Known as one of the best British actors with the movie "Gandhi": Who is Ben Kingsley?

Ben Kingsley was born on 31 December 1943 in Snainton, England. His real name is Krishna Bhanji. His mother, Anna Lyna Mary Goodman, was an English actress and model. His father, Rahimtulla Harji Bhanji, was an Indian medical doctor. Kingsley also has an older brother. Growing up in Pendlebury, Kingsley was educated at Manchester Grammar School with actor Robert Powell. He then continued his education at Pendleton College in Salford and was involved in amateur theater plays while studying at university in Manchester. After graduating from university at the age of 23, he made his professional debut.

In 1966, music producer and manager Dick James made Kingsley an offer and said he was considering turning Kingsley into a pop star. Kingsley declined this offer and instead chose to join the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1967, and his acting career took off.

Devoting himself almost entirely to stage work for the his career, Kingsley made his West End debut in 1967 with 'As You Like It' at the Aldwych Theatre. Other plays included 'Much Ado About Nothing', 'Richard III', 'The Tempest', 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', 'Hamlet' and 'The Merry Wives of Windsor'.

Worried that a foreign name would interfere with his career in the 1960s, Kingsley Englishized his name as Ben Kingsley. Saying that he started getting jobs after he changed his name, Kingsley continued to play Mosca in Ben Jonson's 'Volpone' play in 1977. He also co-starred with Mel Gibson in the 1982 Sydney production of 'Death of a Salesman'.

Kingsley's transition to film roles began early with "Fear Is the Key" in 1972. He then began appearing in small roles in both film and television, appearing in the soap opera "Coronation Street" and the long-running British law program "Crown Court" from 1966 to 1967. In 1975, he starred in the historical drama television series "The Love School". The following year he appeared in the TV mini-series "Dickens of London".

The turning point in Kingsley's career came with "Gandhi" (1982), the biopic directed by Richard Attenborough and starring Kingsley. The film was both a critical success and a financial success. The film became the 12th highest grossing film of the year in the US and the highest grossing film ever in India. He also won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance as Kingsley, a BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Drama Film.

Throughout the 1980s, Kingsley appeared in several films, including supporting roles in the British film "Turtle Diary" (1985) and the romantic drama film "Maurice" (1987). Kingsley played the main character 'Basil' in the James Daerden drama film "Pascali's Island" (1988). That same year, in the comedy movie "Without a Clue", with Michael Caine, he played the role of Dr. John Watson.

He earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his role as organized crime figure Meyer Lansky in the biographical crime drama film "Bugsy" (1991). Among other roles, he appeared in the thriller "Sneakers"(1992), the political comedy "Dave"(1993) and the drama film "Searching for Bobby Fischer"(1993).

He appeared with Liam Neeson in the epic historical drama film "Schindler's List"(1993) directed by Steven Spielberg. The film was both a critical and commercial success. He earned a BAFTA Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his performance. His other credits included the mystery drama film "Death and the Maiden" (1994) with Sigourney Weaver.

Kingsley, who was head of the jury at the 48th Berlin International Film Festival in 1998, appeared in the family comedy "Spooky House" (2002), saying he chose to appear in a lighter film after playing roles that made him feel traumatized.

Later in his career, he appeared alongside Ray Winstone and Ian McShaneyer in "Sexy Beast" (2000), a psychological black comedy crime film directed by Jonathan Glazer. He earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Kingsley. The following year, he received the Crystal Globe Award at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival for his outstanding artistic contribution to world cinema. In 2003, he received another Oscar nomination for Best Actor for his role in the drama film "House of Sand and Fog" (2003). He then appeared in a supporting role in the psychological thriller "Suspect Zero" (2004). Although the film received a lot of negative reviews from critics, Kingsley's performance was held apart.

In July 2006, he played the famous cardiologist Herman Tarnower in the television series "Mrs. Harris", who was killed by his estranged lover, Jean Harris. And he was nominated for an Emmy Award for his performance. In 2007, Kingsley appeared in the crime comedy film "You Kill Me" directed by John Dahl and the political action comedy "War, Inc." also took place.

Kingsley worked to voice a character in the Lionhead Studios video game "Fable III" in 2010. In the same year, he appeared with Leonardo DiCaprio in "Shutter Island" (2010), directed by Martin Scorsese. Later in the year, he made his Bollywood debut with the Hindi thriller "Teen Patti" (2010). In 2011, he starred in "Hugo"(2011), the next adventure drama movie directed by Martin Scorsese. Kingsley's performance earned him the Saturn Award for Best Actor.

In 2013, Kingsley appeared as the villain Trevor Slattery in the Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero movie "Iron Man 3" and as the hero Mazer Rackham in the military science fiction action movie "Ender's Game." A year later, he starred in the epic movie "Exodus: Gods and Kings" directed by Ridley Scott and the fantasy comedy "Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb" directed by Shawn Levy. He also reprized the role of Slattery in "All Hail the King", the short direct to video film.

In 2015, Kingsley portrayed a driving instructor in the comedy drama film "Learning to Drive." He then voiced Bagheera in the live action adaptation of the adventure drama film "The Jungle Book" (2016), a remake of Jon Favreau's original 1967 film. In 2018, he recounted the Amazon Prime documentary series "All or Nothing: Manchester City", which followed Manchester City's record breaking 2017-2018 Premier League campaign. Kingsley reprized the role of Trevor Slattery in the superhero movie "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" (2021).

Kingsley will star alongside Ralph Fiennes, Dev Patel and Benedict Cumberbatch in Wes Anderson's adventure comedy "The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar" (2023), based on a short story by Roald Dahl.

Personal life

Kingsley has been married four times in his life and has four children. He has two children, Thomas Bhanji and artist Jasmin Bhanji, with his first wife, actress Angela Morant. He has two more children, Edmund Kingsley and Ferdinand Kingsley, both of whom are actors, with his second wife, theater director Alison Sutcliffe. He sadly divorced his third wife, Alexandra Christmann, in 2005 after photos of him kissing another man were published. He later married Brazilian actress Daniela Lavender in North Leigh, Oxfordshire, in September 2007.

Kingsley appeared in "The Children's Monlogues" with Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Hiddleston, Gemma Arterton and Eddie Redmayne in London in 2013. The play was made on behalf of 'Dramatic Need', a charity that sends international art professionals to organize workshops for poor and rural communities in Africa.

In 1984, Kingsley was awarded the Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word or Non-Music Recording for The Words of Gandhi and the Indian civic honor Padma Shri Award. Additionally, he received a 2002 New Year's Honors Knight's License for his services to the British film industry. The award was announced on 31 December 2001, Kingsley's 58th birthday, and was presented to Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace. He was knighted by Elizabeth.

Awarded with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in May 2010, Kingsley was honored with a Fellowship Award at The Asian Awards in London in April 2013.