Chameleon-like British actor Ben Kingsley has proven he can play just about anyone, from Nazi war criminals to Jewish Holocaust survivors to quiet British bookshop owners. For many viewers, however, he will always be inextricably linked with his title role in Gandhi, a film that won him an Oscar and the undying respect of critics and filmgoers alike.



Of English, East Indian, and South African descent, Kingsley was born Krishna Bhanji on December 31, 1943 in Snaiton, Yorkshire, England. The son of a general practitioner, Kingsley started out in amateur theatricals in Manchester before making his professional debut at age 23. In 1967 he made his first London appearance at the Aldwych theater and then joined the Royal Shakespeare Company, devoting himself almost exclusively to stage work for the next 15 years (with the exception of two obscure films, Fear Is the Key [1972] and Hard Labour [1973]). When asked about his favorite stage roles, he listed Hamlet, The Tempest's Ariel, and Volpone's Mosca.



American audiences first saw Kingsley in 1971, when he made his Broadway debut with the Royal Shakespeare Company. In 1982, actor and director Richard Attenborough selected Kingsley for the demanding title role in the epic Gandhi. The film swept the international awards that year, earning the 39-year-old actor overnight success. Among the several awards he was honored with, Kingsley won a Best Actor Oscar. Adamantly refusing to recycle the same roles, Kingsley spent the next decade playing a wide spectrum of characters. Among his more notable parts were an Arab potentate in Harem (1985), an introverted bibliophile and "social rebel" in Turtle Diary (also 1985), a spy of little import in Pascali's Island (1988), an incorruptible American vice president in Dave (1992), New York gangster Meyer Lansky in Bugsy (1992), a Jewish bookkeeper in Schindler's List (1993), and a suspected Nazi war criminal in Death and the Maiden (1994). So many of his characters have been either taciturn or downright villainous that, upon being cast in a good-guy role in the escapist sci-fier Species (1995), Kingsley publicly expressed his relief in several widely circulated magazine articles.



In the latter half of the 1990s, Kingsley continued to embrace a variety of eclectic roles, with turns as the Fool in Trevor Nunn's 1996 film adaptation of Twelfth Night, a media mogul in the 1997 made-for-HBO satire Weapons of Mass Distraction, and the barbarous barber Sweeney Todd in John Schlesinger's 1998 The Tale of Sweeney Todd. Kingsley also took Broadway by storm with his one-man show Edward Kean (later taped for cable), which was directed by his wife, Alison Sutcliffe.



Though Kingsley had retained the variety in his career that he had so diligently pursued, the ever-sharp actor remained as focused as ever heading into the new millennium. For his role as a manipulative criminal with a strong power for persuasion in Sexy Beast (2001), Kingsley earned both a Golden Globe nomination and a third Oscar nomination. His fourth Academy nod would come just 2 years later with his role as a proud Arab-American patriarch in The House of Sand and Fog. Along with the Best Actor Oscar nomination, the role also netted Kingsley Golden Globe and Screen Actor's Guild nominations. Kingsley lost his Oscar bid for House to Sean Penn, who collected the statue for his contribution to Clint Eastwood's Mystic River.



Over the next several years, Sir Ben Kingsley's acting choices often demonstrated the degree of difficulty that A-listers may encounter when seeking multilayered roles in respectable films, with solid scripts and direction; like many of his contemporaries, the magnificent thespian Kingsley turned up in more than one schlocky Hollywood stinker after House of Sand and Fog -- from Jonathan Frakes's ugly Thunderbirds revamp (2004) to Uwe Boll's horrendous, gothic fx-extravaganza BloodRayne (2006) (as evil ruler Lor

• 1. Bagheera: Bears don't hibernate in the jungle.
  2. Baloo: Not full hibernation, but I nap...a lot.
  From The Jungle Book. Submitted by Trina B (31 days ago)

• 1. Darwan: I think it's time to discuss road rage.
  From Learning To Drive. Submitted by rob g (7 months ago)

• 1. Darwan: When a man marries a woman they become one spirit.
  From Learning To Drive. Submitted by rob g (7 months ago)

• 1. Darwan: You can't always trust people to behave.
  2. Wendy: Ain't that the truth.
  From Learning To Drive. Submitted by rob g (7 months ago)

• 1. Papa Rudy: This isn't a game, Philippe. One mistake out there and you're going to die.
  From The Walk. Submitted by J * (10 months ago)

