Christian Charles Philip Bale was born in Pembrokeshire, Wales, UK on January 30, 1974, to English parents Jennifer "Jenny" (James) and David Charles Howard 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 Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna (1986) caught Steven Spielberg's eye, leading to Bale's well-documented role in Empire of the Sun (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.

Sibi Blazic (29 January 2000 - present) ( 2 children)

Trivia

Hand-picked by director/writer Mary Harron and author Bret Easton Ellis to star in American Psycho (2000). Consequently, was noted by the media as the first star of American Psycho (2000), only to lose the role to Leonardo DiCaprio and then win it back again.
Is an excellent horseman and an avid reader.
He trained for 10 weeks in dancing and martial arts for the dance sequences in Newsies (1992) and Swing Kids (1993).
He has an uncanny ear for accents.
Bale was handpicked by Winona Ryder for the coveted role of Laurie (Theodore Laurence) in Little Women (1994).
His father, David Bale, married feminist icon Gloria Steinem on September 3, 2000.
A devoted animal lover, Christian has two dogs [Mojo and Ramone] and three cats [Miriam, Molly and Lilly], which are all strays that he found.
Christian is active in many organizations, including Ark Trust, Greenpeace, the World Wildlife Foundation, the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, the Redwings Sanctuary, and the Happy Child Mission, and a school for street kids in Rio De Janeiro.
His grandfather doubled for John Wayne in two movies, in Africa.
His first on-screen role was in 1983 at age 9 in a British commercial for Pac-Man cereal.
He replaced Leonardo DiCaprio for the film American Psycho (2000).

[interview in Spin magazine, March 1996] An actor should never be larger than the film he's in.
[on dealing with the resulting media attention of Empire of the Sun (1987) at age 13] It was horrific. I was almost crying in interviews and running away during press conferences, pretending I was going to the bathroom and just disappearing.
[on the sudden fame that resulted after Empire of the Sun (1987)] I enjoyed making the film, but I was shocked when I received all the attention when I got home to Bournemouth. Girls were all over me, boys wanted to fight me, and I was being asked to open local fêtes when all I wanted to do was ride my BMX bike in the woods. I told my parents I wasn't interested in doing anything again because the attention ruined it.
I don't want to know about the lives of other actors and I don't want people to know too much about me. If we don't know about the private lives of other actors, that leaves us as clean slates when it comes to playing characters. That's the point, they can create these other characters and I can believe them. I think if you're a good enough actor, that's the way to longevity in the film business. Keep everybody guessing.
I started my career without fans.
[on his 63-pound weight loss for The Machinist (2004)] I had a stupid kind of feeling of invincibility, like, "I can do it, I can manage it." I really did feel like I hit this point of enlightenment.