The King and I is based on a novel by an American writer born in 1903.
Margaret Landon -LRB- September 7 , 1903 -- December 4 , 1993 -RRB- was an American writer best remembered for Anna and the King of Siam , her best-selling 1944 novel of the life of Anna Leonowens which eventually sold over a million copies and was translated into more than twenty languages .. Anna and the King of Siam. Anna and the King of Siam ( book ). Anna Leonowens. Anna Leonowens. In 1950 , Landon sold the musical play rights to Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II , who created the musical The King and I from her book .. Richard Rodgers. Richard Rodgers. Oscar Hammerstein II. Oscar Hammerstein II. The King and I. The King and I. A later work , Never Dies the Dream , appeared in 1949 .