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INNER TURMOIL FOR SON OF A CIRCUS CLOWN

His success in roles as violent vigilantes and steely-eyed psychopaths notwithstanding, Christian Bale’s life as a child of hippie parents couldn’t be more different from those of his characters.

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His mother, Jenny, was a circus clown and his father, David, a commercial pilot, animal-rights activist and tree-hugger. But despite the appearance of a life of love, peace and happiness, Bale has hinted that inside, he is not always so cuddly.

“If everyone really knew what a jerk I am in real life, I wouldn’t be so adored in the slightest,” he once told E! Online.

Still, it would have been hard to foresee the “Dark Knight” star being busted for allegedly roughing up his 61-year-old mother and 40-year-old sister, Sharon, in a London hotel the night before the blockbuster film premiered in Europe.

Born in Wales on Jan. 30, 1974, he spent his unconventional childhood on the move, as his mother toured with the circus.

The family lived for a time in Portugal, the United States and all over England. Until he was in his teens, he estimated that he had lived in 15 different places.

In interviews, Bale recalled being surrounded by beautiful women clad in fishnet stockings and peacock head-dresses as the family drove around in a motor home. His first kiss was with a young Polish trapeze artist named Barta.

Show business ran deep in Bale’s family. His grandfather – a gamekeeper in South Africa – had once been a double for John Wayne. His great uncle, Rex – a cousin of legendary British stage star Lillie Langtry – had 20 film credits under his belt.

Bale caught the acting bug at age 9, when Louise, one of his three older sisters, landed a role on the stage in London’s West End. Not long after, Bale scored a commercial gig. After several stage roles, he launched into the big time at age 13, when Steven Spielberg chose him over 4,000 other boys for the lead role in “Empire of the Sun.”

When Bale returned to school, his newfound fame did little to win him popularity among his peers. “Girls were all over me. Boys just wanted to fight me,” he recalled in 2004.

His mother said he almost quit acting as a result. “The bullying was quite bad and it made him very sad,” she said.

When it became clear he would have to move to Hollywood, his father quit his job to become his son’s manager.

His mother, however, had had enough of moving around and the couple divorced. While David and Christian moved to the United States, Jenny Bale remained in England with her daughters.

Dad David married feminist Gloria Steinhem in 2000, and died of cancer in 2003.