From Gandhi to gangsters: Ben Kingsley at 80

Knighted in 2002 for his contribution and service to the British film industry, Sir Ben Kingsley has played diverse roles in a career reaching 60 years, including a Jewish accountant in World War II-era Poland in Steven Spielberg's "Schindler's List" (1993), a gangster with a sociopathic streak in "Sexy Beast" (2000) and an Iranian immigrant harassed by the former owner of his new home in "House of Sand and Fog" (2003). He also voiced the computer-animated black panther, Bagheera, for Disney's 2016 live-action remake of Rudyard Kipling's "The Jungle Book."

His impressive portfolio includes portrayals of famous or infamous figures, such as the Biblical character Moses, the founder of the Russian Communist party Vladimir Lenin and Nazi leader Adolf Eichmann.

But beyond those memorable performances, Kingsley will always be best remembered for his Oscar-winning turn in Richard Attenborough's 1982 epic "Gandhi," playing revered Indian leader, Mohandas K. Gandhi.

Krishna who?

The role was not without its irony.

Kingsley was born to a Muslim father of Gujarati Indian descent and an English mother, on December 31, 1943 in Yorkshire, England. He was named Krishna Pandit Bhanji.

He was mostly known as Krish while growing up, but he told the Radio Times in 2016 that he eventually realized his birth name was "more invented" than the stage name he'd chosen in the late 60s.

"The first name is Hindu and the second name is Muslim. Such a name would never exist in the whole of the Indian subcontinent; it's a nonsense name."

But there was a more compelling reason for the name change. In 2016, Kingsley told the Press Association (now PA Media) that when he first joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1967, "a very senior director" at the company let him know that with his birth name, the actor "would always play servants, and never play kings and leading men, politicians, leaders of their country."

Not wanting his Asian name to hamper his career and backed by his father, Kingsley combined the nicknames of his father (Ben) and his spice trader grandfather (King Clove), thus coining his stage name that saw job offers streaming in soon after.

"But the irony is of course I changed my clunky Asian name to a more pronounceable, and acceptable, universal name in order to play Mahatma Gandhi," Kingsley added. 

Singing vs acting chops

While Ben Kingsley has long since cemented his status as a formidable actor both onscreen and on stage, his life could have taken a very different turn.

The Beatles' publisher Dick James had offered him a contract in 1966 after he had heard him sing and play the guitar on stage. John Lennon and Ringo Starr had also reportedly been thrilled by Kingsley's performance.

But the young performer rather chose to join the Royal Shakespeare Company and was a theater actor for the next 15 years.

He also took on minor television and film roles before his breakthrough with "Gandhi." Following the Oscar-winning role, Kingsley played Soviet composer Dmitri Shostakovich, who fell from grace under Stalin.

In 1988, he ventured into the comedy world in "Without a Clue," a Sherlock Holmes parody, which also starred Michael Caine.

Hits and misses

Though he received three more Oscar nominations after "Gandhi," Kingsley's feel for a good story wasn't always on point.

In fact, he too hasn't been spared nominations for the Golden Raspberry Awards, also known as the Razzies — a parody award show honoring the worst of cinematic "failures." In 2009 alone, he was nominated thrice under the "Worst Supporting Actor" category.

Yet, unlike many other actors, Kingsley has never disappeared from the scene.

In 2006, he appeared in the crime thriller "Lucky Number Slevin," alongside Morgan Freeman, Bruce Willis and Josh Hartnett.

In 2010, he played a clinic director in Martin Scorsese's "Shutter Island," and a year later — under Scorsese again — he acted in the historic adventure drama "Hugo."

In 2013, he played The Mandarin in "Iron Man 3" and more recently in 2021, he starred alongside Simu Liu, Awkwafina and Michelle Yeoh in Marvel's "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings."  

Quiet pride

Despite his accolades, Ben Kingsley has said that his late parents were unimpressed by their son's successes. Following his mother's death in 2010, he told the British media that they were "indifferent," and that he had not had a particularly loving childhood.

Some others have also commented on his post-knighthood pomposity, including insisting on being called "Sir Ben."

But speaking to The Telegraph in 2006, he said that his pride in his knighthood was heightened by the "steady stream" of racism he'd experienced over the years.  

"I know that people think I'm prone to pomposity and isolation. But I am hugely fragile, which goes back to my past. I've always been proud of the title, but I've learnt to be quietly proud. I think it's a reflection of how an uncomfortable childhood can lead to high achievement. I hope it will inspire other people. Racism, in any form, is f***ing awful."

Edited by: Elizabeth Grenier