Ben Kingsley
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
Credits
- 2027 · Sonic the Hedgehog 4 as
- 2026 · Wonder Man as Trevor Slattery
- 2025 · Desert Warrior as Emperor Kisra
- 2025 · The Thursday Murder Club as Ibrahim
- 2025 · The King of Kings as High Priest Caiaphas (voice)
- 2025 · William Tell as King Albrecht
- 2024 · The Killer's Game as Zvi Rabinowitz
- 2023 · The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar as Imdad Khan / Croupier
- 2021 · Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings as Trevor Slattery
- 2021 · Marvel Studios Assembled as Self
- 2021 · Locked Down as Malcolm
- 2021 · Marvel Studios Legends as Trevor Slattery / The Mandarin (archive footage)
- 2019 · Night Hunter as Cooper
- 2019 · The Red Sea Diving Resort as Ethan Levin
- 2019 · Perpetual Grace LTD as Pastor Byron 'Pa' Brown
- 2018 · Watership Down as General Woundwort (voice)
- 2018 · Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché as Self
- 2018 · Who Killed British Cinema? as Self
- 2018 · Operation Finale as Adolf Eichmann
- 2017 · Spielberg as Self
- 2017 · War Machine as President Karzai
- 2017 · The Ottoman Lieutenant as Woodruff
- 2017 · Security as Charlie
- 2016 · Collide as Geran
- 2016 · The Jungle Book as Bagheera (voice)
- 2015 · The Walk as Papa Rudy
- 2015 · Knight of Cups as Storyteller (voice)
- 2015 · Life as Jack Warner
- 2015 · Tut as Ay
- 2015 · Self/less as Damian
- 2015 · Lip Sync Battle as Self
- 2015 · Robot Overlords as Robin Smythe
- 2014 · Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb as Merenkahre
- 2014 · Exodus: Gods and Kings as Nun
- 2014 · Stonehearst Asylum as Silas Lamb
- 2014 · The Boxtrolls as Snatcher (voice)
- 2014 · Richard Attenborough: A Life in Film as Self
- 2014 · Learning to Drive as Darwan
- 2014 · Garfunkel and Oates as Ben Kingsley
- 2014 · Walking with the Enemy as Regent Miklos Horthy
- 2014 · Late Night with Seth Meyers as Self - Guest
- 2014 · War Story as Albert
- 2013 · The Physician as Ibn Sina (Avicenna)
- 2013 · Ender's Game as Mazer Rackham
- 2013 · A Birder's Guide to Everything as Lawrence Konrad
- 2013 · Iron Man 3 as Trevor Slattery
- 2012 · Falls the Shadow: The Life and Times of Athol Fugard as Self
- 2012 · The Dictator as Tamir
- 2012 · The Mechanical Man at the Heart of 'Hugo' as Self
- 2012 · Sacha Baron Cohen: Role of a Lifetime as Self
- 2011 · Hugo as Georges Méliès
- 2010 · Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time as Nizam
- 2010 · Teen Patti as Perci Trachtenberg
- 2010 · Shutter Island as Dr. Cawley
- 2010 · 1001 Inventions and the Library of Secrets as Al-Jazari / Librarian
- 2008 · Fifty Dead Men Walking as Fergus
- 2008 · The Love Guru as Guru Tugginmypuddha
- 2008 · War, Inc. as Walken / The Viceroy
- 2007 · I Have Never Forgotten You: The Life & Legacy of Simon Wiesenthal as Self
- 2007 · The Last Legion as Ambrosinus
- 2006 · Lucky Number Slevin as The Rabbi
- 2006 · The Life and Faith of CS Lewis as
- 2005 · Oliver Twist as Fagin
- 2005 · A Sound of Thunder as Charles Hatton
- 2005 · The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson as Self - Guest
