Ben Kingsley

Ben Kingsley Biography

Ben Kingsley is an English actor, best known to Indians as the lead actor who played Mahatma Gandhi in highly acclaimed 1982 film Gandhi directed by Richard Attenborough. A film close to every Indian’s heart, Kingsley received the Academy Award for Best Actor for this memorable performance. He is a recipient of Grammy, BAFTA, two Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild awards, apart from Oscar. Some of his best known performances are Schindler's List, Sexy Beast, Lucky Number Slevin, Shutter Island, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, Hugo and the most recent - Iron Man 3. He acted aside Amitabh Bachchan in 2010 Bollywood film – Teen patti. 

Ben Kingsley is of Indian origin. His father, a Kenyan belonged to Gujarati Indian Ismaili Muslim Khoja descent. Kingsley's paternal grandfather was a Gujarati spice trader who moved to Zanzibar.Kingsley’s father moved to Britain at the age of 14. Ben Kingsley’s mother is a British and his real name is Krishna PanditBhanji. He was born in Snainton, North Riding of Yorkshire in the year 1943. Kingsley grew up in Pendlebury, near Manchester where he completed his education as well. The famous actor Robert Powell was his classmate. 

Since his college days at University of Salford and Pendleton College, he was associated with theatre. He made his professional debut as an actor at the age of 23, after completing graduation. He was associated with theatre for more than 15 years before entering the world of cinema. He made his Broadway debut in 1971 with Ben Jonson's Volpone. Fear Is the Key, released in 1972 marked his film debut and he also worked in television since then.

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Updated: November 03, 2015