Ben Kingsley - Early Life

Early Life

Kingsley was born Krishna Pandit Bhanji in Snainton, North Riding of Yorkshire, England, the son of Anna Lyna Mary (née Goodman), an actor and model, and Rahimtulla Harji Bhanji, a medical doctor.

Kingsley's father, born in Kenya, was of Gujarati Indian descent, and from a Nizari Ismaili Muslim background. Kingsley's paternal grandfather was a spice trader who had moved from India to Zanzibar, where Kingsley's father lived until moving to Britain at the age of 14. Kingsley's mother was British; she was born out of wedlock, and "loath to speak of her background". Kingsley's maternal grandfather was believed by the family to have been a Russian or German Jew, while Kingsley's maternal grandmother was English and worked in the garment district of East London.

Kingsley grew up in Pendlebury, near Manchester. He was educated at Manchester Grammar School, where one of his classmates was the actor Robert Powell. He later studied at the University of Salford and at Pendleton College, which later became home to the Ben Kingsley Theatre.