Ben Kingsley

Ben Kingsley is a Movie Actor, and he was born on 31 December - 1943(79 years old) in England. Ben Kingsley zodiac sign is Capricorn. More detailed information about Ben Kingsley given below.

Ben Kingsley Timeline

• 1943
  

  Kingsley was born as Krishna Pandit Bhanji on 31 December 1943 in Snainton, North Riding of Yorkshire, the son of actress and model Anna Lyna Mary (nu00e9e Goodman; 1914u20132010) and Dr. Rahimtulla Harji Bhanji (1914u20131968). His mother was English; she was born out of wedlock, and "was loath to speak of her background". His father was born in Kenya and was of Gujarati Indian descent. Kingsleyu0027s paternal grandfather was a successful spice trader who had moved from India to Zanzibar, where Kingsleyu0027s father lived until moving to the UK at the age of 14. Kingsley grew up in Pendlebury, Lancashire. He was educated at Manchester Grammar School, where one of his classmates was actor Robert Powell.

• 1966
  

  Kingsley studied at De La Salle College in Salford, which later became home to the Ben Kingsley Theatre. While at college he became involved in amateur dramatics in Manchester, making his professional stage debut on graduation, aged 23. In 1966 he was spotted by music producer and manager Dick James (The Beatlesu0027 publisher), who offered to mould Kingsley into a pop star, but Kingsley chose to join the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) in 1967 after an audition before Trevor Nunn.

• 1967
  

  Devoting himself almost exclusively to stage work for the next 15 years, he made his West End debut for the company at the Aldwych Theatre in 1967 in a production of As You Like It. Further productions for the RSC included Much Ado About Nothing, Richard III, The Tempest, A Midsummer Nightu0027s Dream (starring in Peter Brooku0027s acclaimed 1970 RSC production as Demetrius), Hamlet and The Merry Wives of Windsor.

• 1972
  

  Kingsley made the transition to film roles early on, with his first role coming in Fear Is the Key, released in 1972. Kingsley continued starring in bit roles in both film and television, including a role as Ron Jenkins on the soap opera Coronation Street from 1966 to 1967 and regular appearances as a defence counsel in the long-running British legal programme Crown Court. In 1975, he starred as Dante Gabriel Rossetti in the BBCs historical drama The Love School and appeared in the TV miniseries Dickens of London the following year. He found fame as Mohandas Gandhi in Richard Attenboroughu2019s Gandhi in 1982. The film was a critical and financial success, and Kingsley won the Academy Award for Best Actor, the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor u2013 Motion Picture Drama, for his performance.

• 1982
  

  In the 1960s, he changed his name to Ben Kingsley, fearing that a foreign name would hamper his career. On the impact of adopting an English name, Kingsley told the Radio Times, "As soon as I changed my name, I got the jobs. I had one audition as Krishna Bhanji and they said, u0027Beautiful audition but we donu2019t quite know how to place you in our forthcoming season.u0027 I changed my name, crossed the road, and they said when can you start?" Kingsley played Mosca in Peter Hallu0027s 1977 production of Ben Jonsonu0027s Volpone for the Royal National Theatre. He also starred in the role of Willy Loman in a 1982 Sydney production of Death of a Salesman opposite Mel Gibson.

• 1984
  

  In 1984, he won a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word or Nonmusical Recording for The Words of Gandhi. He was awarded the Indian civilian honour Padma Shri in 1984. In May 2010, Kingsley was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In April 2013, Kingsley was honoured with the Fellowship Award at The Asian Awards in London.

• 1994
  

  Kingsleyu0027s maternal grandfather was believed by the family to have been of Russian- or German-Jewish descent, while his maternal grandmother was English and worked in the garment district of Londonu0027s East End. Kingsley stated in 1994, "Iu0027m not Jewish, and though there might be some Russian-Jewish heritage way back on my motheru0027s side, the thread is so fine thereu0027s no real evidence."

