Ben Kingsley
Biography
Sir Ben Kingsley (born Krishna Pandit Bhanji; 31 December 1943) is an English actor. He has received accolades throughout his career spanning five decades, including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Grammy Award, and two Golden Globe Awards, as well as nominations for four Primetime Emmy Awards and two Laurence Olivier Awards. Kingsley was appointed Knight Bachelor in 2002 for services to the British film industry. He was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2010 and received the Britannia Award in 2013. Born to an English mother and an Indian Gujarati father with roots in Jamnagar, Kingsley began his career in theatre, joining the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1967 and spending the next 15 years appearing mainly on stage. His starring roles included productions of As You Like It (his West End debut for the company at the Aldwych Theatre in 1967), Much Ado About Nothing, Richard III, The Tempest, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Hamlet, and The Merry Wives of Windsor. Also known for his television roles, he received four Primetime Emmy Award nominations for his performances in Murderers Among Us: The Simon Wiesenthal Story (1989), Joseph (1995), Anne Frank: The Whole Story (2001), and Mrs. Harris (2006). In film, Kingsley is known for his starring role as Mahatma Gandhi in Richard Attenborough's Gandhi (1982), for which he subsequently won the Academy Award for Best Actor and BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role. For his portrayal of Itzhak Stern in Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List (1993), he received a BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role nomination. He was Oscar-nominated for Bugsy (1990), Sexy Beast (2000), and House of Sand and Fog (2003). His other notable films include Maurice (1987), Sneakers (1992), Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993), Death and the Maiden (1994), Twelfth Night (1996), Tuck Everlasting (2002), Elegy (2008), Shutter Island (2010), and Hugo (2011). Kingsley played the character of Trevor Slattery in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, appearing in Iron Man 3 (2013), Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021), and the upcoming Disney+ series Wonder Man. He also acted in the blockbusters Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010) and Ender's Game (2013). Kingsley lent his voice to the films The Boxtrolls (2014) and The Jungle Book (2016).
Known For
Late Night with Seth Meyers
2014
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
2005
The Sopranos
1999
Golden Globe Awards
1944
Golden Globe Awards
1944
Crown Court
1972
Wetten, dass..?
1981
Film '72
1971
Deep Water
2026
Playhouse
1974
Bambi
1948
Shutter Island
2010
Filmography
Late Night with Seth Meyers
as Self - Guest · 2014
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
as Self - Guest · 2005
The Sopranos
as Ben Kingsley · 1999
Golden Globe Awards
as Self - Nominee · 1944
Golden Globe Awards
as Self - Audience Member · 1944
Crown Court
as Jeremy Leigh · 1972
Wetten, dass..?
as Self · 1981
Film '72
as Self · 1971
Deep Water
as Rich · 2026
Playhouse
as Ivanov · 1974
Bambi
as Self · 1948
Shutter Island
as Dr. Cawley · 2010
Schindler's List
as Itzhak Stern · 1993
Lip Sync Battle
as Self · 2015
Iron Man 3
as Trevor Slattery · 2013
Pebble Mill at One
· 1972
Marvel Studios Assembled
as Self · 2021
The Oscars
as Self - Presenter · 1953
TFI Friday
· 1996
Marvel Studios Legends
as Trevor Slattery / The Mandarin (archive footage) · 2021
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
as Trevor Slattery · 2021
Dispatches
· 1987
World in Action
as Re-enactment · 1963
Goldene Kamera
as Self · 1984
The Dictator
as Tamir · 2012
The BBC Television Shakespeare
as Frank Ford · 1978
The Jungle Book
as Bagheera (voice) · 2016
A.I. Artificial Intelligence
as Specialist (voice) · 2001
HARDtalk
· 1997
