Famous For: Successful movie star and the new big-screen Batman movie, 'The Dark Knight'
Trivia: A real animal-lover and a keen environmentalist, Christian owns two dogs and three cats - all former strays. His grandfather doubled for John Wayne in two movies, in Africa.
Biography: Born in "a cottage on the edge of the cliffs - you had to drive through two potato fields to get there", Christian has carved a niche as a successful film actor, from 'Empire of the Sun' through 'American Psycho' to his latest offering as Batman in 'The Dark Knight'. His dedication to his craft is extraordinary. For 'The Machinist' he lost 63lb in two months, and then quickly gained 100lb for the lead role 'Batman Begins'.
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His latest film, 'The Dark Knight', sees his second portrayal of Batman. The film due for release in July 2008 has already made the headlines following the tragic death of the actor Heath Ledger who played the Joker in the film.
Born in 1974 Christian has three elder sisters. His father was a commercial pilot and his mother was a dancer. Performing is clearly in the family blood His grandfather was a stand-up comedian and children's entertainer.
Although born in Pembrokeshire he spent much of his childhood in Oxfordshire and Dorset, before moving to America.
Married in secret to Sibi Blazic in 2000, Christian has appeared in many films, making a spectacular screen debut in Steven Spielberg's adapatation of the J.G. Ballard story 'Empire of The Sun' in 1988 aged just 12. Based on Ballard's tale of life in a Japanese Prisoner-of-War camp, it marked the arrival of a major addition to the British acting world, as well as proving a surprising change of tone for its director.
In 1989 he starred in Kenneth Branagh's version of 'Henry V', with a second screen brush with Shakespeare ten years later, as Demetrius in 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'.
Inbetween he'd kept busy with parts in such films as 'Little Women', 'Portrait of a Lady', 'Metroland' and 'Velvet Goldmine'.
In 2000 Christian came to wider attention with the lead role as bloodthirsty 1980s yuppie Patrick Bateman in the screen version of Bret Easton Ellis' controversial book 'American Psycho'. The book had previously been regarded as 'unfilmable' by many, but Christian's performance and Mary Harron's assured direction garnered both film and star much acclaim.
Christian was also seen on screen opposite Nicholas Cage in 'Captain Corelli's Mandolin', slaying dragons in the fantasy adventure 'Reign of Fire', and playing a dramatically emaciated paranoid insomniac in 'The Machinist'.
2003 saw Christian win the race to be the new face of Batman, in the first film featuring the caped crusader since the critically-mauled 'Batman and Robin'.
In Summer 2005's critical and commercial hit 'Batman Begins', British director Christopher Nolan went back to the super-hero's gritty roots. The story tells how Batman came to be, inspired by the graphic novel 'Batman: Year One', written by 'Sin City' creator Frank Miller.
Shooting took in Iceland, London and Chicago, and Nolan had this to say about Christian as the icon of comics and the big screen:
"What I see in Christian is the ultimate embodiment of Bruce Wayne. He has exactly the balance of darkness and light that we were looking for."
The tenth anniversary issue of Entertainment Weekly magazine crowned Christian Bale as one of the "Top Eight Most Powerful Cult Figures" of the past decade due to his "legendary" staus on the web - one of his 'fan sites' claims to be the first official movie star fan club to have an internet site.
Moment of Glory: A big impact in a big film - the lead in 'Empire of the Sun' at just 12 - and the starring role in Batman!
Off the Record: He took part in a TV advertisement for Pac Man breakfast cereal at the age of nine.
