The King and I (1956 film) The King and I (1956 film) The King and I is a 1956 American musical film made by 20th Century Fox, directed by Walter Lang and produced by Charles Brackett and Darryl F. Zanuck. The screenplay by Ernest Lehman is based on the Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II musical "The King and I", based in turn on the novel "Anna and the King of Siam" by Margaret Landon. That novel in turn was based on memoirs written by Anna Leonowens, who became school teacher to the children of King Mongkut of Siam in the early 1860s. Leonowens' stories were
Deborah Kerr she played the role of the nurse—played by Elsa Lanchester in the 1957 movie—in "Witness for the Prosecution". Later, Kerr rejoined screen partner Robert Mitchum in "Reunion at Fairborough". She also took on the role of the older Emma Harte, a tycoon, in the adaptation of Barbara Taylor Bradford's "A Woman of Substance". For this performance, Kerr was nominated for an Emmy Award. Kerr's first marriage was to Squadron Leader Anthony Bartley RAF on 29 November 1945. They had two daughters, Melanie Jane (born 27 December 1947) and Francesca Ann (born 20 December 1951 and subsequently married to the actor