• 1997
  

  In 1997, he provided a voice in the video game Ceremony of Innocence. In 1998, he was the head of the jury at the 48th Berlin International Film Festival. In July 2006, he received an Emmy nomination for his performance in the made-for-TV film Mrs. Harris, in which he played famed cardiologist Herman Tarnower, who was murdered by his jilted lover, Jean Harris. Later that year, Kingsley appeared in an episode of The Sopranos entitled "Luxury Lounge", playing himself. In 2007, Kingsley appeared as a Polish American mobster in the Mafia comedy You Kill Me, and a hitman in War, Inc.

• 2001
  

  Kingsley has since appeared in a variety of roles. His credits included the films Turtle Diary, Maurice, Pascaliu0027s Island, Without a Clue (as Dr. Watson alongside Michael Caineu0027s Sherlock Holmes), Suspect Zero, Bugsy (nominated for Best Supporting Actor), Sneakers, Dave, Searching for Bobby Fischer, Schindleru0027s List, Silas Marner, Death and the Maiden, Sexy Beast, for which he received another Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor, and House of Sand and Fog, which led to an Oscar nomination for Best Actor. He won a Crystal Globe award for outstanding artistic contribution to world cinema at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in 2001.

• 2002
  

  Kingsley was made a Knight Bachelor in the 2002 New Year Honours for services to the British film industry. The award was announced on 31 December 2001, which happened to be Kingsleyu0027s 58th birthday. After being knighted by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace, Kingsley stated; "I told the Queen that winning an Oscar pales into insignificance u2013 this is insurmountable. Iu0027m fascinated by the ancient, by mythology, by these islands and their tradition of story telling. I feel that I am a story teller and to receive a knighthood is really recognition of that." His demand to be called u0027Siru0027 in film and TV show credits was documented by the BBC, to some criticism. Since then, Kingsley appears to have altered his stance; credits for his latest films refer to him as Ben Kingsley. Co-star Penu00e9lope Cruz was reportedly unsure what to call him during the filming of Elegy as someone had told her she needed to refer to him as "Sir Ben". One day it slipped out as such, and she called him that for the remainder of the shoot. Kingsley has denied accusations that he prefers to be referred to by his title, saying, "If Iu0027ve ever insisted on being called u0027Siru0027 by colleagues on a film set then I am profoundly sorry. I donu0027t remember ever doing that and I tend not to forget."

• 2005
  

  Kingsley has been married four times and has four children: Thomas Bhanji and artist Jasmin Bhanji, with actress Angela Morant, and Edmund Kingsley and Ferdinand Kingsley, both of whom became actors, with theatrical director Alison Sutcliffe. He divorced Alexandra Christmann in 2005, having been "deeply, deeply shocked" after pictures of her kissing another man surfaced on the internet. On 3 September 2007, Kingsley married Brazilian actress Daniela Lavender at Eynsham Hall in North Leigh, Oxfordshire. Kingsley is a Quaker.

• 2010
  

  In 2010, Kingsley worked voicing a character named Sabine in Lionhead Studios game Fable III and starred alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in Shutter Island, directed by Martin Scorsese. The same year Kingsley made his Bollywood debut in the thriller Teen Patti. In 2011 he appeared in Scorseseu0027s next film, Hugo, and signed up to appear in a new feature by Neil Jordan and John Boorman entitled Broken Dream. In 2013, he appeared as Trevor Slattery in Iron Man 3, and as the hero Mazer Rackham in Enderu0027s Game. Kingsleyu0027s 2014 film roles included Exodus: Gods and Kings, as Nun, a Hebrew slave, and Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb, as Merenkahre, a simulacrum of an Egyptian pharaoh and father of Ahkmenrah (in one scene, the character discusses his Hebrew slaves).

• 2015
  

  In 2015, Kingsley played a Sikh driving instructor in the film Learning to Drive. He voiced Bagheera in the live-action adaptation of Disneyu0027s The Jungle Book, directed by Jon Favreau and recorded Yoganandau0027s Autobiography of a Yogi in book-on-tape format. In 2018, Kingsley was the narrator for Amazon Primeu0027s documentary All or Nothing: Manchester City which followed Manchester Cityu0027s record breaking 2017u201318 Premier League campaign.