This wonderful actor with rather dark and brooding looks has fans all over the globe. Born on 30th January 1974 in Wales, England, this actor was named Christian Charles Philip Bale. He had been applauded and praised by the public when he was cast as one of the lead stars of Steven Speilberg’s movie ‘Empire of the Sun”. Christian was only thirteen years old then, but, his portrayal of an English boy separated from his loving parents and lost in a Japanese internment camp (during World War II) won the hearts of many and brought him critical acclaim, at that tender age.

Initial days
Bale’s South African born father, David Charles Howard Bale and English mother Jenny provided him with a stable family life. His father was a commercial pilot, entrepreneur and talent manager. They lived in different countries like USA, England and Portugal, during Christian early years. As per Bale it is one of the reasons why he chose acting as a career. He entered his chosen field of profession with a commercial for the fabric softener ‘Lenor’ in 1982. The next year he showed up as a child rock star for the Pac-Man cereal commercial and in 1984 he appeared alongside Rowan Atkinson on stage for the play “The Nerd”.

Career Accomplishments
He started his movie career with a role in the TV movie ‘Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna’. He soon followed this by acquiring lead roles in the miniseries ‘Heart of the Country’ and ‘Mio in the Land of Faraway’. His performance in Jim Graham in the ‘Empire of the Sun’ won him the first ever ‘Best Performance by a Juvenile Actor’ award from the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures. All this at an early age made it tough to handle and Christian thought of leaving the acting career. But, the British actor, producer and director Kevin Branagh met him and convinced him to play the role of Jim Hawkins opposite Charlton Heston in ‘Treasure Island’.

All through the 1990s Christian worked on acting and even singing in Newsies but his real lead role came about in the year 2000 with his portrayal of a ruthless wall street executive who is obsessed with himself. This is the trait that came in handy when he took over the much debated cult movie The Machinist and lost more than 60 pounds in weight to make his role look real. He has done number of movies since then but the one which catapulted him to fame was his role as Batman in ‘The Dark Knight Rises’. This was the first time when a non American was playing the role of Batman in the Batman movies.

Fun Facts 
Christian has a keen ear for different accents. He dropped almost 63 pounds for his role in the machinist and ate only salads, chewed gum, drank non fat Lattes and smoked cigarettes. When he was twenty years old he applied and auditioned for the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) and the Central School of Speech and Drama and was accepted at all the three but his parents convinced him to continue acting and he still regrets not having attended a drama school.

Brand and Cause Affiliations
Christian is a part of many organizations like Greenpeace, Ark Trust, World life Foundation, the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, the Redwing Sanctuary, the Happy Child Mission and a school for street children in Rio De Janeiro. Last year he visited the victims of the movie theater shooting in Colorado.

Friends, Family and Hobbies 
Christian is an excellent horseman and an avid reader. He loves animals and has two dogs (Mojo and Ramone) and three cats (Molly, Lily and Miriam). All of them are stray animals that he found and is now looking after. He has three sisters – director and actress Louise Bale, Musician Erin Bale and Computer professional Sharon Bale. Christian is married to Sandra ‘Sibi Blazic’ who used to be a model and make-up artist. The two met through Winona Ryder as Sandra was her Personal Assistant at that time. The couple now has a daughter named Emmeline and lives in Los Angeles, California.