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Christian Bale Arrested


LONDON — "The Dark Knight" actor Christian Bale was arrested on Tuesday for allegedly assaulting his mother and sister, police said.

The 34-year-old actor spent four hours at a London police station before being released on bail.

Bale's attorneys released a statement Tuesday denying the allegation:

"Christian Bale attended a London police station today, on a voluntary basis, in order to assist with an allegation that had been made against him to the police by his mother and sister. Mr. Bale who denies the allegation, co-operated throughout, gave his account in full of the events in question, and has left the station without any charge being made against him by the police. At this time, there will be no further comment by Mr. Bale."

A woman thought to be Bale's sister Sharon told reporters "it's a family matter" from her home in Corfe Mullen, 110 miles southwest of London. A man who answered the door at the home of his mother Jenny Bale in nearby Bournemouth said she did not want to comment.

Earlier Tuesday, the Welsh-born actor, who plays Batman in "The Dark Knight," was in custody at a central London police station being questioned by officers over the incident, said to have taken place in his hotel suite.

“A 34-year-old man attended a Central London police station this morning and was arrested in connection with an allegation of assault," a police spokesman said.

British police do not name suspects before they are formally charged.

The force later said in a statement that the man had been released on bail pending further inquiries and told to return on an unspecified date in September.

Bale allegedly lashed out at his relatives in his suite at Park Lane’s Dorchester Hotel on Sunday.

According to Sky News, Bale's mother Jenny, 61, and sister Sharon, 40, went to police on Monday to make a formal allegation against Bale. The complaint about the actor was then passed on to the Metropolitan Police for further investigation.

Despite the alleged incident and report, Bale was allowed to attend the first European screening of the new Batman blockbuster "The Dark Knight" in London's West End on Monday night.

The film, which stars the late Heath Ledger as Batman's nemesis The Joker, took in a record $158.4 million in its opening weekend in the U.S. last week, overtaking former record-holder "Spider-Man 3."

Bale first made a splash as the child star of Steven Spielberg's "Empire of the Sun" in 1987. His screen credits also include "American Psycho," "The Machinist" and "Batman Begins."

In "The Dark Knight," Bale reprises his "Batman Begins" role of wealthy playboy Bruce Wayne and his crime-fighting alter-ego Batman, a brooding vigilante superhero still scarred by the murder of his parents.

Heath Ledger not the first star who died before the release of movie


Heath Ledger, whose performance as the Joker in the summer blockbuster "The Dark Knight" earned rave reviews, died months before the film hit theaters. He is hardly the first movie star to die before release of a film.

Here's a list of others:

AALIYAH: The R&B star died in a 2001 Bahamas plane crash before the release of vampire flick "Queen of the Damned."

JAMES DEAN: "Rebel Without a Cause" was released one month after Dean, 24, was killed in a 1955 car accident.

CLARK GABLE: Gable died of a heart attack at 59 before the 1960 release of the film "The Misfits."

RIVER PHOENIX: Died of drug-related heart failure four months before his film, "Silent Tongue," came out.

JEAN HARLOW: Harlow was just 26 when she died of kidney disease just a month before release of her 1937 film "Saratoga."

SPENCER TRACY: The 67-year-old screen star died of a heart attack after completing "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner."

BRANDON LEE: The son of martial arts film star Bruce Lee died in a mishap on the set of "The Crow" just eight days before filming was to be completed.

BRUCE LEE: The martial arts star died at 32 from a cerebral edema, one month before the release of his last film, "Enter the Dragon."

NATALIE WOOD: The "West Side Story" starlet drowned in 1981 just before the completion of the science-fiction thriller "Brainstorm."

JOHN CANDY: The comedian dropped dead in 1994 while on location filming "Wagon's East." Another Candy film, "Canadian Bacon," was released after his death.

TUPAC SHAKUR: The rapper, 25, was killed in a 1996 drive-by shooting after completing two films, "Gridlock'd" and "Gang Related," both of which were released the following year.

PHIL HARTMAN: SNL star was shot and killed by his wife, Brynn Hartman, in a 1998 murder-suicide two months before the release of his film "Small Soldiers."

CHRIS FARLEY: The pudgy SNL funnyman died of a drug overdose in 1997. His final film, "Almost Heroes," was released the following year.

GARY COOPER: Screen legend died of cancer in 1961, just a month before the release of his British mystery film "The Naked Edge."

Airbus A320-200 Lufthansa nearly crashed during a crosswind approach on the runway 23 at the airport Hamburg International (EDDH) on 1st march 2008 in Germany. Extreme landing or approach. Crash. Left wing touched the runway. Crazy. Hard and dangerous. Funny landing. Storm Emma 2008 in Germany (Hamburg EDDH). After the landing the left wing was destroyed. This first landing was a wingstrike.

Hong Kong singer-actor Edison Chen, who quit showbiz last week in the wake of the sex photo scandal fallout, had proposed to his girlfriend Vincy Yeung four times to try to dodge triad revenge, a Hollywood gossip website has reported.

Yeung, 19, is a university student in Boston in the US. Her uncle is chairman of the Emperor Group of companies.

She and Chen have been dating since 2004 and came out as a couple in 2006. He once said that he would marry her when he had earned US$20 million.

Some members of Yeung's triad family allegedly want Chen dead after explicit photographs of Edison with actresses and pop stars were plastered across the Internet over the past few weeks. But other members are trying to protect the Canadian-born actor, who went into hiding in Boston following the scandal.

A report in hollywoodgrind.com on Saturday said Chen had hoped that marrying Yeung would show that he has changed into a family man, and is no longer a sex maniac and womanizer.

But Yeung apparently turned down his marriage proposal after discussing the issue with her family.

Some earlier reports said Chen threatened to slit his wrists if Yeung did not marry him, but these have been denied by the actor.

The Hollywoodgrind report also said that Yeung's family had suggested to Chen that he seek treatment for his addiction to sex, which he did so.

He is said to have checked into a rehabilitation center in Utah, but left after a few days when he was attacked by several of the other male residents in the place in a parking lot during a break. The group of men threatened, kicked, and punched him. Edison left immediately and travelled to Vancouver, British Columbia to stay with his mother.

Chen then flew to California to meet movie executives in Hollywood to try and get work in upcoming movies. During this time, he started negotiating with police in Hong Kong to avoid prosecution, and for protection, before returning to former Crown colony.

He returned to Boston to see Yeung one last time before returning to Hong Kong last Thursday to face the media.

Speaking publicly for the first time since the scandal broke, Chen admitted taking the photos but said they had been stolen from him. Canadian-born Chen, 27, said he had returned to Hong Kong to account for himself.

“I would like now to apologize to all the people for all the suffering that has been caused and the problems that have arisen from this,” he said, reading a statement in English to a packed press conference.

“I would like to apologize to all the ladies and to all their families for any harm or hurt that they have been feeling. I am sorry,” he said.

The racy photos which purportedly show him in compromising positions with various celebrities, including Canto-pop star Gillian Chung, actress Cecilia Cheung and former actress Bobo Chan, were copied from Chen's computer when he sent it in for repairs