Ben Kingsley Trivia | 40 facts about the famous actor

Sir Ben Kingsley is an English actor, who has received various accolades throughout his career spanning five decades.

Let’s find out more about the actor!

1. Sir Ben Kingsley is an English actor.
2. He was born to Krishna Pandit Bhanji on 31st of December 1943.
3. He has received various accolades throughout his career spanning five decades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Grammy Award, and two Golden Globe Awards.
4. Sir Ben Kingsley was appointed Knight Bachelor in 2002 for services to the British film industry.
5. In 2010, he was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
6. In 2013, he received the Britannia Award for Worldwide Contribution to Filmed Entertainment.
7. Born to an English mother and an Indian Gujarati father with roots in Jamnagar.
8. Ben Kingsley began his career in theatre.
9. He joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1967 and spent the next 15 years appearing mainly on stage.
10. 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.
11. He also appeared as Itzhak Stern in Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List (1993), receiving a nomination for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role.
12. Kingsley played the character of Trevor Slattery in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
13. He appeared in Iron Man 3 (2013), Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021), and the upcoming Disney+ series Wonder Man.
14. He also acted in the blockbusters Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010), Ender’s Game (2013). Kingsley lent his voice to the films The Boxtrolls (2014), and The Jungle Book (2016).
15. His paternal family was from the Indian state of Gujarat, the same state Mohandas K. Gandhi was from.
16. Kingsley’s father, Rahimtulla Harji Bhanji, was a Kenyan-born physician of Gujrati Indian descent. Kingsley’s mother, Anna Lyna Mary (Goodman) Bhanji, was an English fashion model and actress; she appeared in films in the 1920s and 1930s.
17. Kingsley’s maternal grandfather was believed by the family to have been of Russian Jewish or German Jewish descent, while Kingsley’s maternal grandmother was of English background, and worked in the garment district of East London. His mother was born outside of marriage, and was raised by her own mother.
18. He was awarded Knight Bachelor of the Order of the British Empire in the 2002 Queen’s New Year’s Honours List for his services to drama.
19. Kingsley considers this an extraordinary coincidence that five days before Sir Richard Attenborough called him for the lead role in Gandhi (1982), he was given a library book on Gandhi.
20. Made his London stage debut in 1966 as the narrator of “A Smashing Day” produced by The Beatles manager, Brian Epstein. He wrote the music for the production as well as sang and played guitar for same.
21. After one performance, John Lennon and Ringo Starr came backstage and told him that he should go into music and that if he didn’t, “he would regret it for the rest of his life.” He was subsequently offered a deal by the same publishers who handled The Beatles, but he chose to remain an actor. The next year, he was invited to join the Royal Shakespeare Company and his choice was made.
22. Derived his stage name from his grandfather’s nickname “Clove King”. His grandfather was a spice trader in Zanzibar.
23. He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6931 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on May 27, 2010.
24. Offering their support at the event were his son Edmund Kingsley, wife Daniela Lavender, friends Bruce Willis and Jerry Bruckheimer.
25. As of 2014, has appeared in four films that were nominated for the Best Picture Oscar.
26. Has three films on the American Film Institute’s 100 Most Inspiring Movies of All Time.
27. He played Mohandas K. Gandhi between the ages of 23 (in 1893) and 78 (in 1948) in the drama movie Gandhi (1982).
28. According to Kingsley, one of his fondest movie memories is watching his father go hysterical while viewing Danny Kaye as a car salesman in Knock on Wood (1954). After that his father often jokingly referred to him as the “Danny Kaye of the Family”.
29. The initials of his professional name are a reversal of the initials of his birth name.
30. Has appeared in three productions depicting the Exodus: Moses (1995), The Ten Commandments (2007) and Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014).
31. Kingsley joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1967.
32. His performance as Don Logan in Sexy Beast (2000) is ranked #97 on Premiere magazine’s 100 Greatest Performances of All Time (2006).
33. The only actor starring in the Sopranos to have won an Academy Award for acting.
34. Attended and graduated from Manchester Grammar School in Manchester, England.
35. Was originally cast as Ephraim in Munich (2005), but later had to withdraw from the project due to scheduling conflicts. The role went to Geoffrey Rush.
36. At the age of ten, he went busking outside a cinema with his friend Shirley Edwards in Llanelli, South Wales.
37. Received an honorary degree (Doctor of Letters) from the University of Hull, Scarborough Campus, degree ceremony on July 18, 2008.
38. Head of the ‘Official Competition’ jury at the 48th Berlin International Film Festival in 1998.
39. In both House on sand and fog (2003) and lucky number sleuin (2006), he plays a character who dies from having a translucent plastic bag taped over their head.
40. Brought up in Salford.