Ben Kingsley was born Krishna Bhanji on December 31, 1943 in Scarborough, Yorkshire, England. His father, Rahimtulla Harji Bhanji, was a Kenyan-born medical doctor, of Gujarati Indian descent, and his mother, Anna Lyna Mary , for which he won the Screen Actors' Guild Award. In 2002, Kingsley was appointed Knight Bachelor of the Order of the British Empire in the Queen's New Years Honours for his services to drama. In 2013, he received the BAFTA Los Angeles Britannia Award for Worldwide Contribution to Filmed Entertainment. That same year, he also received the Fellowship Award at the Asian Awards in London, England.
Attended and graduated from Manchester Grammar School in Manchester, England.
He was awarded Knight Bachelor of the Order of the British Empire in the 2002 Queens New Years Honours List for his services to drama.
Derived his stage name from his grandfathers nickname "Clove King". His grandfather was a spice trader in Zanzibar.
Kingsleys father, Rahimtulla Harji Bhanji, was a Kenyan-born physician of Gujrati Indian descent. Kingsleys mother, Anna Lyna Mary (Goodman) Bhanji, was an English fashion model and actress; she appeared in films in the 1920s and 1930s. Kingsleys maternal grandfather was believed by the family to have been of Russian Jewish or German Jewish descent, while Kingsleys maternal grandmother was of English background, and worked in the garment district of East London. Kingsleys mother was born outside of marriage, and was raised by her own mother.
Ben Kingsleys paternal family was from the Indian state of Gujarat, the same state Mohandas K. Gandhi was from.
Has four children: Jasmin Bhanji and Thomas Alexis Bhanji , with Angela Morant ; and Edmund Kingsley and Ferdinand Kingsley , with Alison Sutcliffe.
Made his London stage debut in 1966 as the narrator of "A Smashing Day" produced by The Beatles manager, Brian Epstein. He wrote the music for the production as well as sang and played guitar for same. After one performance, John Lennon and Ringo Starr came backstage and told him that he should go into music and that if he didnt, "he would regret it for the rest of his life." He was subsequently offered a deal by the same publishers who handled The Beatles , but he chose to remain an actor. The next year, he was invited to join the Royal Shakespeare Company and his choice was made.
Was listed as a potential nominee on both the 2005 and 2006 Razzie Award nominating ballots. He was suggested in the Worst Supporting Actor category on the 2005 ballot for his role in the film Thunderbirds . And he was suggested again the next year in the Worst Supporting Actor category of the 2006 Razzie nominating ballot for his performance in the film A Sound of Thunder . He failed to receive either nomination. The very next year though, he got a Worst Supporting Actor Razzie Nomination for his performance in the film BloodRayne .
Head of the Official Competition jury at the 48th Berlin International Film Festival in 1998.
Was originally cast as Ephraim in Munich , but later had to withdraw from the project due to scheduling conflicts. The role went to Geoffrey Rush.
His performance as Don Logan in Sexy Beast is ranked #97 on Premiere magazines 100 Greatest Performances of All Time.
Has three films on the American Film Institutes 100 Most Inspiring Movies of All Time: Searching for Bobby Fischer at #96, Gandhi at #29, and Schindlers List at #3.
At the age of ten, he went busking outside a cinema with his friend Shirley Edwards in Llanelli, South Wales.
On September 3, 2007, he married his fourth wife Daniela Lavender at Eynsham Hall in North Leigh, Oxfordshire.
Is one of eight actors of Asian descent nominated for an Academy Award in an acting category. The others are Miyoshi Umeki , Sessue Hayakawa , Mako , Haing S. Ngor , Pat Morita , Ken Watanabe and Rinko Kikuchi.
The initials of his professional name are a reversal of the initials of his birth name.
He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6931 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on May 27, 2010. Offering their support at the event were his son Edmund Kingsley , wife Daniela Lavender , friends Bruce Willis and Jerry Bruckheimer.
Was awarded the Grammy Award for "Best Spoken Word or Non-Musical Recording" for "The Words of Gandhi".
Received an honorary degree (Doctor of Letters) from the University of Hull, Scarborough Campus, degree ceremony on July 18, 2008.
As of 2014, has appeared in four films that were nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: Gandhi , Bugsy , Schindlers List and Hugo . Of those, Gandhi and Schindlers List won in the category.
Kingsley joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1987.
Kingsley considers this an extraordinary coincidence that five days before Sir Richard Attenborough called him for the lead role in Gandhi , he was given a library book on Gandhi.
According to Kingsley, one of his fondest movie memories is watching his father go hysterical while viewing Danny Kaye as a car salesman in Knock on Wood . After that his father often jokingly referred to him as the "Danny Kaye of the Family".
Is shown being eaten by a "Grasshopper-raptor" in an episode of "The Simpsons" .
Was approached for the Bollywood movie Shikhar but declined the role as he was not comfortable speaking Hindi. The role eventually went to Javed Shaikh.
Has appeared in three productions depicting the Exodus: Moses , The Ten Commandments and Exodus: Gods and Kings .
He played Mohandas K. Gandhi between the ages of 23 (in 1893) and 78 (in 1948) in the drama movie Gandhi .
Has worked with eight directors who have won a Best Director Oscar: Sir Richard Attenborough , Barry Levinson , Steven Spielberg , Roman Polanski , William Friedkin , Mike Nichols , Martin Scorsese and Robert Zemeckis.
Nominated for Best Comedy Performance in the 1980 Laurence Olivier Awards for his performance in The Merry Wives of Windsor but lost out to Beryl Reid.
[on winning the Oscar for Best Actor in Gandhi (1982) ] If I knew,I was going to win, I would not have gone dressed as a waiter.
All the great writers root their characters in true human behavior.
Glue all of my films together and arrange them in a certain kind of way,and you will have the history of 20th and 21st century by SBK [Sir Ben,Kingsley].
If your best friend has stolen your girlfriend, it does become life and death.
Hamlet is an astonishing intelligence.
Movie magic is movie magic and acting magic is acting magic. .
