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Christian Bale Biography

By Rebecca Murray, About.com

Christian Bale at the premiere of '3:10 to Yuma.'

Kevin Winter / Getty Images

Christian Bale's Birth Date:

January 30, 1974

Place of Birth:

Pembrokeshire, Wales

Christian Bale's Very First Big Screen Role:

In 1987 Steven Spielberg cast the then unknown Christian Bale as the star of his epic drama Empire of the Sun.

Interesting Facts:

Christian Bale's known for his uncanny ability to master accents. He's also known to drop an enormous amount of weight when called on to do so for a role. Bale lost a incredible 63 pounds to play the role of an industrial worker with mental problems in Brad Anderson's The Machinist.

Personal Facts:

Christian Bale's full name is Christian Charles Philip Bale. He has three older sisters and married Sibi Blazic in 2000.

A Bit of Trivia:

Entertainment Weekly dubbed Christian Bale one of the most 'important cult figures of the past decade' years prior to his becoming an A-list movie star thanks to Batman Begins.

Film Roles:

Since 1987 Bale has appeared in more than 2 dozen feature films. Among the best of the batch are Newsies, Swing Kids, Velvet Goldmine, American Psycho, Laurel Canyon, Reign of Fire, The Machinist, Harsh Times, Batman Begins, The New World, Rescue Dawn, 3:10 to Yuma, I'm Not There, The Dark Knight, and Public Enemies.

Heading Up Franchises:

Bale's performance as Bruce Wayne/Batman in Batman Begins and The Dark Knight reinvigorated the franchise, and earned him high praise from critics and audiences worldwide. In 2007, Bale was cast as John Connor in the rebirth of another film franchise, Terminator Salvation.

In the News:

In July 2008 Bale made headlines when he was accused of assaulting his mother and sister. The charges were later dropped but not before Bale endured a round of negative publicity at the same time as the release of The Dark Knight.

In January 2009 Bale was back in the news in a negative fashion as an audiotape of a tirade he went on against Terminator Salvation's director of photography was released to the media. Warning: If you choose to listen to the tape, be prepared for plenty of (as in 36) f-bombs.

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