- 2004 · Suspect Zero as Benjamin O'Ryan
- 2004 · Imaginary Witness: Hollywood and the Holocaust as Self
- 2003 · The Many Lives of Richard Attenborough as
- 2002 · Tuck Everlasting as Man in the Yellow Suit
- 2001 · A.I. Artificial Intelligence as Specialist (voice)
- 2001 · Sexy Beast as Don Logan
- 2000 · Rules of Engagement as Ambassador Mourain
- 1999 · Rove as Self
- 1999 · The Confession as Harry Fertig
- 1999 · The Sopranos as Ben Kingsley
- 1998 · The Tale of Sweeney Todd as Sweeney Todd
- 1997 · The Assignment as Amos
- 1996 · Twelfth Night as Feste
- 1996 · Moses as Moses
- 1995 · Species as Xavier Fitch
- 1995 · Joseph as Potifar
- 1994 · Michael Caine: Breaking the Mold as Self
- 1993 · Schindler's List as Itzhak Stern
- 1993 · Dave as Vice-President Nance
- 1992 · Sneakers as Cosmo
- 1991 · Bugsy as Meyer Lansky
- 1990 · The Children as Martin Boyne
- 1990 · Cellini: A Violent Life as Governor
- 1989 · Murderers Among Us: The Simon Wiesenthal Story as Simon Wiesenthal
- 1987 · Dispatches as
- 1987 · Seitenblicke as Self
- 1984 · Playing Shakespeare as
- 1984 · Goldene Kamera as Self
- 1982 · The Merry Wives of Windsor as Frank Ford
- 1982 · Gandhi as Mahatma Gandhi
- 1981 · Entertainment Tonight as Self
- 1981 · Wetten, dass..? as Self
- 1974 · Playhouse as Ivanov
- 1972 · Pebble Mill at One as
- 1972 · The Adventurer as Pierre
- 1953 · The Oscars as Self - Presenter
- 1948 · Bambi as Self
- 1944 · Golden Globe Awards as Self - Nominee
- Future · Fortitude as
- 2026 · Young Washington as Robert Dinwiddie
- 2026 · Deep Water as
- 2024 · The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Three More as Imdad Khan / The Dealer / Dr. Ganderbai (archive footage)
- 2023 · Poison as Dr. Ganderbai
- 2023 · Jules as Milton Robinson
- 2022 · Dalíland as Dalí
- 2022 · Robin Williams: Laugh Until You Cry as Self
- 2019 · The Medicine Buddha as Narrator (voice)
- 2019 · Spider in the Web as Adereth
- 2018 · An Oral History of: Schindler's List as Self (archive footage)
- 2018 · Inside the Operation as Self
- 2018 · Intrigo: Death of an Author as Henderson
- 2018 · Schindler's List: 25 Years Later as Self
- 2018 · All or Nothing: Manchester City as Narrator (voice)
- 2018 · Backstabbing for Beginners as Pasha
- 2017 · An Ordinary Man as The General
- 2016 · Of Dogs and Men as The Caller (voice)
- 2015 · Knights of Classic Drama at the BBC as Self (archive footage)
- 2015 · Unity as Narrator (voice)
- 2015 · Dragonheart 3: The Sorcerer's Curse as Drago (Voice)
- 2014 · Marvel One-Shot: All Hail the King as Trevor Slattery / The Mandarin
- 2013 · Muse of Fire as Self
- 2013 · A Common Man as The Man
- 2012 · It Is No Dream: The Life Of Theodor Herzl as Narrator
- 2012 · The Cinemagician, Georges Méliès as Self
- 2012 · Shoot the Moon: The Making of 'Hugo' as Self
- 2011 · The Desert of Forbidden Art as Voice
- 2010 · Aral, the Lost Sea as
- 2010 · Winston Churchill: Walking with Destiny as Narrator
- 2009 · Journey to Mecca as Narrator
- 2008 · Elegy as David Kepesh
- 2008 · The Wackness as Dr. Squires
- 2008 · TransSiberian as Grinko
- 2007 · The Ten Commandments as Narrator (voice)
