Halle Berry

Date of Birth
14 August 1966, Cleveland, Ohio, USA

Birth Name
Halle Maria Berry

Height
5' 6" (1.68 m)

Mini Biography
Halle Berry was born on August 14, 1966 in Cleveland, Ohio, USA to African American father Jerome Berry, a former hospital attendant, and Caucasian mother Judith Berry, a retired psychiatric nurse. Halle also has an older sister named Heidi Berry. Halle first came into the spotlight at 17 years old when she won the Miss Teen All-American Pageant, representing the state of Ohio in 1985 and, a year later in 1986, when she was the first runner-up in the Miss USA Pageant. After participating in the pageant, Halle became a model. It eventually led to her first weekly TV series, 1989's "Living Dolls" (1989), where she soon gained a reputation for her on-set tenacity, preferring to "live" her roles and remaining in character even when the cameras stopped rolling. It paid off though when she reportedly refused to bathe for several days before starting work on her role as a crack addict in Spike Lee's Jungle Fever (1991) because the role provided her big screen breakthrough. The following year, she was cast as Eddie Murphy's love interest in Boomerang (1992), one of the few times that Murphy was evenly matched on screen. In 1994, Berry gained a youthful following for her performance as sexy secretary "Sharon Stone" in The Flintstones (1994). She next had a highly publicized costarring role with Jessica Lange in the adoption drama Losing Isaiah (1995). Though the movie received mixed reviews, Berry didn't let that slow her down, and continued down her path to super-stardom. In 1998, she received critical success when she starred as a street smart young woman who takes up with a struggling politician in Warren Beatty's Bulworth (1998). The following year, she won even greater acclaim for her role as actress Dorothy Dandridge in made-for-cable's Introducing Dorothy Dandridge (1999) (TV), for which she won a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a TV Movie/Mini-Series. In 2000, she received box office success in X-Men (2000) in which she played "Storm", a mutant who has the ability to control the weather.

Spouse
Eric Benét (24 January 2001 - 3 January 2005) (divorced)
David Justice (31 December 1992 - 24 June 1997) (divorced)

Trivia
She was placed on three years probation and ordered to pay $13,500 in fines and penalties after pleading no contest on May 10, 2000 to a misdemeanor charge of leaving the scene of a traffic accident. The judge also ordered the actress to perform 200 hours of community service and to make restitution as determined by the outcome of civil litigation arising from the February accident when she was driving a rented Chevrolet Blazer and ran a red light and crashed into another car on Sunset Boulevard. She left the scene of the accident before authorities arrived, suffered a gash to her head that required 20 stitches to close, and the woman (Hetal Raythatha) driving the other vehicle broke her wrist. Halle reported the accident to a police officer at the hospital where she sought treatment.

Is type 1 diabetic.

Her parents, Judith Ann Hawkins & Jerome Jesse Berry, divorced when she was 4 years old. She was then raised by her mom. When researching for her role of Dorothy Dandridge, she discovered that she and Dorothy were both born in the same Cleveland, Ohio hospital.

One of People Magazine's "50 Most Beautiful People." [1998]

Miss USA; first runner-up to Christy Fichtner who was on the first season of "Who Wants to Marry My Dad?" (2004). [1986]

Miss Ohio USA. [1986]

Miss Teen All American. [1985]

Attended Cuyahoga Community College, Cleveland, Ohio.

Turned down the role of Annie in Speed (1994/I).

Is named after the grand old Halle Building in Cleveland, Ohio, which originally housed the Halle Brothers department store. The building is now an office building and the fictional setting for the Winfred-Louder department store on "The Drew Carey Show" (1995).

In high school, was an honor society member, editor of the school paper, and class president. Was also crowned prom queen.

Born at 9:03 p.m EDT

Lost some hearing in one of her ears due to a physical encounter with a boyfriend in the early 90s.

Attended Heskett Middle School in Bedford Heights, Ohio.

First African American actress to win the Oscar for Best Actress.

Older sister Heidi Berry (b. 1964) is estranged from Halle.

