Ben Kingsley

Ben Kingsley was born Krishna Bhanji on New Year's Eve, 1943, in Yorkshire, England. He joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1967 and achieved a reputation as a musical performer. By the time he made his film debut, in 1972's Fear Is the Key, Kingsley was a familiar face in British theatre and television.

Ten years later, his career-defining performance in the title role of the biopic Gandhi won Kingsley the Best Actor Oscar. Later concentrating on (often real-life) character roles, he received Supporting Actor Oscar nominations as mob boss Meyer Lansky in Bugsy and a sadistic U.K. gangster in Sexy Beast.

He was also memorable as Isaac Stern, right-hand man to Liam Neeson's Oskar Schindler in Schindler's List (1993). He earned his fourth Oscar nomination as a retired Iranian-American military man in House of Sand and Fog (2004) and copped an Emmy nod for the 2005 TV drama Mrs. Harris.

Filmography