Short answers, pulled from the story.
Ben Kingsley was born Krishna Pandit Bhanji on the 31st of December 1943 in Snainton, North Riding of Yorkshire. His mother Anna Lyna Mary Goodman was an English actress and model who rarely spoke about her family history.
Ben Kingsley changed his name during the 1960s because he feared a foreign name would hamper his career. He told Radio Times that changing his name brought immediate results after one audition as Krishna Bhanji ended with rejection.
Director Richard Attenborough cast Ben Kingsley as Mahatma Gandhi in the historical biographical epic drama film titled Gandhi released in 1982. The movie became both a critical and financial success earning him the Academy Award for Best Actor, the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor Motion Picture Drama.
In 2010 Ben Kingsley voiced Sabine in Lionhead Studios game Fable III and starred alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in Shutter Island directed by Martin Scorsese. He later played French illusionist Georges Méliès in Hugo which earned him a Saturn Award for Best Actor and portrayed Trevor Slattery in Iron Man 3 and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.
Ben Kingsley was made a Knight Bachelor in the 2002 New Year Honours for services to the British film industry with the award announcement coming on the 31st of December 2001. He also won a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word or Nonmusical Recording for The Words of Gandhi in 1984 and received an honorary degree from the University of Salford along with the Indian civilian honour Padma Shri.