Biographic - Sunday December 7, 2014 Comic Strip Licensing and Permissions

Transcript

His mother was a dancer and a circus clown. One grandfather was a stage actor, and the other doubled for John Wayne in a couple of films. His great-uncle was a lifelong actor with over 20 movies to his credit. For Christian Bale, the child star who grew up to play Batman, the acting bug was definately in the blood... Born in Pembrokeshire, Whales, on January 30 1974, Christian Bale was raised in England, Portugal, and California. A child actor, he appeared in a number of TV commercials and worked in the theater. Most notably opposite Rowan ATkinson in "The Nerd." He made his screen debut in the 1986 tv movie "Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna." He beat out 4,000 other youngsters to land the lead in Steven Spielberg's "Empire of The Sun" and earned rave reviews for his performance, a starring role as Jim Hawkins, opposite Charlton Heston as Long John Silver in a TV remake of "Treasure Island" was followed by the lead in the 1992 musical "Newsies" and 1993's "Swing Kids" movies that each required intensive dance training. After voicing the Thomas character in 1995's animated hit "Pocahontas," he portryaed a journalist in "Velvet Goldmine" before tackling roles as diverse as Demetrius in Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and "Jesus of Nazareth" in the made-for-TV film "Mary, Mother of Jesus." His transition from child actor to adult star was completed by his chilling performances in "American Psycho" and "Shaft." "Captain Corelli's Mandolin" and "Reign of Fire" continued to extend his range. And he shed more than 60 pounds for "The Machinist." 2005's Blockbuster "Batman Begins" saw him become the latest incarnation of the famed "Caped Crusader" a role he reprised in 2008's "The Dark Knight" and 2012s "The Dark Night Rises." He also appeared as John Connor in "Terminator" movie series. Acclaimed work in the likes of "3:10 To Yuma" and "Public Enemies" was followed by his Oscar and Golden Globe- Winning performance in "The Fighter" three years later, he earned a second Oscar nomination for 2013's "American Justle." This month sees Christian take on the role of Moses in Ridley Scott's biblical epic "Exodus: Gods and Kings."

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