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 (1989), Potiphar in the TNT miniseries Joseph (1995), Otto Frank in the ABC miniseries (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).
| Denotes works that have not yet been released |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | Fear Is the Key | Royale | |
| 1982 | Gandhi | ||
| 1983 | Betrayal | Robert | |
| 1985 | Harem | Selim | |
| 1986 | Turtle Diary | William Snow | |
| 1987 | Maurice | Lasker-Jones | |
| 1988 | Pascali's Island | Basil Pascali | |
| Without a Clue | |||
| Testimony — The Story of Shostakovich | |||
| 1989 | Slipstream | Avatar | |
| 1990 | Cunda | ||
| A Violent Life | Governor | ||
| 1991 | Bugsy | ||
| Necessary Love | Ernesto | ||
| 1992 | Sneakers | Cosmo | |
| Freddie as F.R.O.7 | Freddie the Frog | Voice | |
| 1993 | Searching for Bobby Fischer | ||
| Dave | Vice-President Gary Nance | ||
| Schindler's List | |||
| 1994 | Death and the Maiden | Dr. Roberto Miranda | |
| 1995 | Species | Xavier Fitch | |
| 1996 | Twelfth Night | ||
| 1997 | Amos | ||
| Photographing Fairies | Minister Templeton | ||
| 1999 | Harry Fertig | ||
| Parting Shots | Renzo Locatelli | ||
| CNN Millennium | Narrator[2] | ||
| 2000 | Spooky House | The Great Zamboni | |
| What Planet Are You From? | Graydon | ||
| Rules of Engagement | Ambassador Mourain | ||
| Narrator | Voice; Documentary | ||
| Sexy Beast | Don Logan | ||
| 2001 | A.I. Artificial Intelligence | Specialist | Voice |
| 2002 | Hermocrates | ||
| Tuck Everlasting | Man in the Yellow Suit | ||
| 2003 | House of Sand and Fog | Massoud Behrani | |
| 2004 | Thunderbirds | ||
| Suspect Zero | Benjamin O'Ryan | ||
| 2005 | Charles Hatton | ||
| Oliver Twist | |||
| BloodRayne | Kagan | ||
| 2006 | Lucky Number Slevin | The Rabbi | |
| 2007 | You Kill Me | Frank Falenczyk | |
| Narrator | Voice | ||
| 2008 | Elegy | David Kepesh | |
| War, Inc. | Walken | ||
| Guru Tugginmypudha | |||
| Dr. Squires | |||
| Transsiberian | Grinko | ||
| China's Stolen Children | Narrator | Voice; Documentary | |
| Fifty Dead Men Walking | Fergus | ||
| 2009 | Noah's Ark: The New Beginning | Narrator | Voice |
| Journey to Mecca | Voice; Documentary | ||
| 2010 | Shutter Island | Dr. John Cawley | |
| Teen Patti | Perci Trachtenberg | ||
| Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time | Nizam | ||
| 1001 inventions and the library of secrets | The Librarian | Short Educational Film | |
| 2011 | Hugo | ||
| The Desert of Forbidden Art | Narrator | Voice; Documentary | |
| Beatles Stories | Himself | Documentary | |
| 2012 | The Dictator | Tamir | |
| A Therapy | Therapist | Short film | |
| It Is No Dream | Narrator | Voice; Documentary | |
| 2013 | Iron Man 3 | ||
| Ender's Game | |||
| A Common Man | The Man | ||
| Walking with the Enemy | |||
| The Physician | |||
| A Birder's Guide to Everything | Lawrence Konrad | ||
| 2014 | Marvel One-Shot: All Hail the King | Trevor Slattery | Short film |
| War Story | Albert | ||
| The Boxtrolls | Archibald Snatcher | Voice | |
| Learning to Drive | Darwan | ||
| Stonehearst Asylum | Silas Lamb | ||
| Merenkahre | |||
| Robot Overlords | Robin Smythe | ||
| 2015 | Knight of Cups | The Voice | Voice |
| Life | |||
| Drago the Dragon | Voice[3] [4] | ||
| Unity[5] | Narrator | Voice; Documentary | |
| Self/less | Damian | ||
| The Walk | Papa Rudy | ||
| 2016 | The Jungle Book | Voice[6] | |
| Collide | Geran | ||
| 2017 | The Ottoman Lieutenant | Garrett Woodruff | |
| Security | Charlie | ||
| War Machine | |||
| An Ordinary Man | The General | Also Producer | |
| 2018 | Backstabbing for Beginners | Pasha | |
| Operation Finale | |||
| Night Hunter | Michael Cooper | ||
| Henderson | |||
| 2019 | The Red Sea Diving Resort | Ethan Levin | |
| Spider in the Web | Adereth | ||
| 2021 | Locked Down | Solomon | |
| Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings | Trevor Slattery | [7] | |
| 2022 | Dalíland | ||
| 2023 | Jules | Milton Robinson | [8] |
| The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar | Imdad Khan / The Dealer | Short film | |
| Poison | Dr. Ganderbai | ||
| 2024 | The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Three More | Various | |
