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Halle Maria Berry
Halle Berry
Halle Maria Berry (born August 14, 1966) is an American
actress.
Berry was born in Cleveland, Ohio. She was named after
Halle's Department Store, a local landmark. Although she
is generally considered African American, she is biracial,
with a white English-born mother,  Judith
Ann Hawkins, and a black American father, Jerome Berry.
Berry's parents divorced when she was four years old and
she was subsequently raised by her mother, a psychiatric-ward
nurse. She has an older sister, Heidi.
Berry was a popular student at her high school and was
a cheerleader, honor society member, editor of the school
newspaper, class president, and prom queen. She subsequently
attended Cuyahoga Community College.
Before becoming an actress, she entered several beauty
contests including Miss Ohio USA, Miss Teen All American,
Miss USA, and Miss World.
In the late 1980s, she went to Chicago to pursue a modeling
career as well as acting. One of her first acting projects
was a television series for local cable by Gordon Lake
Productions called "Chicago Force."
Berry auditioned for a role in an updated Charlie's Angels
television series by producer Aaron Spelling. At the time,
Spelling wanted one of the "Angels" to be a
black woman. She did not get the role (because the project
never materialized) but she impressed Spelling with her
skills. He encouraged her to continue perfecting her craft.
In 1989, Berry landed the role of brainy Emily Franklin
in the short-lived ABC television series called Living
Dolls (which was a spin-off of Who's the Boss?). Her breakthrough
feature film role was in Spike Lee's Jungle Fever where
she played a drug addict named Vivian. Her first co-starring
role was in the film Strictly Business. Another one of
her early roles was in a supporting capacity in the Flintstones
movie where she played "Sharon Stone." The year
before, Berry really caught the public's attention with
her portrayal as a female slave in the TV adaption of
Alex Haley's Queen.
She played the superhero Storm in 2000 in the successful
film, X-Men and again in the more successful X2: X-Men
United (2003). Gothika was the first film that she "carried,"
i.e., the film focusing entirely on her.
She won the best actress Oscar in 2002 for Monster's
Ball, becoming the first African American woman to win
this award. Interestingly, Berry had played Dorothy Dandridge,
the first African American woman to be nominated for a
best actress Academy Award, in HBO's Introducing Dorothy
Dandridge in 1999. Another similarity the two women shared
was being born in the same hospital.
In February 2000, she was involved in an automobile accident
when she struck another vehicle after running a red light
and left the scene before the police arrived. Berry, who
had sustained a head injury, later stated she had no recollection
of the accident and pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor
charge. She paid a fine, made restitution to the other
driver, performed community services, and was placed on
three years’ probation.
Having long refused to do any nude scenes, much was made
of her first topless scene in the film Swordfish, a thirty
second scene for which she was allegedly paid an additional
$500,000. She followed this with a more extended nude
love scene in Monster's Ball. Her appearance in this film
won her the Academy Award for Best Actress in 2002. As
Bond Girl Jinx in 2002's Die Another Day she famously
recreated the scene from Dr. No, bursting from the surf
- scantily clad - to be greeted by James Bond, as Ursula
Andress did 40 years earlier.
Berry "won" a Razzie for her starring role
in 2004's Catwoman. She made headlines by accepting her
award in person, an unusual gesture that was last performed
by Tom Green in 2001. Berry accepted her award with dignity,
saying, "When I was a kid, my mother told me that
if you could not be a good loser, then there's no way
you could be a good winner" but adding "I hope
to God I never see these people again!" shortly afterward.
At the podium, she appeared with her Razzie in one hand,
and her Oscar in the other.
Berry has been married twice. Her first marriage in 1992
to baseball player David Justice ended in a 1996 divorce.
Her second marriage in 2001 to musician Eric Benét
has resulted in a 2003 separation (and 2005 divorce) due
to Benét's infidelity. She has never had children
herself, but is close to her step-daughter India from
her marriage to Benét. Berry does have two Maltese
dogs; Miss Polly and Little Willie.
She is expected get her "star" on the Hollywood
Boulevard Walk of Fame in Hollywood, California sometime
in 2004.
In 2003 Berry came top of FHM's 100 Sexiest Women in
the World poll.
She has diabetes and acquired unilateral hearing loss
(80% hearing loss in one ear) after being severely beaten
by a former boyfriend (who is usually believed to be Wesley
Snipes).
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