Ben Kingsley

Biography:

English actor Sir Ben Kingsley was born Krishna Pandit Bhanji on December 31, 1943. Over the course of his career, which has spanned five decades, he has won numerous honors, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Grammy Award, and two Golden Globe Awards. In 2002, Kingsley received the Knight Bachelor award for his contributions to the British cinema industry. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2010. He was given the Britannia Award for Global Contribution to Filmed Entertainment in 2013.

Kingsley started his career in theater, joining the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1967 and spending the following 15 years primarily performing on stage. He was born to an English mother and an Indian Gujarati father with roots in Jamnagar. He played the lead in performances of As You Like It, Much Ado About Nothing, Richard III, The Tempest, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Hamlet, and The Merry Wives of Windsor, making his West End debut for the company at the Aldwych Theatre in 1967. He is also well-known for his television roles; for his work in the films Mrs. Harris (2006), Joseph (1995), Anne Frank: The Whole Story (2001), and Murderers Among Us: The Simon Wiesenthal Story (1989), he was nominated for four Primetime Emmy Awards.