Ben Kingsley

Season 8, Episode 808

Original Airdate: April 28, 2002

Ben Kingsley was born Krishna Bhanji on December 31, 1943. He lived with his parents, an Indian general practitioner and an English fashion model, in Yorkshire, England.

After a British education, Kingsley gravitated toward the stage and eventually joined the Royal Shakespeare Company. Some of his favorite roles included Hamlet, Ariel in The Tempest, and Mosca in Volpone.

His new name, Ben Kingsley, was derived from his father's nickname “Ben”, and his spice trader grandfather's nickname “King Clove”.

Though Ben Kingsley had a few television and film roles throughout the 1970's, it wasn't until 1982 that he became known to the world. His life was forever changed when director Richard Attenborough chose him for the title role in Gandhi. Kingsley won every award he was nominated for that year, including the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role.

Since Gandhi, Ben Kinsley has never been out of work. Some of his more notable performances have been in such films as Bugsy (1991), Schindler's List (1993), the made for television films Joseph (1995) and Anne Frank (2001). Most recently, Kingsley was showered with awards and nominations for the role of Don Logan in Jonathan Glazer's Sexy Beast.