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Quick Facts
- NAME: Ben Kingsley
- OCCUPATION: Actor
- BIRTH DATE: December 31, 1943 (Age: 69)
- EDUCATION: University of Salford
- PLACE OF BIRTH: Snainton, England
- Full Name: Sir Ben Kingsley
- Originally: Krishna Bhanji
- ZODIAC SIGN: Capricorn
Best Known For
Ben Kingsley is an Academy Award-winning actor known for his work in films like Gandhi, Bugsy and Schindler’s List.
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Play NowSir Ben Kingsley. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 12:51, May 26, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/ben-kingsley-9365267.
Sir Ben Kingsley. [Internet]. 2013. The Biography Channel website. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/ben-kingsley-9365267 [Accessed 26 May 2013].
"Sir Ben Kingsley." 2013. The Biography Channel website. May 26 2013, 12:51 http://www.biography.com/people/ben-kingsley-9365267.
"Sir Ben Kingsley," The Biography Channel website, 2013, http://www.biography.com/people/ben-kingsley-9365267 [accessed May 26, 2013].
"Sir Ben Kingsley," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/ben-kingsley-9365267 (accessed May 26, 2013).
Sir Ben Kingsley [Internet]. The Biography Channel website; 2013 [cited 2013 May 26] Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/ben-kingsley-9365267.
Sir Ben Kingsley, http://www.biography.com/people/ben-kingsley-9365267 (last visited May 26, 2013).
Sir Ben Kingsley. The Biography Channel website. 2013. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/ben-kingsley-9365267. Accessed May 26, 2013.
A series of less well received movies followed, including Roman Polanski's Death and the Maiden (1994), the science fiction thriller Species (1995), the spy drama The Assignment (1997), the alien comedy What Planet are You From? (2000), costarring Garry Shandling and Annette Bening,
and the military thriller Rules of Engagement (2000). In addition, Kingsley acted in a number of high profile TV projects, including the TNT miniseries Joseph (1995) and Moses (1996, in which Kingsley played the title role), Showtime's The Tale of Sweeney Todd (1998), and the NBC movies Dostoevsky's "Crime and Punishment" (1998) and Alice in Wonderland (1999).
Kingsley had a busy year in 2001, beginning with his chilling, outrageous performance as the tightly wound British gangster Don Logan in the British import Sexy Beast. For the scene-stealing turn, Kingsley earned rave reviews and numerous critical accolades, including his fourth Academy Award nomination, for Best Supporting Actor. The same year, he nabbed an Emmy nod for another supporting performance, as Otto Frank in the well received ABC miniseries Anne Frank. Kingsley also narrated the Spielberg-directed science fiction film A.I. Artificial Intelligence and co-starred with Mira Sorvino in The Triumph of Love, which was released in the U.S. in 2002. In 2004, Kingsley received an Oscar nomination for his performance in the film adaptation of Andre Dubus III's acclaimed novel, House of Sand and Fog.
Perrsonal Life
Kingsley has a son and daughter, Thomas and Jasmine, from his first marriage to actress Angela Morant, and two sons, Edmund and Ferdinand, from his second to theater director Alison Sutcliffe, with whom he worked on the one-man show Edmund Kean. He and his third wife, Alexandra, separated after just 15 months of marriage in 2005.
On March 19, 2002, Kingsley was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II of Britain.
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