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Sir Ben Kingsley (born Krishna Bhanji on Friday,
December 31, 1943) is an England|English actor of
Indian (Gujarati Muslim) and Russian-Jewish
descent.

Ben Kingsley was born in Scarborough, Yorkshire,
England. His father, Rahimtulla Harji Bhanji, was
a Kenya-born medical doctor, and his mother, Anna
Lyna Mary Bhanji, was a fashion model and actress.
Young "Kingsley" began his acting career on the
stage at Manchester Grammar School alongside
Robert Powell, but moved to movies early. His
first film, Fear is the Key in 1972, was not a
success, but he later found fame in the starring
role of Mahatma Gandhi in the Academy
Award-winning Gandhi (film)|Gandhi in 1982, for
which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor. His
father's ancestors had come from the Indian state
of Gujarat, the same as Gandhi himself, though
they were Islam|Muslim of the Shi'a Islam|Shi'a
Ismaili interpretation rather than Hindu.

Kingsley has been able to avoid stereotyping by
being cast in a variety of roles in such films as
Turtle Diary, Maurice, Pascali's Island, Without a
Clue (as Dr. Watson opposite Michael Caine's
Sherlock Holmes), Bugsy (Oscar nomination for
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor|Best
Supporting Actor), Sneakers (movie)|Sneakers, Dave
(movie)|Dave, Searching for Bobby Fischer,
Schindler's List, Death and the Maiden (1994
movie)|Death and the Maiden, Murderers Among Us:
The Simon Wiesenthal Story, Sexy Beast (another
Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting
Actor), and House of Sand and Fog (Oscar
nomination for Academy Award for Best Actor|Best
Actor) and a role in the movie version of
Thunderbirds as the Hood.

He has also appeared frequently on television, his
first role having been a bit part in Coronation
Street. He recently divorced German-born Alexandra
Christmann and lives in Spelsbury, England.

==Other==
Crystal Globe award for outstanding artistic
contribution to world cinema at the Karlovy Vary
International Film Festival in 2001.

==External links==
*imdb name|id=0001426|name=Ben Kingsley