| William Tell | |||
| TBA | The Way of the Wind | TBA | Post-production |
| Desert Warrior | Emperor Kisra | ||
| Deep Water | |||
| The Killer's Game | Zvi | Filming | |
| The Thursday Murder Club | Ibrahim Arif |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1966 | Pardon the Expression | Roy | Episode: "The Switched-On Scene" | |
| Orlando | Peter Batterby | 6 episodes | ||
| 1966–1967 | Coronation Street | Ron Jenkins | 5 episodes | |
| 1973 | The Adventurer | Pierre | Episode: "The Good Book" | |
| Play for Today | Naseem | Episode: "Hard Labour" | ||
| Full House | "A Misfortune" Cast Member | Episode: "13 January 1973" | ||
| Wessex Tales | Lord Uplandtowers | Episode: "Barbara of the House of Grebe" | ||
| 1974 | Antony and Cleopatra | Thidias | Television film | |
| 1975 | The Love School | Rosetti | 5 episodes | |
| 1976 | Dickens of London | Dr. John Elliotson | 2 episodes | |
| 1977 | Velvet Glove | Chakravarti | Episode: "The Warrior's Return" | |
| 1976–1979 | Crown Court | Jeremy Leigh | 5 episodes | |
| 1978–1979 | BBC2 Playhouse | Ivanov Robert Cibrario | 2 episodes | |
| 1982 | The Merry Wives of Windsor | Frank Ford | Television film | |
| 1983 | Kean | Edmund Kean | ||
| 1984 | Camille | Duval | ||
| Oxbridge Blues | Geoff Craven | Episode: "Sleeps Six" | ||
| 1985 | Silas Marner | Silas Marner | Television movie | |
| 1986 | Stanley's Vision | Stanley Spencer | Television film | |
| 1988 | The Secret of the Sahara | Sholomon | 4 episodes | |
| Lenin: The Train | Lenin | Television film | ||
| 1989 | ||||
| 1991 | The War That Never Ends | Pericles | ||
| 1995 | Joseph | Potiphar | ||
| Moses | ||||
| 1997 | Weapons of Mass Distraction | Julian Messenger | ||
| 1998 | The Tale of Sweeney Todd | |||
| Crime and Punishment | Porfiry | |||
| 1999 | Alice in Wonderland | Major Caterpillar | ||
| 2001 | 2 episodes | |||
| 2005 | Mrs. Harris | Herman Tarnower | Television movie | |
| 2006 | The Sopranos | Himself | Episode: "Luxury Lounge" | |
| 2014 | Garfunkel & Oates | Episode: "The Fadeaway" | ||
| 2015 | Tut | 3 episodes | ||
| 2018 | Narrator | Docuseries | ||
| Watership Down | General Woundwort | Voice 4 episodes | ||
| 2019 | Perpetual Grace, LTD | Pastor Byron Brown | 10 episodes | |
| Schindler: The Real Story[9] | Narrator | In the 1983 release the narrator was Dirk Bogarde. | ||
| TBA | Wonder Man | Upcoming Disney+ series |
| Year | Title | Role(s) | Playwright | Venue(s) | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1967 | The Taming of the Shrew | Huntsman | Royal Shakespeare Theatre | [10] | |
| The Revenger's Tragedy | Lord 3 | Royal Shakespeare Theatre | [11] | ||
| As You Like It | Lord 2 | Royal Shakespeare Theatre | [12] | ||
| The Relapse | Wigmaker, unnamed parts | Aldwych Theatre, London | [13] | ||
| 1968 | As You Like It | Amiens | Ahmanson Theatre, Los Angeles | [14] | |
| King Lear | Oswald | Stratford-Upon-Avon, London | [15] | ||
| Troilus and Cressida | [16] | ||||
| Much Ado About Nothing | Conrade | [17] | |||
| 1969 | Troilus and Cressida | UK tour | [18] | ||
| Bartholomew Fair | Ned Winwife | Ben Jonson | [19] [20] | ||
| The Silver Tassie | The Croucher | Aldwych Theatre, London | [21] | ||
| 1970 | Richard III | Richard Ratcliffe | William Shakespeare | [22] | |
| Measure for Measure | Claudio | Stratford-Upon-Avon, London | [23] | ||
| The Tempest | Ariel | [24] | |||
| 1971 | A Midsummer Night's Dream | Demetrius | [25] | ||
| Enemies | Sintsov | Aldwych Theatre, London | [26] | ||
| Occupations | Gramsci | UK tour | [27] | ||
| Subject To Fits | Ippolit | 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 | The Place, London | [30] | |
| 1973 | Hello and Goodbye | Johnnie Smit | The Place, London | [31] | |
| 1974 | Statements Made After an Arrest Under the Immorality Act | Errol Philander | 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 | [34] | ||
| 1975–1976 | 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 | ||
| [43] | |||||
| 1984 | Melons | Caracol | Bernard Pomerance | The Other Place, Stratford-Upon-Avon | [44] |
| 1985–1986 | Othello | William Shakespeare | Barbican Theatre, London | [45] | |
| 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 |