David Charles Howard Bale (2 September 1941 – 30 December 2003) was an English entrepreneur, environmentalist, and

animal welfare Animal welfare is the quality of life and overall well-being of animals. Formal standards of animal welfare vary between contexts, but are debated mostly by animal welfare groups, legislators, and academics. Animal welfare science uses measures ...

activist. He was the father of actor

Christian Bale Christian Charles Philip Bale (born 30 January 1974) is an English actor. Known for his versatility and physical transformations for his roles, he has been a leading man in films of several genres. List of awards and nominations received by C ...

and the husband of

Gloria Steinem Gloria Marie Steinem ( ; born March 25, 1934) is an American journalist and social movement, social-political activist who emerged as a nationally recognized leader of second-wave feminism in the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s. ...

Early life and background

Bale was born in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, to English parents. His father Philip Bale served as a

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

pilot. Bale grew up in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

, and the British

Channel Islands The Channel Islands are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They are divided into two Crown Dependencies: the Jersey, Bailiwick of Jersey, which is the largest of the islands; and the Bailiwick of Guernsey, ...

. He initially pursued a career as a commercial pilot and later ran a commuter airline in England. His business activities included marketing imported jeans and

skateboard A skateboard is a type of sports equipment used for skateboarding. It is usually made of a specially designed 7–8-ply maple plywood deck and has polyurethane wheels attached to the underside by a pair of skateboarding trucks. The skateboard ...

Career

Bale was an activist for environmental and animal rights causes. He served as a board member of The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund and the Ark Trust, which in 2002 became the Hollywood branch of the

Humane Society of the United States Humane World for Animals, formerly the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and Humane Society International (HSI), is a global nonprofit organization that focuses on animal welfare and opposes animal-related cruelties of national scop ...

. He also served as a board member for World Education, Inc., an international non-profit organisation known for its work in educational development, located in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, Massachusetts.

Personal life

Bale was married three times. His first marriage to Sandra Kreunen in South Africa ended in 1964 after she filed for divorce when he returned to England to visit his mother. His second marriage to Jenny James in England also ended in divorce. From his first marriage, he had a daughter named Erin Bale Kreunen, and from his second marriage, he had three children: Louise, Sharon, and the youngest being Academy-Award winning actor

. On 3 September 2000, Bale married the feminist writer, journalist, and social-political activist

. Their wedding in

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

was a private ceremony at the home of her friend

Wilma Mankiller Wilma Pearl Mankiller (; November 18, 1945April 6, 2010) was a Native American activist, social worker, community developer and the first woman elected to serve as Tribal chief, Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation. Born in Tahlequah, Oklaho ...

, the first female

Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation Principal Chief is today the title of the chief executives of the Cherokee Nation, of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, and of the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians, the three federally recognized tribes of Cherokee. In the eighteenth ...

. Bale had been facing deportation after overstaying his visa. Both Steinem and Bale denied that Bale's immigration status was the motivation for the marriage. Steinem had previously been critical of the institution of marriage, saying that "marriage was the model for slavery law in this country". She said of her change in attitude, 'I didn't change. Marriage changed. We spent 30 years in the United States changing the marriage laws. If I had married when I was supposed to get married, I would have lost my name, my legal residence, my credit rating, many of my civil rights. That's not true any more. It's possible to make an equal marriage'.

Death

Bale died of

brain The brain is an organ (biology), organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. It consists of nervous tissue and is typically located in the head (cephalization), usually near organs for ...

lymphoma Lymphoma is a group of blood and lymph tumors that develop from lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell). The name typically refers to just the cancerous versions rather than all such tumours. Signs and symptoms may include enlarged lymph node ...

on December 30, 2003, aged 62.

Filmography

References

External links

Tribute to David Bale by Gloria Steinem
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bale, David 1941 births 2003 deaths 20th-century English businesspeople British animal welfare workers Commercial aviators Deaths from brain cancer in California Deaths from lymphoma in California