Christian Charles Philip Bale (born January 30, 1974) is a Welsh actor from Haverfordwest in Pembrokeshire. Christian Bale fans are referred to as Baleheads. He stands 6′2″ (1.88 m) in height.

Biography

Christian Bale was born to David Bale and a mother (Jenny James according to some sources) who was a circus performer. He has three older sisters: Erin Bale (married name: Kreunen) (a musician), Sharon Bale (a computer professional) and Louise Bale (a director/actress). Christian spent his childhood in a variety of countries including England, Portugal and the United States.

He began his acting career by appearing in a Pac-man cereal commercial in England in at age 9 and then appeared a year later in the West End play The Nerd. His "big break" came in 1987 when he was picked for the role of Jim in Steven Spielberg's Empire of the Sun. The new-found celebrity status brought some trouble for the 13-year-old. However, he continued acting, next appearing in Henry V and TV roles before taking on several movie projects in row starting in 1992 with the Disney musical Newsies. For this role and his role in the 1993 film Swing Kids Christian trained for 10 weeks in dancing and martial arts.

After this he drew further attention when he won the much-coveted role of Laurie in Little Women, having been hand-picked for the role by Winona Ryder (who was set to play Jo in the film). He has since won roles in notable films such as Velvet Goldmine and the lead in American Psycho. He recently finished filming Batman Begins.

Trivia

Christian Bale is known for his unerring accuracy in mimicking accents. He has used a different one in almost every movie he has acted in. It is reported that in Metroland he is using his real accent.

Christian also is excellent horseman and avid reader and he also has a reputation as a great animal lover. He has two dogs called Mojo and Ramone and three cats called Miriam, Molly, and Lilly. He does not eat red meat (reputedly due to reading the book Charlotte's Web). He is active in several environmental and animal protection organizations including the Ark Trust , Greenpeace and the World Wildlife Foundation .

His great-uncle Rex Bale was also an actor.

On January 29, 2000 he married Sibi Blazic (Winona Ryder introduced them). Their daughter was born March 27, 2005.

His father married Gloria Steinem in 2000 but sadly died of brain lymphoma in 2003.

Bale went from 180 to 121 pounds (82 to 55 kg) for The Machinist. After wrapping up the movie, within six weeks he gained back the 59 pounds (27 kg) to audition for the lead in Batman Begins. After being cast, 5 months later, having to lose most of his body fat he gained before the auditions, he weighed a total of 210-220 pounds (95 to 100 kg) of mostly muscle mass.

Filmography

• Harsh Times (2006) .... Jim David
• The New World (2005) .... John Rolfe
• Batman Begins (2005) .... Batman/Bruce Wayne
• The Machinist (2004) .... Trevor Reznik
• Equilibrium (2002) .... John Preston
• Reign of Fire (2002) .... Quinn Abercromby
• Laurel Canyon (2002) .... Sam
• Captain Corelli's Mandolin (2001) .... Mandras
• Shaft (2000) .... Walter Wade, Jr.
• American Psycho (2000) .... Patrick Bateman
• Mary, Mother of Jesus (1999) (TV) .... Jesus of Nazareth
• A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999) .... Demetrius
• All the Little Animals (1998) .... Bobby Platt
• Velvet Goldmine (1998) .... Arthur Stuart
• Metroland (1997) .... Chris
• The Portrait of a Lady (1996) .... Edward Rosier
• The Secret Agent (1996) .... Stevie
• Pocahontas (1995) (voice) .... Thomas
• Little Women (1994) .... Laurie
• Prince of Jutland (1994) .... Prince Amled
• Swing Kids (1993) .... Thomas Berger
• Newsies (1992) .... Jack Kelly/Francis Sullivan
• A Murder of Quality (1991) (TV) .... Tim Perkins
• Treasure Island (1990) (TV) .... Jim Hawkins
• Henry V (1989) .... Falstaff's Boy
• Empire of the Sun (1987) .... Jim
• Mio min Mio (1987) .... Jum-Jum
• Heart of the Country (1986) (mini TV series) .... Ben Harris
• (1986) (TV) .... Alexei

His first acting role was in 1983 in a British commercial for Pac-Man cereal.

External links

• Christian Bale - An Unofficial Appreciation
• the Bale collection
• Equilibrium Fansite