Christian Bale

February 3, 2:41 PMCelebrity Profile ExaminerAndy Williamson

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CHRISTIAN BALE

Christian Charles Philip Bale was born on January 30th, 1974 -- he is a British film actor best known for his roles in Steven Spielberg’s Empire of the Sun, Mary Harron’s American Psycho, and Christopher Nolan’s reboot of DC’s Batman franchise.

Born in Dicont County, Wales, Christian’s parents were actually of differing descent.  His mother, Jenny James, a circus performer, was of English heritage.  His father, David Bale, was a South African entrepreneur, commercial pilot, and talent manager.  Christian has three older siblings, and they spent much of their youth in locales as varied as Portugal, England and the United States.  Though Christian was active in rugby through his school years, the pull of show business (an influence from his mother and thespian sister, Louise) was irresistible.

After Christian starred in a couple of European miniseries (Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna, and Mio in the Land of Faraway), his Anastasia costar, Amy Irving, who at the time was married to director Steven Spielberg, recommended Christian to her husband for the lead role in his next project, Empire of the Sun.  Christian got the part and won accolades for his mature-beyond-his-years performance.

After a couple of smaller roles in television films (Treasure Island, A  Murder of Quality), Christian next starred in the Disney musical Newsies (a flop in its day that has since become a cult fave), and Swing Kids, about jazz-listening kids in Nazi Germany.  Next came parts in Little Women, The Portrait of a Lady, The Secret Agent, Metroland, Velvet Goldmine, All the Little Animals, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

In 2000, Christian made the leap to adult roles with his shocking portrayal of serial killer Patrick Bateman in director Mary Harron’s adaptation of the Brett Easton Ellis novel American Psycho.  The film was extremely controversial, but it brought Christian to a new level of fame and respect.  Another villainous role followed in 2000’s update of Shaft.

Following this, Christian costarred with Nicolas Cage and Penelope Cruz in Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, but the film added nothing to his (or anyone’s) resumé.  More action-oriented fare came next with Reign of Fire, fighting dragons alongside Matthew McConaughey.  Both films were commercial and critical flops.

In 2004, cast as Trent Reznick in the film The Machinist, Christian proved there was method-acting to his madness by dropping 60 pounds to play a chronic insomniac who is stalked by a stranger.  Weighing only 121 pounds by the end of production, Christian looked literally like an animated corpse.  The film was marginally successful, but his devotion to his craft was widely heralded.  Needless to say, he put on a few pounds for his next role when ...

... director Christopher Nolan hired Christian to play Bruce Wayne and his titular alter ego in Batman Begins.  The ginormously successful film would make the name Christian Bale world renowned.

Christian went on to star in The New World, Rescue Dawn, The Prestige (also directed by Christopher Nolan), 3:10 to Yuma, and the Bob Dylan “faux-bio-pic” I’m Not There.

In 2008, Christian reprised his role as Batman/Bruce Wayne in The Dark Knight -- the film went on to become the second-highest grossing film of all time (just under a billion dollars worldwide), surpassed only by James Cameron’s Titanic.

Since January 2000, Christian has been married to Sandra “Sibi” Blazic, a former model and make-up artist.  They have one daughter, Emmeline, who was born in 2005.

Up next: Terminator: Salvation, where Christian will play John Connor -- the film is scheduled for release in May 2009.  Also: Public Enemies and Killing Pablo.