Oscar winner Ben Kingsley turns 80

Acting icon - Oscar winner Ben Kingsley turns 80

Whether in independent films or big Hollywood movies, Ben Kingsley has a gift for empathizing with a wide variety of characters and bringing them convincingly to the screen. He impressed as India's freedom icon in "Gandhi", as a Jewish accountant in "Schindler's List" or as a choleric gangster in "Sexy Beast". On December 31, the renowned British actor with the distinctive voice turns 80.

It was almost exactly 40 years ago that Kingsley won the Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role for "Gandhi". It was only the second film role ever for the Briton, who was born Krishna Pandit Bhanji in Yorkshire. The role brought the son of a British woman with Russian roots and an Indian born in Zanzibar his international breakthrough. "A wonderful movie," Kingsley said in 2019 in a career review for GQ magazine. "It was the golden door into the movie business for me."

Success came with the name change

But it was a long road to get there, during which he received little support from home, even though he was "the showman of the family", as Kingsley told theDaily Mail. "I tried to make them laugh. But they weren't a particularly happy bunch, so it wasn't easy." The fact that he was often admonished to be quiet as a child only spurred him on even more, he said. "If you try to suppress a talent, then it will struggle all the more to break free and be heard," the mime is certain.

He acted in school plays and joined amateur theater while studying in Manchester. In his early 20s, he turned acting into a profession and changed his name. "Krishna Bhanji was such a strange name," he told the Radio Times. "It's more made up than the name I chose." The move had another effect. "As soon as I changed my name, I started getting the jobs."

When he played a street musician in the play "A Smashing Day" by Beatles manager Brian Epstein and sang his own songs, another opportunity opened up in show business. John Lennon and Ringo Starr were in the audience and were thrilled. They insisted on introducing Kingsley to their music publisher Dick James. "He said he could make me a singer as big as the Beatles," Kingsley recalled in the Daily Mail. "It was tempting, but I was scared." That same day, he received an offer from a theater. "I accepted and have never regretted it."

In 1967, he joined the prestigious Royal Shakespeare Company and from then on devoted himself intensively to the stage in London's West End and elsewhere. He also took on roles on television. He appeared in the British soap opera "Coronation Street", which is still running today, the historical series "The Love School" and the court show "Crown Court". He got his first film role in 1972 in the action thriller "Fear is the Key", which, however, brought him little attention.

Richard Attenborough convinced him to take on the role of "Gandhi"

It wasn't until ten years later that Ben Kingsley returned to the cinema and - despite initial doubts - took on the role that changed everything for him. Director Richard Attenborough had invited him to introduce him to the project. "By pure coincidence, I was reading an illustrated biography of Mahatma Gandhi the week he invited me to his home," Kingsley recounted. He watched five hours of footage of the real Gandhi and decided "it was impossible". But Attenborough eventually won him over and Kingsley established himself as an outstanding character actor.

He never allowed himself to be pinned down to one particular type. After receiving much acclaim as Itzhak Stern in "Schindler's List", he played the Nazi criminal and Holocaust organizer Adolf Eichmann in "Operation Finale" in 2018. Kingsley's list of films and roles is long and varied, including dramas and thrillers ("Death and the Maiden", "Shutter Island"), comedies ("The Love Guru", "Night at the Museum") and Hollywood blockbusters ("Prince Of Persia", "Iron Man 3"). His warm voice can be heard as the narrator in several films. He has also narrated numerous audio books.

"Sexy Beast" brought him cult status

He achieved cult status as Don Logan in "Sexy Beast" (2000). In this black-humored thriller, the sociopathic gangster visits his ex-accomplice Gary (Ray Winstone) to bring him out of retirement for a bank robbery. "I was thought to be bipolar because people couldn't believe that someone who was sane could play Mahatma Gandhi and Don Logan," Kingsley said in the "GQ" interview. After "Bugsy" (1992), "Sexy Beast" earned him another Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. He was again nominated for Best Actor for "House of Sand and Fog" (2003).

Ben Kingsley keeps his private life largely out of the public eye. He is reportedly married for the fourth time and has four children. He is committed to charitable causes and supports various charitable organizations. In 2002, Queen Elizabeth II knighted him. "My work doesn't compensate for anything," Sir Ben, as he has since been allowed to call himself, told The Independent newspaper. "It has become my craft and I love it."