Christian Bale

Bale in 2009, Featureflash / Shutterstock.com

Birth Name: Christian Charles Philip Bale

Place of Birth: Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, Wales

Date of Birth: 30 January, 1974

Ethnicity: English, small amount of Cornish, distant Channel Islander [Guernsey] and German

Christian Bale is an English actor. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for The Fighter (2010). He is also known for his roles in the films Empire of the Sun, Newsies (1992), American Psycho, The Machinist, the Batman trilogy, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, and The Dark Knight Rises; The New World, The Prestige, Terminator Salvation, Public Enemies, Out of the Furnace, American Hustle, Exodus: Gods and Kings, The Big Short, Vice, Ford v Ferrari, Thor: Love and Thunder, and The Pale Blue Eye.

Christian was born in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, Wales, and was raised in England, in Surrey and Dorset, and Portugal, among other places. He is now also a U.S. citizen.

His father, David Charles Howard Bale, an entrepreneur, was born in South Africa, and had English, and distant Channel Islander [Guernsey] and German, ancestry. His mother, Jennifer “Jenny” (James), is English. While Christian is often described as a Welsh actor, it is not clear if he has any Welsh ancestry. Among Christian’s siblings is director and actress Louise Bale.

Christian is married to actress, model, and make-up artist Sibi Blazic, with whom he has two children. Christian’s father was married to American activist Gloria Steinem, until his death.

Christian’s patrilineal ancestry can be traced to his great-great-grandfather, John Bale, who was born, c. 1811, in Stoke, Devonshire, England.

Christian’s paternal grandfather was Phillip/Philip W. Bale (the son of Alfred Bale and Florence Elizabeth Williams). Phillip was born in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England. Alfred was the son of William Henry Bale and Emily Sarah Bunce.

Christian’s paternal grandmother was Doreen Beswick Fuzzey (the daughter of Leonard Charles Fuzzey and Louie Beswick). Leonard was born on St. Peter Port, Guernsey, Channel Islands, the son of Frederick George Fuzzey and Emily Rosa/N. Higgins. Louie was the daughter of Thomas Beswick and Eliza Murgatroyd.

Christian’s maternal grandfather was named Henry G. James.

Christian’s maternal grandmother was Violet Edna Neno (the daughter of William Henry Lucroft Neno and Daisy L. B. Siddall). Edna was born in West Ham, Essex, England. William was the son of Thomas Daniel Neno and Ann Blatchford. The name Neno goes back in England many generations. Daisy was the daughter of Albert Edward Siddall and Ellen Mary Godbolt, who had Cornish ancestry.

Sources: Christian says that he is English rather than Welsh – http://www.youtube.com

Genealogy of Christian Bale – http://gw.geneanet.org

Genealogies of Christian Bale (focusing on his father’s side) – http://www.wikitree.com
https://www.geni.com

Christian’s paternal great-grandfather, Leonard Charles Fuzzey, on the 1901 England and Wales Census – https://www.familysearch.org

ethnic

Curious about ethnicity

33 Responses

  1. guzel says:

    Dont said that. Evey country have their own beauties.

  2. cdonorab says:

    Correction: Found info on his mother. She was born to John I James and Betty Dimmick. The first one is Christian’s parents mariage record the second is Jennifers birth record and the third is her parents marriage record

    https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QV6Y-BGKC

    https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVQ5-PTDJ

    https://www.familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/QV85-3JVN

  3. Capricious says:

    I could’ve sworn that he was Welsh.

  4. Fatmonkey says:

    If the link I copied is correct, Christian Bale is of distant German and French ancestry, too. Below is the family tree of Bale’s great-great-grandfather, Frederick George Fuzzey (father of Leonard C. Fuzzey). Among Frederick’s ancestors are John Zimmer (German) and Margaret Quertier (French).

    http://worldconnect.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=allar&id=I60883

    • follers says:

      I added the German, but Margaret Quertier was from Guernsey, which I record as a separate ethnicity.

      • Fatmonkey says:

        It doesn’t actually add anything to Bale’s genealogy story (in terms of recent period, anyway), but I was wondering how correct it would be to state that the French-speaking population of Channel Islands are of distant Danish descent (Normans being related much more to Danes than the French)?

        • andrew says:

          did Normans came from Denmark? not Norway/Sweden? why not

        • Alice says:

          Normans actually have more French than Danish. Any male population like the Vikings married the local women and after a few generations they have more local ancestry and the Viking era was a long time ago. Even the Normans that came to the UK spoke Norman French. Ever seen any dna from a person from Normandy?

          • michaelthompson says:

            I’m native Guernsey in that I take a 23andme test and Guernsey comes up as a community. However, I do also have a lot of family members with English names who were born in England, but this isn’t atypical for a Guernsey person. Four of my grandparents were born here and I can trace ancestry back 500 years. Guernsey is classed as ‘British’ by 23andme. I get a 74 percent result. I also have about 14 percent French/German and 13 percent Scandinavian. I believe the Scandinavian must come from the Norman influence. I don’t have any Scandinavian or French or German born ancestors on my tree.

        • guyinsf says:

          But French doesn’t mean just one thing. French people are made of Germanic, Celtic and Roman blood. The Germanic part comes from the germanic tribes like the Franks that the word “France” came from and the Normans who settled in Normandy. The Norman population of northern France became part of the french culture through language and assimilation over the centuries so they are completely French.

          • michaelthompson says:

            I would say 23andme was very accurate for me as it identified correctly I’m a Guernsey person. It wouldn’t be as accurate I don’t think for a non-British person. I understand the accuracy of the test isn’t uniformly distributed across the world.

      • michaelthompson says:

        Hello, where did you find ‘Margaret Quertier from Guernsey’? She’s in my tree and don’t know how to connect the dots. Thanks.

  5. The.geneal.guy says:

    English haters again! He is English and so is the surname Bale! Secondly most Welsh have English blood although they choose not to admit it! When the Romans invaded England, most celtic native English escaped to the west i.e. Wales!, hence English blood

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