Krishna Pandit Bhanji was born on the 31st December 1943, in Snainton, North Riding of Yorkshire, England, but is best known to the world under his stage name Ben Kingsley, and is an Oscar-winning actor, best known for his roles in “Gandhi” (1982), “Bugsy”, “Schindler’s List”, “Sexy Beast” and “House of Sand and Fog”, among many others. Kingsley has won a Grammy, BAFTA, two Golden Globes, and a Screen Actors Guild Award, and most importantly an Oscar, also received three additional Oscar nominations. He has been an active member of the entertainment industry since 1966.
Have you ever wondered how rich Ben Kingsley is, as of late 2017? According to authoritative sources, it has been estimated that Ben Kingsley’s net worth is as high as $70 million, an amount earned through his successful career as an actor. In addition to being extremely popular on screen, he has also worked in the theatre which has added to his wealth.
Ben Kingsley Net Worth $70 Million
Krishna Bhanji was born to a Kenyan father Rahimtulla Harji Bhanji, a doctor, and English mother Anna Lyna Mary, an actress and model. He grew up near Manchester, and went to Manchester Grammar School, then Pendleton College before studying at the University of Salford. At this point, Bhanji decided to change his name to Ben Kingsley, to have a better chance of landing roles in theatre and on television.
He started working in theatre in 1966, and the same year made his television debut in the TV series “Pardon the Expression”, and then in “Orlando” (1966) and “Coronation Street” (1966-1967), which helped him build his career, and also establish his net worth. Kingsley made a break from TV to play on stage, so he made his London West End theatre debut, and although had an offer to pursue a career in the music industry, so remained working on the stage for the next 15 years.
In the meantime, Kingsley did appear in a couple of TV movies, such as “Fear Is the Key” (1972), and “Antony and Cleopatra” (1974), but his most distinguished role came in 1982, when director Sir Richard Attenborough selected him to play the title role in “Gandhi”, a part which changed his career for good, as the film was not only successful at the box office in many countries, and for Ben’s net worth, but also won eight Oscars including for Best Actor in Leading Role for Ben.
So Kingsley became an international sta,r and was subsequently cast in numerous blockbuster movies. During the ’80’s, Kingsley had leading roles in “Betrayal” with Jeremy Irons and Patricia Hodge, “Turtle Diary” (1985), “Silas Marner” (1985), “Without a Clue” (1985) with Michael Caine, “Testimony” (1988), “Lenin: The Train” (1988), and “Murderers Among Us: The Simon Wiesenthal Story” (1989), which all helped to considerably increase his net worth. He received an Oscar nomination for portraying infamous gangster Meyer Lansky in Barry Livingston’s “Bugsy” (1991) co-starring Warren Beatty, Annette Bening and Harvey Keitel, increasing further his real as well as net worth.
Kingsley also appeared in “Sneakers” (1992) with Robert Redford, Dan Aykroyd and Sidney Poitier, “Searching for Bobby Fischer” (1993), and was a supporting actor in Steven Spielberg’s “Schindler’s List” (1993) starring Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes. He continued with notable roles in Roman Polanski’s “Death and the Maiden” (1994) with Sigourney Weaver and Stuart Wilson, “Joseph” (1995), “Moses” (1995), and “The Assignment” (1997) with Aidan Quinn and Donald Sutherland, all adding funds to his overall wealth.
Towards the end of the ’90s, Kingsley had several more parts, significantly in “The Tale of Sweeney Todd” (1997), “Crime and Punishment” (1998), and “Alice in Wonderland” (1999). In 2000, Kingsley received another Oscar nomination for playing the role of psychotic bully Don Logan in Jonathan Glazer’s “Sexy Beast”, with Ray Winstone and Ian McShane. He later played in “The Triumph of Love” (2001), before starring in Vadim Perelman’s heartbreaking drama “House of Sand and Fog” (2003) for which he received his latest Oscar nomination, playing the Iranian immigrant Behrani. His net worth was still rising.
Ben Kingsley went on to play in Polanski’s “Oliver Twist” (2005), then starred in “Lucky Number Slevin” (2006) with Josh Hartnett and Morgan Freeman.. He later filmed “Trans-Siberian” (2008) with Woody Harrelson and Emily Mortimer, and “Fifty Dead Men Walking” (2008).
In this decade, Kingsley has had parts in Martin Scorsese’s “Shutter Island” (2010) starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Emily Mortimer and Mark Ruffalo, “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time” (2010), “Learning to Drive” (2014) with Patricia Clarkson, and Ridley Scott’s “Exodus: Gods and Kings” (2014). Most recently, he appeared in “Self/less” (2015), Robert Zemeckis’ “The Walk” (2015), and gave his voice to Bagheera in “The Jungle Book” (2016), which have also added a considerable amount to his net worth. He is currently filming “War Machine” (2017), “Backstabbing for Beginners” (2017), and “An Ordinary Man” (2017).
In his impressive career, Ben has appeared in over 100 films on the big screen, and over 50 TV productions. In addition to specific awards already mentioned, he was made a Knight Bachelor in 2002 for his service to the British film industry, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and a BAFTA Los Angeles Britannia Award for Worldwide Contribution to Filmed Entertainment, and has the Indian civilian honour Padma Shri since 1984.
Regarding his personal life, Ben Kingsley has married four times: to Angela Morant from 1966 to 1977, Alison Sutcliffe from 1978 to 1992, Alexandra Christmann from 2003 to 2005, and to Daniela Lavender since 2007 – they are still together, and reside in Oxfordshire. Kingsley has four children; two with Morant and two with Sutcliffe.
