Happy birthday, Ben Kingsley! The acclaimed actor turns 73 years old today.

Born in England in December 1943, Kingsley was raised by his parents Anna and Rahimtulla. His father was originally born in Kenya and of Gujarati Indian descent, and his maternal side was rooted in Russian- or German-Jewish ancestry. The actor grew up near Manchester where he first adopted the stage name Benji and eventually got into theater during college. By 1967, Kingsley had made his debut in London’s West End where he devoted himself to stage work for almost 20 years.

Eventually, Kingsley made the move to television and film. In 1972, he starred in the project Fear Is The Key before he got his big break. The actor was hired to play Mohandas Gandhi in 1982’s Gandhi, and the actor was universally praised for his work. He even received an Academy Award for Best Actor thank to his performance.

Since Gandhi, Kingsley has appeared in projects like Maurice, Bugsy, Schindler’s List, Sexy Beast, House of Sand and Fog, and more. The actor has even leant his talents to video games like Fable III where he voiced a character named Sabine. His voice work was then followed up with roles in Shutter Island and Hugo.

For comic book fans, Kingsley will be familiar thanks to his work in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The actor was cast as Trevor Slattery in Iron Man 3 who was an actor behind the villain Mandarin.

(Photo: Marvel Entertainment )

After his Iron Man work, Kingsley continued to work in the industry and is still active. Since 2013, the actor has starred in Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb, Learning to Drive, and The Jungle Book.

Happy birthday, Ben Kingsley!