs, "The English Governess at the Siamese Court" (1870) and "Romance of the Harem" (1872). Landon took Leonowens' first-person narratives and enhanced