Sir Ben Kingsley is a British actor known for his extensive career on stage and screen. He has received numerous accolades throughout his career which spans over five decades, including an Academy Award, BAFTA Award, Grammy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and a Screen Actors Guild Award, in addition to nominations for four Primetime Emmy Awards, and two Laurence Olivier Awards.
Kingsley started his career on stage when he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1967, where he starred in numerous productions of William Shakespeare including King Lear (1968), Bartholomew Fair (1969), Measure for Measure (1970), The Tempest (1970), Hamlet (1975), The Merry Wives of Windsor (1979), and Othello (1985). He made his Broadway debut playing Demetrius in A Midsummer Night's Dream (1971). He portrayed the title role in Edmund Kean (1983) on both the West End at the Aldwych Theatre and on Broadway at the Billy Rose Theater.
He is best known for starring as Mohandas Gandhi in the film Gandhi (1982), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor. He expanded his career in film earning acclaim for his performances in Maurice (1987), Bugsy (1990), Schindler's List (1993), Sexy Beast (2000), House of Sand and Fog (2003), Elegy (2008), Shutter Island (2010), and Hugo (2011). Other notable films include Sneakers (1992), Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993), Dave (1993), Death and the Maiden (1994), Twelfth Night (1996), Tuck Everlasting (2002), and Learning to Drive (2014). He portrayed Trevor Slattery in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, acting in Iron Man 3 (2013), Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021), and the upcoming Disney+ series Wonder Man.[1] He also acted in the blockbusters Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010), Ender's Game (2013). He voiced roles in The Boxtrolls (2014), and The Jungle Book (2016).
On television, Kingsley has portrayed numerous real life figures including Simon Wiesenthal in the HBO film Murderers Among Us: The Simon Wiesenthal Story (1989), Potiphar in the TNT miniseries Joseph (1995), Otto Frank in the ABC miniseries Anne Frank: The Whole Story (2001), and Herman Tarnower in the HBO film Mrs. Harris (2005). He also played Sweeney Todd in the TV film The Tale of Sweeney Todd (1997), and Ay, the Grand Vizier in the miniseries Tut (2015).
Acting credits
Key
†
|
Denotes works that have not yet been released
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Film
Television
Theatre
Year
|
Title
|
Role(s)
|
Playwright
|
Venue(s)
|
Ref.
|
1967 |
The Taming of the Shrew |
Huntsman |
William Shakespeare |
Royal Shakespeare Theatre |
[10]
|
The Revenger's Tragedy |
Lord 3 |
Cyril Tourneur |
Royal Shakespeare Theatre |
[11]
|
As You Like It |
Lord 2 |
William Shakespeare |
Royal Shakespeare Theatre |
[12]
|
The Relapse |
Wigmaker, unnamed parts |
John Vanbrugh |
Aldwych Theatre, London |
[13]
|
1968 |
As You Like It |
Amiens |
William Shakespeare |
Ahmanson Theatre, Los Angeles |
[14]
|
King Lear |
Oswald |
Stratford-Upon-Avon, London |
[15]
|
Troilus and Cressida |
Aeneas |
Royal Shakespeare Theatre |
[16]
|
Much Ado About Nothing |
Conrade |
Royal Shakespeare Theatre |
[17]
|
1969 |
Troilus and Cressida |
Aeneas |
UK tour |
[18]
|
Bartholomew Fair |
Ned Winwife |
Ben Jonson |
Aldwych Theatre, West End |
[19][20]
|
The Silver Tassie |
The Croucher |
Sean O'Casey |
Aldwych Theatre, London |
[21]
|
1970 |
Richard III |
Richard Ratcliffe |
William Shakespeare |
Royal Shakespeare Theatre |
[22]
|
Measure for Measure |
Claudio |
Stratford-Upon-Avon, London |
[23]
|
The Tempest |
Ariel |
[24]
|
1971 |
A Midsummer Night's Dream |
Demetrius |
Billy Rose Theatre, Broadway |
[25]
|
Enemies |
Sintsov |
Maxim Gorky |
Aldwych Theatre, London |
[26]
|
Occupations |
Gramsci |
Trevor Griffiths |
UK tour |
[27]
|
Subject To Fits |
Ippolit |
Robert Montgomery |
The Place, London |
[28]
|
The Oz Trial |
Richard Neville |
devised by David Illingworth and Geoffrey Roberton |
The Place, London |
[29]
|
1973 |
A Lesson in Blood and Roses |
Fritz |
John Wiles |
The Place, London |
[30]
|
1973 |
Hello and Goodbye |
Johnnie Smit |
Athol Fugard |
The Place, London |
[31]
|
1974 |
Statements Made After an Arrest Under the Immorality Act |
Errol Philander |
Athol Fugard |
Royal Court Theatre, London |
[32]
|
1975 |
Man Is Man |
Bonze Wang |
Bertolt Brecht |
The Other Place, Stratford-Upon-Avon |
[33]
|
The Merry Wives of Windsor |
Master Slender |
William Shakespeare |
Royal Shakespeare Theatre |
[34]
|
1975–1976 |
Hamlet |
Hamlet |
Stratford-Upon-Avon, London |
[35]
|
1979 |
Cymbeline |
Iachimo |
Royal Shakespeare Theatre |
[36]
|
Julius Caesar |
Marcus Brutus |
Royal Shakespeare Theatre |
[37]
|
Baal |
Baal, music composer |
Bertolt Brecht |
The Other Place, Stratford-Upon-Avon |
[38]
|
1979–1980 |
The Merry Wives of Windsor |
Master Frank Ford |
William Shakespeare |
Aldwych Theatre, London |
[39]
|
1980 |
The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby |
Furious Gentleman, Mr Squeers, Mr Wagstaff |
Charles Dickens, adapted by David Edgar |
Aldwych Theatre, London |
[40]
|
Baal |
Baal, music composer |
Bertolt Brecht |
Gulbenkian Studio, Newcastle-upon-Tyne; Warehouse, London |
[41][42]
|
1983 |
Edmund Kean |
Edumnd Kean |
Raymund Fitzsimons |
Haymarket Theatre, West End |
|
Brooks Atkinson Theatre, Broadway |
[43]
|
1984 |
Melons |
Caracol |
Bernard Pomerance |
The Other Place, Stratford-Upon-Avon |
[44]
|
1985–1986 |
Othello |
Othello |
William Shakespeare |
Barbican Theatre, London |
[45]
|
Video games
Year
|
Title
|
Role
|
Notes
|
1995 |
Kiyeko and the Lost Night |
Storyteller |
Voice role
|
1997 |
Ceremony of Innocence |
Victor Frolatti
|
2010 |
Fable III |
Sabine |
Voice role Credited as Sir Ben Kingsley
|
References
External links