Exodus: Gods and Kings
as Nun · 2014
Wonder Man
as Trevor Slattery · 2026
Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb
as Merenkahre · 2014
Entertainment Tonight
as Self · 1981
The Killer's Game
as Zvi Rabinowitz · 2024
The Boxtrolls
as Snatcher (voice) · 2014
Lucky Number Slevin
as The Rabbi · 2006
Ender's Game
as Mazer Rackham · 2013
Rove
as Self · 1999
Seitenblicke
as Self · 1987
Young Washington
as Robert Dinwiddie · 2026
The Adventurer
as Pierre · 1972
The Thursday Murder Club
as Ibrahim · 2025
Sneakers
as Cosmo · 1992
Self/less
as Damian · 2015
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
as Nizam · 2010
The Walk
as Papa Rudy · 2015
Sonic the Hedgehog 4
as (voice) · 2027
Night Hunter
as Cooper · 2019
Desert Warrior
as Emperor Kisra II · 2026
Stonehearst Asylum
as Silas Lamb · 2014
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar
as Imdad Khan / Croupier · 2023
Perpetual Grace LTD
as Pastor Byron 'Pa' Brown · 2019
William Tell
as King Albrecht · 2025
Species
as Xavier Fitch · 1995
The King of Kings
as High Priest Caiaphas (voice) · 2025
Playing Shakespeare
· 1984
Hugo
as Georges Méliès · 2011
Garfunkel and Oates
as Ben Kingsley · 2014
Tut
as Ay · 2015
The Physician
as Ibn Sina · 2013
The Last Legion
as Ambrosinus · 2007
War Machine
as President Karzai · 2017
Gandhi
as Mahatma Gandhi · 1982
Marvel One-Shot: All Hail the King
as Trevor Slattery / The Mandarin · 2014
Watership Down
as General Woundwort (voice) · 2018
The Secret of the Sahara
as Sholomon · 1988
Operation Finale
as Adolf Eichmann · 2018
A Sound of Thunder
as Charles Hatton · 2005
Sexy Beast
as Don Logan · 2001
Dickens of London
as Dr. John Elliotson · 1976
Hallmark Hall of Fame
as Duval · 1951
Alice in Wonderland
as Major Caterpillar · 1999
Oliver Twist
as Fagin · 2005
Dragonheart 3: The Sorcerer's Curse
as Drago (Voice) · 2015
Rules of Engagement
as Ambassador Mourain · 2000
Oxbridge Blues
as Geoff Craven · 1984
Der Medicus
as Ibn Sina · 2014
The Love Guru
as Guru Tugginmypuddha · 2008
Security
as Charlie · 2017
Moses
as Moses · 1996
The Red Sea Diving Resort
as Ethan Levin · 2019
Knight of Cups
as Storyteller (voice) · 2015
All or Nothing: Manchester City
as Narrator (voice) · 2018
Anne Frank: The Whole Story
as Otto Frank · 2001
House of Sand and Fog
as Behrani · 2003
Poison
as Dr. Ganderbai · 2023
The Old Stories: Moses
as Moses · 2026
Joseph
as Potiphar · 1995
Collide
as Geran · 2016
Maurice
as Lasker-Jones · 1987
Bugsy
as Meyer Lansky · 1991
Thunderbirds
as The Hood · 2004
Death and the Maiden
as Dr. Roberto Miranda · 1994
Tuck Everlasting
as Man in the Yellow Suit · 2002
Dave
as Vice-President Nance · 1993
Robot Overlords
as Robin Smythe · 2015
Locked Down
as Malcolm · 2021
Searching for Bobby Fischer
as Bruce Pandolfini · 1993
The Love School
as Dante Gabriel Rossetti · 1975
Jules
as Milton Robinson · 2023
Walking with the Enemy
as Regent Miklos Horthy · 2014
Suspect Zero
as Benjamin O'Ryan · 2004
CNN Millennium
as Narrator · 1999
Learning to Drive
as Darwan · 2014
The Ottoman Lieutenant
as Woodruff · 2017
Lenin... The Train
as Wladimir Iljitsch Lenin · 1988
Spider in the Web
as Adereth · 2019
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Three More
as Imdad Khan / The Dealer / Dr. Ganderbai (archive footage) · 2024
Without a Clue
as Dr. John Watson · 1988
Elegy
as David Kepesh · 2008
Wessex Tales
as Lord Uplandtowers · 1973
TransSiberian
as Grinko · 2008
What Planet Are You From?
as Graydon · 2000
The Assignment
as Amos · 1997
Dalíland
as Dalí · 2022
The Velvet Glove
as Chakravarti · 1977
BloodRayne
as Kagan · 2006
Backstabbing for Beginners
as Pasha · 2018
Joseph
as Potiphar · 1995
The Confession
as Harry Fertig · 1999
Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché
as Self · 2018
Fifty Dead Men Walking
as Fergus · 2008
You Kill Me
as Frank Falenczyk · 2007
Spielberg
as Self · 2017
Freddie As F.R.O.7.
as Freddie (voice) · 1992
Religion of the World
as Narrator · 2004
War, Inc.
