Date of Birth: January 30, 1974
Place of Birth: Pembrokeshire, West Wales, UK
Sign: Sun in Aquarius, Moon in Taurus
Relations: Father: David (former commercial pilot); mother: former circus dancer and clown; sisters: Erin, Sharon, and Louise; wife: Sibi
Education: Attended college in southern California in the mid-1990s
CHRISTIAN BALE IS a rare animal among movie circles. While Tinsel Town is full of sizzling heartthrobs, only a few of Hollywood's male sex symbols are able to get past their looks and move on to do work of critical acclaim. Bale, a favorite pin-up boy both on the Internet and off, has managed to do both. In addition to that rather significant achievement, Bale was a child star. We know all too well the fate of many of Hollywood's child stars.
Born in Pembrokeshire, Wales, UK, Christian Bale is the son of a commercial pilot (his father) and a dancer/circus clown (his mother). His acting career began on the sets of various television commercials. Accompanied by his sister, Louise, Bale attended a number of theater workshops before being cast in a stage production of The Nerd, starring Rowan Atkinson (responsible for making the clumsy-but-loveable character. Mr. Bean, famous). During the mid 80s, Bale played in the television miniseries Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna. His 1987 performance in Steven Spielberg's Empire of the Sun earned him critical acclaim.
From there, Bale appeared as Falstaff's boy in Henry V, and in a television production of Treasure Island. In the movie musical Newsies (1992), Bale employed his singing and dancing talents. Swing Kids, which was released the following year, had the multi-faceted actor doing more of the same.
Upon Winona Ryder's insistence, Bale was cast in the role of Laurie in Little Women. After lending his voice to the Disney production of Pocahontas, and appearing in The Portrait of a Lady, Bale took the starring role as Chris in 1997's Metroland (opposite Emily Watson), based on the novel by Julian Barnes. He played Calista Flockhart's (Ally McBeal) love interest as Demetrius in A Midsummer Night's Dream, in 1999.
Bale's most controversial role as Patrick Bateman in the equally controversial American Psycho (Reese Witherspoon, Chloe Sevigny) may see the striking actor make the full transition from a good-looking, low-profile but solid actor to full-fledged superstar. The film, based on the gruesome novel by Bret Easton Ellis, has Bale playing a misogynistic, murderer who trades stocks on Wall Street by day, and tortures his dates by night. Interestingly, it was Leonardo DiCaprio, not Christian Bale, who was Lion's Gate Films' first choice for the movie's starring role. DiCaprio, however, turned it down. Constructed as a satire that combines the crazy 80s, materialism, violence against women, and murder, American Psycho was receiving negative press long before it even began filming.
Christian Bale divides his time between two residences - one in the UK and one in the US; as well as various movie sets. He recently married his girlfriend, Sibi.
Movies:
2000 Shaft Returns
2000 American Psycho
1999 A Midsummer Night's Dream
1998 All the Little Animals
1998 Velvet Goldmine
1997 Metroland
1996 The Portrait of a Lady
1996 The Secret Agent
1995 Pocahontas
1994 Prince of Jutland
1994 Little Women
1993 Swing Kids
1992 Newsies
1991 A Murder of Quality
1989 Henry V
1987 Mio min Mio
1987 Empire of the Sun
TV:
1999 Mary, Mother of Jesus
1990 Treasure Island
1986 Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna
1986 Heart of the Country
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