• 1. Drago: Evil desires can spoil a dream, just like they can, a heart.
  From Dragonheart 3: The Sorcerer's Curse. Submitted by Anadia P (12 months ago)

• 1. Drago: Evil desires can spoil a dream, just like they can a heart.
  From Dragonheart 3: The Sorcerer's Curse. Submitted by Anadia P (12 months ago)

• 1. Mazer Rackham: He's abandoning his entire fleet.
  2. Colonel Hyrum Graff: He's in command. There's no stopping him now.
  From Ender's Game. Submitted by Higgs B (2 years ago)

• 1. Ender Wiggin: What is this? Why are we watching these images?
  2. Colonel Hyrum Graff: Ender. Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. Thank God for you son.
  3. Ender Wiggin: Why are these images in the program?
  4. Colonel Hyrum Graff: Ender. We won.
  5. Ender Wiggin: What do you mean we won? I beat him. He runs the simulations. He said it was a game.
  6. Mazer Rackham: It was them or us Ender. There was no other way.
  From Ender's Game. Submitted by Higgs B (2 years ago)

• 1. Mahatma Gandhi: The only devils in the world are those running around in our own hearts, and that is where all our battles ought to fought.
  From Gandhi. Submitted by George P (2 years ago)

• 1. Mahatma Gandhi: There is no people on earth who would not prefer their own bad government to the good government of an alien power.
  From Gandhi. Submitted by George P (2 years ago)

• 1. Mahatma Gandhi: An eye for an eye just ends up making the whole world blind.
  From Gandhi. Submitted by George P (2 years ago)

• 1. Mazer Rackham: Since when do you have to tell the enemy when he has won?
  From Ender's Game. Submitted by Steven F (2 years ago)

• 1. Colonel Hyrum Graff: We need minds like yours, Ender. You'll be the finest commander we've ever trained.
  2. Ender Wiggin: So I'm not the first?
  3. Mazer Rackham: No, but you will be the last.
  From Ender's Game. Submitted by Steven F (2 years ago)

• 1. The Mandarin: You don't know who I am. You don't know where I am and you'll never see me coming.
  From Iron Man 3. Submitted by Evan T (2 years ago)

• 1. The Mandarin: True story about fortune cookies: they look Chinese, they sound Chinese, but they're actually an American invention. Which is why they're hollow, full of lies and leave a bad taste in the mouth.
  From Iron Man 3. Submitted by Keren S (2 years ago)

• 1. The Mandarin: Heroes? There is no such thing.
  From Iron Man 3. Submitted by Nick M (2 years ago)

• 1. The Mandarin: You'll never see me coming.
  From Iron Man 3. Submitted by Nick M (2 years ago)

• 1. The Mandarin: Ole Ole Ole!
  From Iron Man 3. Submitted by sam v (2 years ago)

• 1. The Mandarin: I'm going to give you a choice. Do you want an empty life or a meaningful death?
  From Iron Man 3. Submitted by Matthew H (2 years ago)

• 1. The Mandarin: Well, I panicked, but then I handled it.
  From Iron Man 3. Submitted by Oliver R (2 years ago)

• 1. The Mandarin: You don't know who I am. You'll never see me coming.
  From Iron Man 3. Submitted by Rodrigo B (2 years ago)

• 1. The Mandarin: Mr Stark, today is the first day of what's left of your life.
  From Iron Man 3. Submitted by joseph j (3 years ago)

• 1. The Mandarin: You don't know who I am. you'll never see me coming.
  From Iron Man 3. Submitted by joseph j (3 years ago)

• 1. The Mandarin: You will never see me coming.
  From Iron Man 3. Submitted by vijeyta R (3 years ago)

• 1. Station inspector: We'll let the orphanage deal with you
  2. Hugo Cabret: No! I don't belong there!
  3. Station inspector: Where do you belong then? A child has to belong somewhere!
  4. Hugo Cabret: Listen to me! Please, please listen to me! You don't understand! You have to let me go. I don't understand why, why father died, why I'm alone. It is my only chance.. to work. [looks at the Inspector's artificial leg] You should understand!
  5. Georges M�li�s: I do. I do. Monsieur, this child belongs to me.
  From Hugo. Submitted by Fred M (3 years ago)

• 1. Dr. Cawley: Sanity is not a choice Marshall, you can't just choose to get over it.
  From Shutter Island. Submitted by Bryan O (3 years ago)

• 1. The Mandarin: Lesson number one. Heroes, there is no such thing.
  From Iron Man 3. Submitted by Scott W (3 years ago)