as Walken / The Viceroy · 2008
50 Films to See Before You Die
as Self · 2006
Twelfth Night
as Feste · 1996
Life
as Jack Warner · 2015
An Ordinary Man
as The General · 2017
Unity
as Narrator (voice) · 2015
Inside the Actors Studio
as Self · 1994
Pascali's Island
as Basil Pascali · 1988
A Birder's Guide to Everything
as Lawrence Konrad · 2013
Fear Is the Key
as Royale · 1972
An Oral History of: Schindler's List
as Self (archive footage) · 2018
The Ten Commandments
as Narrator (voice) · 2007
Muse of Fire
as Self · 2013
Journey to Mecca
as Narrator · 2009
Intrigo: Death of an Author
as Henderson · 2018
Every Good Boy Deserves Favour
as Ivanov · 1979
Nos Bastidores de Hollywood
as Self (archive footage) · 2005
Lenin: The Train
as Lenin · 1988
The Wackness
as Dr. Squires · 2008
The Way of the Wind
Liberation
as Narrator (voice) · 1994
The Cinemagician, Georges Méliès
as Self · 2012
Religions of the World
as Narrator · 1998
Romeo.Juliet
as Father Capulet (voice) · 1990
Islam: Empire of Faith
as Narrator · 2001
Imaginary Witness: Hollywood and the Holocaust
as Self · 2004
Robin Williams: Laugh Until You Cry
as Self · 2022
Weapons of Mass Distraction
as Julian Messenger · 1997
The King and I: Recording a Hollywood Dream
as Self / The King (voice) · 1993
The Making of ‘Sneakers’
as Self · 2003
Parting Shots
as Renzo Locatelli · 1999
I Have Never Forgotten You: The Life & Legacy of Simon Wiesenthal
as Self · 2007
Richard Attenborough: A Life in Film
as Self · 2014
Of Dogs and Men
as The Caller (voice) · 2016
The Road to Damascus: The Reinvention of Bugsy Siegel
as Self · 2006
The Many Lives of Richard Attenborough
· 2003
Mrs. Harris
as Herman Tarnower · 2005
A Common Man
as The Man · 2013
The Mechanical Man at the Heart of 'Hugo'
as Self · 2012
Spooky House
as The Great Zamboni · 2002
The Desert of Forbidden Art
as Voice · 2011
Murderers Among Us: The Simon Wiesenthal Story
as Simon Wiesenthal · 1989
The Tale of Sweeney Todd
as Sweeney Todd · 1998
Slipstream
as Avatar · 1989
The Triumph of Love
as Hermocrates · 2001
Michael Caine: Breaking the Mold
as Self · 1994
Unlikely Heroes
as Narrator · 2003
Mais Bastidores de Hollywood
as Self · 2006
Knights of Classic Drama at the BBC
as Self (archive footage) · 2015
Sacha Baron Cohen: Role of a Lifetime
as Self · 2012
Turtle Diary
as William Snow · 1985
The Making of Slipstream
· 1989
The War That Never Ends
as Pericles · 1991
The Making of Sexy Beast
as Self · 2001
Who Killed British Cinema?
as Self · 2018
The Merry Wives of Windsor
as Frank Ford · 1982
Cellini: A Violent Life
as Governor · 1990
Falls the Shadow: The Life and Times of Athol Fugard
as Self · 2012
Silas Marner
as Silas Marner · 1985
Photographing Fairies
as Rev. Templeton · 1997
The Fifth Monkey
as Cunda · 1990
Winston Churchill: Walking with Destiny
as Narrator · 2010
Fortitude
Antony and Cleopatra
as Thidias · 1975
Harem
as Selim · 1985
Camille
as Duval · 1984
No Strings Attached: The Making of Thunderbirds
as Self · 2004
To Be Hamlet
as Self · 1985
Mr. Attenborough and Mr. Gandhi
as Self · 1983
Peace Is Every Step
as Narrator · 2005
Crime and Punishment
as Magistrate Porfiry · 1998
Betrayal
as Robert · 1983
It Is No Dream: The Life Of Theodor Herzl
as Narrator · 2012
C.S. Lewis: Dreamer of Narnia
as Self · 2006
Thank You, Comrades
as Roberto Cibrario · 1978
1001 Inventions and the Library of Secrets
as Al-Jazari / Librarian · 2010
Shoot the Moon: The Making of 'Hugo'
as Self · 2012
The Medicine Buddha
as Narrator (voice) · 2019
Testimony
as Dmitri Shostakovich · 1988
Teen Patti
as Perci Trachtenberg · 2010
War Story
as Albert · 2014
The Life and Faith of CS Lewis
· 2006
Helena: First Pilgrim to the Holy Land
as Narrator · 2003
Rabbit Ears - Moses the Lawgiver
as Narrator (voice) · 1991
Necessary Love
· 1991
Ben Kingsley Talks About "Gandhi"
as Self - Interviewee · 2001
Islam: Empire of Faith
as Self - Narrator · 2001
A Force More Powerful
as Narator · 1999
The Children
as Martin Boyne · 1990
Mary
as King Herod
Aral, the Lost Sea
· 2010
Hard Labour
as Naseem · 1973
Rabbit Ears - The Tiger and the Brahmin
as Narrator (voice) · 1991
Inside the Operation
as Self · 2018