Christian Bale

Born: 30 January 1974
Where: Pembrokeshire, Wales, UK

The former child actor achieved cinema stardom when he was cast as the Dark Knight in Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins.

The son of a former circus dancer and an airline pilot, he was brought up in England, Portugal and California.

As a youngster he made a cereal commercial aged seven before being cast by Steven Spielberg as the child star of the film adaptation of JG Ballard's autobiography Empire of the Sun.

However, unlike many child actors, he consolidated his stardom with appearances in adult films including American Psycho and The Machinist.

Bale made his screen debut at age nine flogging pac-man cereal on TV and by ten he was on stage opposite Rowan Atkinson in The Nerd.

But it was when he went to California with his pilot dad and dancer mum that his career took off after landing a part in the mini-series Anastasia.

He caught the eye of co-star Amy Irving, who was Mrs Steven Spielberg at the time, and director cast 13-year-old Bale in Empire of the Sun.

Playing the ex-pat boy captured by the Japanese during WWII was a showcase for the powerful actor and won him several awards.

Back in England at secondary school in Bournemouth, he then landed his follow-up role in Kenneth Branagh's Henry V.

He also found time out of his education to play opposite Charlton Heston in Treasure Island (1990), and appear in cult musical Newsies (1992) and Swing Kids (1993).

Newsies was his first adult role. The classically trained ballet dancer could be seen singing, dancing, and sporting a convincing American accent, a talent that was to speed his US success.

Just out of school in 1994, 20-year-old Bale was hand-picked by Winona Ryder to play heart-throb Laurie in the hit adaptation of Louisa May Alcott's novel Little Women (1994).

Bale's roles in Pocahontas, Metroland, opposite Emily Watson, Portrait of a Lady and Velvet Goldmine kept building up his critically acclaimed reputation.

Having completed the transition to adult actor the roles flooded in, baddies became a speciality, particularly after the controversial hit film of Bret Easton Ellis' American Psycho (2000).

Appearing in Shaft (2000), Captain Corelli's Mandolin (2001) and Reign of Fire (2002) sealed his reputation as a quiet, perhaps underrated, industry stalwart.

In 2000, Bale married film producer Sibi Blazic, breaking the hearts of the thousands of 'Baleheads' who have created internet sites devoted to the actor.

In 2003, it was announced that he was the new Batman in Christopher Nolan's return to the darker side of the superhero.

Recent work includes Brad Anderson's dark psychological thriller The Machinist.