Christian Bale
30 January, 1974
| 1.83 m
Actor
Producer
Editorial Department
Biography
Christian Charles Philip Bale was born in Pembrokeshire, Wales, UK on January 30, 1974, to English parents Jennifer "Jenny" (James) and David Bale. His mother was a circus performer and his father, who was born in South Africa, was a commercial pilot. The family lived in different countries throughout Bale's childhood, including England, Portugal, and the United States. Bale acknowledges the constant change was one of the influences on his career choice.His first acting job was a cereal commercial in 1983; amazingly, the next year, he debuted on the West End stage in "The Nerd". A role in the 1986 NBC mini-series Anastazja: Tajemnica Anny (1986) caught Steven Spielberg's eye, leading to Bale's well-documented role in Imperium Słońca (1987). For the range of emotions he displayed as the star of the war epic, he earned a special award by the National Board of Review for Best Performance by a Juvenile Actor.Adjusting to fame and his difficulties with attention (he thought about quitting acting early on), Bale appeared in Kenneth Branagh's 1989 adaptation of Shakespeare's Henryk V (1989) and starred as Jim Hawkins in a TV movie version of Wyspa skarbów (1990). Bale worked consistently through the 1990s, acting and singing in Gazeciarze (1992), Dzieci swingu (1993), Małe kobietki (1994), Portret damy (1996), Tajny agent (1996), Metroland (1997), Idol (1998), Wszystkie małe zwierzątka (1998), and Sen nocy letniej (1999). Toward the end of the decade, with the rise of the Internet, Bale found himself becoming one of the most popular online celebrities around, though he, with a couple notable exceptions, maintained a private, tabloid-free mystique.Bale roared into the next decade with a lead role in American Psycho (2000), director Mary Harron's adaptation of the controversial Bret Easton Ellis novel. In the film, Bale played a murderous Wall Street executive obsessed... show more
Movies
A young English boy struggles to survive under Japanese occupation of China during World War II.
A world-weary detective is hired to investigate the murder of a West Point cadet. Stymied by the cadets' code of silence, he enlists one of their own to help unravel the case - a young man the world would come to know as Edgar Allan Poe.
When Rodney Baze mysteriously disappears and law enforcement doesn't follow through fast enough, his older brother Russell takes matters into his own hands to find justice.
A U.S. fighter pilot's epic struggle of survival after being shot down on a mission over Laos during the Vietnam War.
In the 1930s, three friends witness a murder, are framed for it, and uncover one of the most outrageous plots in American history.
New York City police detective John Shaft (nephew of the original 1970s detective) goes on a personal mission to make sure the son of a real estate tycoon is brought to justice after a racially-motivated murder.
A tough-minded drama about two friends in South Central Los Angeles and the violence that comes between them.
A human child raised by wolves must face off against a menacing tiger named Shere Khan, as well as his own origins.
Ruminations on the life of Bob Dylan, where six characters embody a different aspect of the musician's life and work.
An American finds refuge during the 1937 Japanese invasion of Nanking in a church with a group of women. Posing as a priest, he attempts to lead the women to safety.
In 1984, British journalist Arthur Stuart investigates the career of 1970s glam superstar Brian Slade, who was heavily influenced in his early years by hard-living and rebellious American singer Curt Wild.
A writer indulging in all that Los Angeles and Las Vegas have to offer, undertakes a search for love and self via a series of adventures with six different women.
A musical based on the New York City newsboy strike of 1899. When young newspaper sellers are exploited beyond reason by their bosses they set out to enact change and are met by the ruthlessness of big business.
When an uptight young man and his fiancée move into his libertine mother's house, the resulting clash of life attitudes shakes everyone up.
A group of teens adores forbidden music in Nazi Germany just before the outbreak of World War II.
A lonely boy who is transferred from his dull life with his adoptive parents to the land where his real father is the King. In that country, he sets out on a quest, together with his new friend, to destroy the evil Knight Kato.