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 Leonowens in Poona, over the objections of her stepfather and mother, she married her childhood sweetheart, Thomas Leon (or Lane/Lean) Owens; he later merged his second and last names as Leonowens. Her husband was a civilian clerk (rather than the army officer suggested by her memoir). In 1852 the young couple, accompanied by Anna's uncle, W. V. Glasscott, sailed to Australia via Singapore, where they boarded the barque "Alibi". The journey from Singapore was long and while on board Anna gave birth to a son, also named Thomas. On 8 March 1853, nearing the Western Australian coast, the "Alibi" was almost