• 1. Fagin: Do you know what I consider the greatest sin in the world, my dear? Ingratitude.
  From Oliver Twist. Submitted by Frances H (3 years ago)

• 1. Fagin: Fine fellows. Fine fellows.
  From Oliver Twist. Submitted by Frances H (3 years ago)

• 1. The Mandarin: Ladies, children, sheep... Some people call me a terrorist. I consider myself a teacher.
  From Iron Man 3. Submitted by Joshua D (3 years ago)

• 1. The Mandarin: Ladies, children, sheep... Some people call me a terrorist. I consider myself a teacher.
  From Iron Man 3. Submitted by Typhon Q (3 years ago)

• 1. The Mandarin: Some people call me a terrorist, I consider myself a teacher.
  From Iron Man 3. Submitted by Scott W (3 years ago)

• 1. The Mandarin: Lesson Number One: Heroes. There's no such thing.
  From Iron Man 3. Submitted by Rafael A (3 years ago)

• 1. Benjamin O'Ryan: We were wired right into it. The five of us. Darkness, the pit itself, and no one ever taught us how to turn it off.We saw things men shouldn't see.
  From Suspect Zero. Submitted by Frances H (3 years ago)

• 1. Benjamin O'Ryan: Nobody's told me how to turn it off. And you're going to help me. Help me turn it off.
  From Suspect Zero. Submitted by Frances H (3 years ago)

• 1. Itzhak Stern: Herr Direktor, don't let the things fall apart. I worked too hard.
  From Schindler's List. Submitted by Alex K (3 years ago)

• 1. Itzhak Stern: This list... is an absolute good. The list is life. All around its margins lies the gulf.
  From Schindler's List. Submitted by Oliver D (3 years ago)

• 1. Mahatma Gandhi: I want to change their minds, not kill them for weaknesses we all possess.
  From Gandhi. Submitted by Nik M (3 years ago)

• 1. Mahatma Gandhi: Where there is injustice, I always believed in fighting. The question is: do you fight to change things or do you fight to punish? I've found we're all such sinners we should leave punishment to God.
  From Gandhi. Submitted by Nik M (3 years ago)

• 1. Mahatma Gandhi: In this cause, I, too, am prepared to die. But, my friends, there is no cause for which I am prepared to kill.
  From Gandhi. Submitted by Nik M (3 years ago)

• 1. Mahatma Gandhi: There are unjust laws as there are unjust men.
  From Gandhi. Submitted by Nik M (3 years ago)

• 1. George: Beautiful women are invisible.
  2. David Kepesh: Invisible? What the hell does that mean? They jump out at you. A beautiful woman stands out... stands apart. You can't miss her.
  3. George: But we never actually see the person. We see the beautiful shell. We're blocked by the beauty barrier. Yes. We're so dazzled by the outside, we never make it inside.
  From Elegy. Submitted by Andreea T (3 years ago)

• 1. David Kepesh: Why all this talk about Kafka, Goya and her Cuban family? Don't get me wrong, it's great that her family's Cuban and she enjoys my class. But I go on yakking away mainly because I want to fuck her.
  From Elegy. Submitted by Andreea T (3 years ago)

• 1. David Kepesh: Old age sneaks up on you, and the next thing you know you're asking yourself, I'm asking myself, Why can't an old man act his real age? How is it possible for me to still be involved in the carnal aspects of the human comedy? Because, in my head, nothing has changed.
  From Elegy. Submitted by Andreea T (3 years ago)

• 1. David Kepesh: I think it was Bette Davis who said: 'Old age is not for sissies'. But it was Tolstoy who said that 'the biggest surprise in a man's life is old age'.
  From Elegy. Submitted by Andreea T (3 years ago)

• 1. Mahatma Gandhi: The function of a civil resistor is to provoke response, and we will continue to provoke until they respond or change the law.
  From Gandhi. Submitted by Ryan A (3 years ago)

• 1. Mahatma Gandhi: They may torture my body, break my bones, even kill me, then they will have my dead body. But not my obedience!
  From Gandhi. Submitted by Ryan A (3 years ago)

• 1. Freddie the Frog: I wasn't a Prince I was so long ago.
  From Freddie as F.R.O.7. Submitted by Nathan Young N (3 years ago)

• 1. Tamir: [to Aladeen] You're wearing Crocs?
  From The Dictator. Submitted by Rosie P (3 years ago)

• 1. Georges M�li�s: I trusted you. And this is how you pay me. You're cruel. You're cruel.
  From Hugo. Submitted by Facebook U (4 years ago)

