Ben Kingsley weds for fourth time

Sir Ben Kingsley, 63, the Oscar-winning actor, has married for the fourth time. This time around, the bride is a former waitress and an actress from Brazil who is a little more than half his age.

The secret marriage ceremony took place on September 3, 2007, in front of just a dozen guests at Eynsham Hall, a few miles from Kingsley’s home in Oxfordshire, Spelsbury, England.

Ben Kingsley’s new wife, Daniela Barbose de Carneiro, 34, has had walk-on parts in several British television series, including Casualty.

Daniela hails originally from the poverty-stricken northern Bahia region of Brazil.

The couple had been dating for a year after being introduced by mutual friends in Hollywood.

Reports say that, instead of going on a honeymoon, Daniela will accompany Sir Ben on the set of his new film, The Love Guru, in Canada.

In an interview, Ben Kingsley, the star of the Sexy Beast, dismissed their big age difference and spoke effusively about his young bride. Said he: “It’s a perfectly balanced relationship, which like scales, includes its swings. Without sounding pompous, she looks like a combination of ancient Egypt and ancient Rome. I love mythology and Shakespeare and so does she. We have that connection. She has that deep appreciation for ancient mythology. She embodies it, which is so attractive.”

Ben Kingsley, who won an Academy Award for his portrayal of Gandhi in Sir Richard Attenborough’s film Gandhi, said of the wedding ceremony: “It was blissfully private and beautiful. Then we came to Spelsbury and there were readings by friends. We had a lovely lunch on the lawn. It was very simple and very happy.”

Ben Kingsley was born Krishna Bhanji in Scarborough, Yorkshire, England, as the son of Ann Lyna Mary (an actress and model) and Rahimtulla Harji Bhanji, a medical doctor. Rahimtulla was born in Kenya of Indian Khoja Gujarati descent as Kingsley’s paternal grandfather was a spice trader who had moved from India to Zanzibar, where Kingsley’s father lived until moving to England at the age of 14.

Ben grew up in Pendlebury, Salford, where he studied at University of Salford. He then moved to Lancashire, where he studied at Pendleton College, which later became home to the Ben Kingsley Theatre.

Ben Kingsley began his career on the stage at Manchester Grammar School, but made a passage to film roles pretty early. He changed his name from Krishna Bhanji to Ben Kingsley, fearing that a foreign name would harm his career.

Kingsley has four children: two by actress Angela Morant, and others by theatrical director Alison Sutcliffe.

In 2005, he divorced German-born Alexandra Christmann, after pictures of her kissing another lover surfaced on the internet.

Kingsley currently lives in Spelsbury, England.