Sir Ben Kingsley Biography

Real name Krishna Bhanji, of 'Anglo-Indo-South African' descent, Kingsley’s father was born the son of a doctor in England.

Beginning in amateur theatricals in Manchester, he made his professional debut at 23, appearing in London for the first time at the Aldwych theatre in 1967. Kingsley then joined the Royal Shakespeare Company, appearing mainly on the stage for the next 15 years. He made his Broadway debut with the RSC in 1971.

The British director Richard Attenborough chose Kingsley in 1982 to appear in the epic biopic, 'Gandhi'. The 39-year old Kingsley became the toast of the critics, winning a Best Actor Oscar.

Unwilling to be typecast, Kingsley took parts in films as varied as 'Harem', 'Turtle Diary', and 'Pascali’s Island'. He played the composer Shostakovich in 'Testimony' in 1987, and Dr. Watson, against Michael Caine’s Sherlock Holmes, in 1988’s 'Without A Clue'.

His most visible roles in this period were in the Presidential-romantic-comedy 'Dave', and in the spoof gangster film 'Bugsy'. Kingsley also excelled as a Jewish bookkeeper in 'Schindler's List', in 1993.

After doing an about-face, by playing a suspected Nazi war criminal in 1994’s 'Death and the Maiden', Kingsley returned to Shakespeare for the 1996 film of 'Twelfth Night'.

Back on the stage, Kingsley found great success on Broadway, with his one-man show 'Edward Kean', directed by his wife Alison Sutcliffe.

His most recent success was with his astonishingly gritty performance as a devious criminal in 2001’s 'Sexy Beast' opposite Ray Winstone, for which he received a Golden Globe and a third Oscar nomination. Revisiting the Holocaust theme, he appeared as 'Otto Frank' in ABC’s 2001 TV special.