• 1. Itzhak Stern: The list is an absolute good...The list is life.
  From Schindler's List. Submitted by Sam L (4 years ago)

• 1. Hugo Cabret: I'm sorry, it's broken.
  2. Georges M�li�s: No it's not. It worked perfectly!
  From Hugo. Submitted by Lucas M (4 years ago)

• 1. Georges M�li�s: If you ever wonder where your dreams come from, look around: this is where they're made.
  From Hugo. Submitted by Mesut O (4 years ago)

• 1. Dr. Cawley: You don't have a partner, Marshall. You came here alone.
  From Shutter Island. Submitted by Jean-Philippe G (4 years ago)

• 1. Bruce Pandolfini: This is you!
  From Searching for Bobby Fischer. Submitted by Chris D (4 years ago)

• 1. Dr. Cawley: Why're you all wet, baby?
  From Shutter Island. Submitted by Emma B (4 years ago)

• 1. Georges M�li�s: Come, and dream with me.
  From Hugo. Submitted by Kaitlyn H (4 years ago)

• 1. Oskar Schindler: I could have got more. I could have got more, I don't know. If I just...I could have got more.
  2. Itzhak Stern: Oskar, there are 1,100 people who are alive because of you. Look at them.
  3. Oskar Schindler: If I had made more money. I threw away so much money. [laughs, then gets teary-eyed] You have no idea. If I just...
  4. Itzhak Stern: There will be generations because of you.
  5. Oskar Schindler: I didn't do enough.
  6. Itzhak Stern: You did so much.
  7. Oskar Schindler: This car. Goeth would have bought this car. Why did I keep the car? Ten people right there. Ten people. Ten more people. This pin...two people. This is gold. Two people. He would have given me two more, at least one. One more person. A person, Stern, for this. [starts crying] I could have got one more person, and I didn't! I -- I -- I -- I didn't!
  From Schindler's List. Submitted by Jordan P (4 years ago)

• 1. Oskar Schindler: I've been speaking to Goeth.
  2. Itzhak Stern: I know the destination. These are the evacuation orders, I'm to help arrange the shipments, put myself on the last train.
  3. Oskar Schindler: That's not what I was going to say. I made Goeth promise to put in a good word for you. Nothing bad is going to happen to you there, you'll receive special treatment.
  4. Itzhak Stern: The directives coming in from Berlin talk about 'special treatment' more and more often. I'd like to think that's not what you mean.
  5. Oskar Schindler: Preferential treatment. All right? Do we have to create a new language?
  6. Itzhak Stern: I think so.
  From Schindler's List. Submitted by Kevin B (4 years ago)

• 1. Georges M�li�s: Happy endings only happen in the movies.
  2. Hugo Cabret: The story's not over yet.
  From Hugo. Submitted by Megan O (4 years ago)

• 1. Itzhak Stern: The list is life.
  From Schindler's List. Submitted by Michael C (4 years ago)

• 1. Itzhak Stern: How many cigarettes have you smoked tonight?
  2. Oskar Schindler: Too many.
  3. Itzhak Stern: For every one you smoke, I smoke half.
  From Schindler's List. Submitted by Javis C (4 years ago)

• 1. Oskar Schindler: Are you Itzhak Stern? Yes or no?
  2. Itzhak Stern: Yes I am.
  From Schindler's List. Submitted by Javis C (4 years ago)

• 1. Dr. Cawley: I've built something valuable here and valuable things have a way of being misunderstood in their own time. Everyone wants a quick fix. I'm trying to do something that people, yourself included, don't understand, and I'm not going to give up without a fight.
  From Shutter Island. Submitted by girly g (4 years ago)

• 1. David Kepesh: Times passes when you're not looking.
  From Elegy. Submitted by Hamish A (4 years ago)

• 1. David Kepesh: When you make love to a woman you get revenge for all the things that defeated you in life.
  From Elegy. Submitted by Hamish A (4 years ago)

• 1. Grinko: In Russia, we have expression. "With lies, you may go ahead in the world, but you may never go back." Do you understand this, Jessie?
  From Transsiberian. Submitted by Chris P (4 years ago)

• 1. Itzhak Stern: The list is an absolute good. The list is life.
  From Schindler's List. Submitted by Chris P (4 years ago)

• 1. Mahatma Gandhi: If you are a minority of one, the truth is the truth.
  From Gandhi. Submitted by Chris P (4 years ago)