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. He changed his name to Ben Kingsley early in his career in the 1960s, fearing that a foreign name would hinder his ability to get acting work.
Ben Kingsley has won an Academy Award for Best Actor for Gandhi (1982), a BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for the same film, a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word or Nonmusical Recording for The Words of Gandhi in 1984, and two Golden Globe Awards. He was also awarded the Indian civilian honour Padma Shri in 1984 and a Crystal Globe at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in 2001.
Ben Kingsley was made a Knight Bachelor in the 2002 New Year Honours for services to the British film industry. The announcement was made on the 31st of December 2001, coincidentally his 58th birthday, and he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace.
Ben Kingsley portrayed Itzhak Stern, a Holocaust survivor who works as Oskar Schindler's trusted accountant, in Steven Spielberg's 1993 historical drama Schindler's List. Liam Neeson played Schindler. Kingsley received a BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role nomination for the performance.
Ben Kingsley's father, Rahimtulla Harji Bhanji, was born in Zanzibar to a family of Khoja Gujarati descent originating from the Indian city of Jamnagar. His mother, Anna Lyna Mary Goodman, was an English actress and model. His paternal grandfather was a spice trader who moved from India to Zanzibar. Kingsley was raised as a Quaker, though his father practised Ismaili Shia Islam.
Ben Kingsley joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1967 after auditioning before director Trevor Nunn and devoted himself almost exclusively to stage work for the next fifteen years. His RSC work included productions of As You Like It, Much Ado About Nothing, Richard III, The Tempest, Hamlet, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and The Merry Wives of Windsor.