Kingsley Ben-Adir
Kingsley Ben-Adir – “King Arthur: Legend of the Sword” Los Angeles Premiere – Arrivals – TCL Chinese Theater, Hollywood & Highland, 6925 Hollywood Boulevard – Los Angeles, CA, USA, 2017 – Photo Credit: David Gabber / PRPhotos.com
Birth Name: Kingsley Guadalupi
Place of Birth: Barnet, London, England, U.K.
Date of Birth: 20 November, 1986
Ethnicity:
*father – European
*mother – African-Trinidadian
Kingsley Ben-Adir, full name Kingsley Zachariah Ben-Adir, is a British actor. His roles include the films Trespass Against Us, King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, The Commuter, Noelle, One Night in Miami…, as Malcolm X; Barbie (2023), and Bob Marley: One Love, as the title character; and the series Vera (2014), Peaky Blinders, Deep State (2018), The OA, High Fidelity, The Comey Rule, as U.S. President Barack Obama; Soulmates, and Secret Invasion.
His father is a musician and his mother, Ruth, is a caregiver.
His father is of European descent, possibly Italian. His mother was born in England, to Trinidadian parents, who had come to England to work for the NHS. Kingsley’s mother is a convert to Judaism. Ruth, as well as Kingsley and his brother, took the surname Ben-Adir, with ben adir being Hebrew for “son of the mighty” or “the strong.”
Sources: https://www.vanityfair.com
https://www.hungertv.com
https://web.archive.org
https://www.gq.com
https://www.theguardian.com
correction her father is english
https://www.gq.com/story/kingsley-ben-adir-one-night-in-miami-malcolm-x-regina-king-interview
Well, it says his father is “white British,” which probably could mean with Italian ancestry.
Very interesting. I found nothing on Vittorio Guadalupi but there are generations of Guadalupi’s in London since at least 1872. I think it’s very possible there’s British of his paternal side too.
possible grandparents?
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVZK-1SXP
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVZB-ZH1J
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QV88-4BS6
His middle name is Zachariah and his birth year is 1986.
Ben-Adir is his mothers surname, she’s Black British born in London. His father or stepfather’s name suggests he’s Turkish not moroccan. They married in 1999 (they have since divorced from what I can gather) Both could be moroccan but Ben-Adir is a Jewish surname meaning ‘son of the strong one’. There is no birth record for a Kingsley Ben-Adir in the UK. Not even a Kingsley Zachariah [surname]. No other births with the surname Ben-Adir, only a marriage for his mother. There’s an article about a mother (Ben-Adir) living with her 2 sons, one named Kingsley, in council house worth £2million in Camden. Here are the articles:
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/historic-2million-lodge-is-britains-costliest-council-house-6814397.html
https://www.questia.com/newspaper/1G1-241531477/mother-lives-free-for-two-years-in-pounds-sterling-2-5m
I think his mother might be half-Jewish or a convert. My guess would be he’s Black British, Jewish (?), Moroccan.
I’ve seen that marriage record before but never knew for certain that it was of his mother, but with those articles it’s all adding up. That’s clearly his mother but the man, as you say, is likely a step-father. His mother’s full name is Ruth Joy Carolyn Yael Ben-Adir, maybe she is Ethiopian Jewish.
He was born in November by the way.
His mother being a convert to Judaism would explain why there are no births for Kingsley or his mother in the UK under the surname Ben-Adir or Adir. If she converted she could have given herself a new name. ‘Ben-Adir’ is also the pseudonym of Jewish poet Avrom Rosin.
An interview posted yesterday states he’s ‘the son of a musician father and a caregiver mother’ his mother is also an part-time artist/photographer from what I found. His mother was born in 1963 in Rosehill, London. https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2020/09/kingsley-ben-adir-is-the-hero-we-need
In this interview they ask him “is it a better time to be a black actor?” https://www.hungertv.com/editorial/kingsley-ben-adir-on-representation-in-cinema-and-being-the-new-lead-of-the-oa/
Which confirms he’s black british/english to me.
There’s a birth for a Kingsley Guadalupi in Barnet, London in 1986.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QV4F-WFPS
According to the article he has a brother named Fab. There is a birth for a Fabrizio Guadalupi with the same surnames as Kingsley Guadalupi also in London. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QV46-CS2M
And a marriage for Joy C Anderson and Vittorio Guadalupi in 1985 in Surrey, UK. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVX9-Z5BL
I think Joy C Anderson might be Ruth’s birth name. From what I can gather Guadalupi is an Italian surname. So he’s African-Trinidadian and Italian?
If so why all that mess about him being part Moroccan
There are few Moroccans in London.
@andrew There’s only one interview that mentions him being Moroccan-British. All other websites copied the article: https://www.pressreader.com/australia/total-film/20190308/281895889538921
I think the interviewer assumed he was part Moroccan because the character he played in The OA is Moroccan/Arab or because his surname is Ben-Adir. Kingsley himself never stated he was part Moroccan. There are a few Guadalupi’s on his facebook. Which to me confirms that Kingsley Ben-Adir and Kingsley Guadalupi are the same person.
My guess is his mother changed her name when she converted to Judaism in the 90s. Her birth name is Joy C Anderson. The Guadalupi family comes from Naples.
He looks way more SSA-influenced than average Moroccan (he’s basically a mulatto) to believe than he’s even half English!
If so his father must be from Southern Morocco and with strong West African roots, or his mother is not a white English woman. One of the two options.