Rahimtulla Harji Bhanji is a doctor and also the father of Ben Kingsley. Rahimtulla Harji Bhanji’s son Kingsley is an English actor. As an actor, he has received various accolades throughout his career span. He received an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Grammy Award, and two Golden Globe Awards for various roles he played.
Rahimtulla Harji Bhanji: Bio Summary
| Full Name | Rahimtulla Harji Bhanji |
| famous as | Father of Ben Kingsley |
| Date of Birth | 1914 |
| Place of Birth | Kenya |
| Date of Birth | 1968 |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Ethnicity | Gujarati |
| Children | Ben Kingsley |
| spouse | Anna Lyna Mary Goodman |
Who is Ben Kingsley’s father?
Rahimtulla Harji Bhanji was born in 1914 in the East Africa Protectorate (which later became, in 1920, the Colony and Protectorate of Kenya) to a family from the Indian city of Jamnagar. He died in 1968, he was at the age of 54 at the time of his death. Bhanji was of Gujarati Indian Ismaili Muslim Khoja descent. Rahimtulla Harji’s father was a spice trader who had moved from India to Zanzibar, where they lived until they moved to Britain when he was at the age of 14.
Rahimtulla Harji was married to Anna Lyna Mary (née Goodman) who was an actress and model. She made an appearance in films in the 1920s and 1930s. His wife Anna Lynn’s father was believed by the family to have been of Russian- or German-Jewish descent, while his maternal grandmother was English and worked in the garment district of London’s East End.
Rahimtulla’s son Kingsley was born on 31 December 1943 in Snainton, North Riding of Yorkshire, England. As of 2022, he is 73 years old. Kingsley has been married four times and has four children of his own even though he was the only child of his parents.
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In a 2016 interview with his son Ben Kingsley, he made it known that his maternal grandmother was impregnated by a Russian Jewish immigrant who later abandoned her, which led her to become a “vile anti-Semite.” The actor also stated in a 1994 interview that-, “I’m not Jewish, and though there might be some Russian-Jewish heritage way back on my mother’s side, the thread is so fine there’s no real evidence.”
Rahimtulla raised his family in Pendlebury, Lancashire. Although he was a Gujarati Khoja who practiced Isma’ili Islam, he did not raise his son in his faith. Ben Kingsley identifies as a Quaker. The English actor had his children- Thomas Bhanji and artist Jasmin Bhanji, with first wife, actress Angela Morant, and Edmund Kingsley and Ferdinand Kingsley, both of whom became actors, with second wife, theatrical director Alison Sutcliffe.
Ben Kingsley Changed his name to get roles
Rahimtulla Harji Bhanji’s son whose birth name is Krishna Pandit Bhanji changed his name to Ben Kingsley in the 1960s. According to the actor, he anglicized his name fearing that a foreign name (i.e. Krishna Bhanji) would hamper his career.
In an interview, he told the Radio Times, “As soon as I changed my name, I got the jobs. I had one audition as Krishna Bhanji and they said, ‘Beautiful audition but we don’t quite know how to place you in our forthcoming season.’ I changed my name, crossed the road, and they said when can you start?”
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What happened to Ben Kingsley’s father?
Ben Kingsley’s father Rahimtulla Harji Bhanji died in 1968, he was at the age of 54 when he passed away. The cause of his death has not been made public. His sin has also not talked about the cause of his father’s death.
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