Amitabh was born on 11 October 1942 in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh. His father Harivansh Rai Bachchan, was a well-known Awadhi dialect-Hindi poet, while his mother, Teji Bachchan. Initially, he was named Inquilaab, at the suggestion of fellow poet Sumitranandan Pant, Harivansh Rai changed his name to Amitabh means "the light that will never die. He has a younger brother, Ajitabh. He was educated at Jnana Pramodhini, Boys High School, Allahabad, Sherwood College, Nainital and Kirori Mal College, University of Delhi. He is married to actress Jaya Bhaduri. The couple has two children, Shweta and Abhishek Bachchan (actor). Aishwarya Rai (actress) is his daughter-in-law.
He made his film debut in 1969 as a voice narrator in Mrinal Sen's National Award winning film Bhuvan Shome. He made acting debut in the film Saat Hindustani, directed by Khwaja Ahmad Abbas. He got his first Filmfare Best Supporting Actor award for his role as a doctor in Anand (1971). In 1984, Bachchan took a break from acting and briefly entered politics in support of a long-time family friend, Rajiv Gandhi. He contested Allahabad's seat of 8th Lok Sabha against H. N. Bahuguna, former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and won by one of the highest victory margins in general election history (68.2% of the vote). He won his first National Film Award for Best Actor for his performance as a Mafia don in the 1990 cult film Agneepath. After launching his Amitabh Bachchan Corporation, Ltd. (ABCL) in 1996 he made his production debut with Tere Mere Sapne(1996). In 2000, he hosted the first season of Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC). In 2013 he made his Hollywood debut in The Great Gatsby making a special appearance opposite Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire. In 2014, he debuted in the fictional Sony Entertainment Television TV series titled Yudh playing the lead role of a businessman.
In June 2000, he became the first living Asian to have been modeled in wax at London's Madame Tussauds Wax Museum. The Government of India awarded him with the Padma Shri in 1984, the Padma Bhushan in 2001 and the Padma Vibhushan in 2015 for his contributions to the arts. In 2003, he was conferred with the Honorary Citizenship of the French town of Deauville. France's highest civilian honour, the Knight of the Legion of Honour, was conferred upon him by the French Government in 2007 for his "exceptional career in the world of cinema and beyond".
He has been involved with many social causes. He was made a UNICEF goodwill ambassador for the Polio Eradication Campaign in India in 2002. He founded the Harivansh Rai Bachchan Memorial Trust, named after his father, in 2013. In 2014, it was announced that he had recorded his voice and lent his image to the Hindi and English language versions of the TeachAIDS software, an international HIV/AIDS prevention education tool developed at Stanford University.