- 2007 · You Kill Me as Frank Falenczyk
- 2006 · The Road to Damascus: The Reinvention of Bugsy Siegel as Self
- 2006 · C.S. Lewis: Dreamer of Narnia as Self
- 2006 · Mais Bastidores de Hollywood as Self
- 2006 · 50 Films to See Before You Die as Self
- 2006 · Mrs. Harris as Herman Tarnower
- 2005 · Peace Is Every Step as Narrator
- 2005 · BloodRayne as Kagan
- 2005 · Nos Bastidores de Hollywood as Self (archive footage)
- 2004 · No Strings Attached: The Making of Thunderbirds as Self
- 2004 · Thunderbirds as The Hood
- 2004 · Religion of the World as Narrator
- 2003 · House of Sand and Fog as Behrani
- 2003 · Unlikely Heroes as Narrator
- 2003 · The Making of ‘Sneakers’ as Self
- 2003 · Helena: First Pilgrim to the Holy Land as Narrator
- 2002 · Spooky House as The Great Zamboni
- 2001 · The Triumph of Love as Hermocrates
- 2001 · The Making of Sexy Beast as Self
- 2001 · Anne Frank: The Whole Story as Otto Frank
- 2001 · Islam: Empire of Faith as Narrator
- 2001 · Islam: Empire of Faith as Self - Narrator
- 2000 · What Planet Are You From? as Graydon
- 1999 · A Force More Powerful as Narator
- 1999 · CNN Millennium as Narrator
- 1999 · Parting Shots as Renzo Locatelli
- 1999 · Alice in Wonderland as Major Caterpillar
- 1998 · Crime and Punishment as Magistrate Porfiry
- 1998 · Religions of the World as Narrator
- 1997 · Photographing Fairies as Rev. Templeton
- 1997 · Weapons of Mass Distraction as Julian Messenger
- 1995 · Moses as Moses
- 1995 · Joseph as Potiphar
- 1994 · Inside the Actors Studio as Self
- 1994 · Death and the Maiden as Dr. Roberto Miranda
- 1994 · Liberation as Narrator
- 1993 · Searching for Bobby Fischer as Bruce Pandolfini
- 1992 · Freddie As F.R.O.7. as Freddie (voice)
- 1991 · Necessary Love as
- 1991 · Rabbit Ears - Moses the Lawgiver as Narrator (voice)
- 1991 · Rabbit Ears - The Tiger and the Brahmin as Narrator (voice)
- 1991 · The War That Never Ends as Pericles
- 1990 · The Fifth Monkey as Cunda
- 1990 · Lenin: The Train as Lenin
- 1990 · Romeo.Juliet as Father Capulet (voice)
- 1989 · The Making of Slipstream as
- 1989 · Slipstream as Avatar
- 1988 · Lenin... The Train as Wladimir Iljitsch Lenin
- 1988 · Testimony as Dmitri Shostakovich
- 1988 · Pascali's Island as Basil Pascali
- 1988 · Without a Clue as Dr. John Watson
- 1988 · The Secret of the Sahara as Sholomon
- 1987 · Maurice as Lasker-Jones
- 1985 · Silas Marner as Silas Marner
- 1985 · Turtle Diary as William Snow
- 1985 · Harem as Selim
- 1985 · To Be Hamlet as Self
- 1984 · Camille as Duval
- 1984 · Oxbridge Blues as Geoff Craven
- 1983 · Betrayal as Robert
- 1983 · Mr. Attenborough and Mr. Gandhi as Self
- 1979 · Every Good Boy Deserves Favour as Ivanov
- 1976 · Dickens of London as Dr. John Elliotson
- 1975 · The Love School as Dante Gabriel Rossetti
- 1975 · Antony and Cleopatra as Thidias
- 1973 · Wessex Tales as Lord Uplandtowers
- 1972 · Fear Is the Key as Royale
- Future · The Way of the Wind as
- 1973 · Hard Labour as Naseem
- 1951 · Hallmark Hall of Fame as Duval
- 1944 · Golden Globe Awards as Self - Audience Member
- Future · Mary as King Herod