April 10, 2002 - She received an injury on the set of Die Another Day (2002). Halle was injured on location in Cadiz, Spain while shooting an action sequence that involved Pierce Brosnan firing on a helicopter being flown by Rick Yune.

Portrayed Dorothy Dandridge in the made for television film Introducing Dorothy Dandridge (1999) (TV). Dorothy Dandridge was the first African- American woman to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress and coincidentally Halle Berry is the first to have won in that category.

Was named one of the "50 Most Beautiful People" by People Magazine in 2002.

Graduate of Bedford High School, Bedford, Ohio

First black American in the Miss World Competition. She didn't win a prize but her dress did.

She and Kim Basinger are the only "Bond girls" to win Oscars.

Her dress for the 2002 Oscars ceremony was voted the most popular from the first 75 years.

Ranked #96 in Premiere's 2003 annual Power 100 List.

Named one of the 50 most beautiful people in People Magazine in 2003.

Voted the 10th Sexiest Female Movie Star in the Australian Empire Magazine September 2002.

Starred in four movies with Hugh Jackman: X-Men (2000), Swordfish (2001) and X2 (2003) and X-Men: The Last Stand (2006).

May 2003 - Broke her arm on the set of Gothika (2003), filming in Montreal.

Measurements: 36C-22-37 (Source: Celebrity Sleuth magazine)

Was a Bearcats cheerleader at Bedford High School.

Became engaged to singer Eric Benét on 14 August 1999. Benet has a daughter, India (b. 1991).

Half British on her mother's side.

The first actress to star and portray two different comic book characters for two different comic book companies: "Storm" for Marvel's X-Men (2000) and X2 (2003), and "Catwoman" for D.C Comics's Catwoman (2004).

She is currently the highest paid black actress in Hollywood. [2004]

Named one of the "50 Most Beautiful People" in People Magazine in 2004. She has now appeared on this list eight times, tying with Julia Roberts for the most appearances.

Voted as #7 on the "Top 100 Sexiest Women 2004" in FHM [DK].

Played a character called "Sharon Stone" in The Flintstones (1994). Ten years later she appeared with the real Sharon Stone in Catwoman (2004).

Wisely turned down the female lead in box office disaster Gigli (2003), which birthed the relationship of Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez.

Smashed her head into set lights on the set of Catwoman (2004). She wasn't seriously injured.

Adopted a cat (that was originally an extra for Catwoman (2004)) named Playto, to help herself learn about cats. However, she renamed the cat Playdough, because Playto was too serious a name for her.

Her first $1 million salary for a film was for Executive Decision (1996) - a part which she earlier refused.... until she was offered $1 million.

Voted #7 on VH1's "100 Hottest Hotties."

Ranked #15 in Stuff magazine's "102 Sexiest Women in the World" (2002).

The age difference between herself and Rosamund Pike in Die Another Day (2002) - 12 years and 5 months - is the greatest age difference between two Bond girls in one film since Alison Doody and Grace Jones - a difference of 18 years - in A View to a Kill (1985).

Was listed as a potential nominee on the 2004 Razzie Award nominating ballot. She was suggessted in the Worst Actress category for her performance in the film Gothika (2003), she failed to receive a nomination however. The very next year though, she got a nomination for Worst Actress in the film Catwoman (2004).

On Febuary 26, 2005, she showed up in person to accept the Razzie award for Worst Actress for her role as Catwoman (2004) and became the first actress to do so. Accepting the award, Berry smiled and said "Thank you and I hope to God I never see you guys again."

One of only four actresses, along with Faye Dunaway, Sandra Bullock and Liza Minnelli, to win both the Academy Award for Best Actress and the Razzie Award for Worst Actress (Dunaway shared her award with Bo Derek).

Frequently hailed as one of Hollywood's best dressed stars.

Was named one of the "50 Most Beautiful People" by People Magazine in 2005

Voted #1 on BET's "All Shades of Fine: The 25 Hottest Women of the Past 25 Years" (2005)

Her favorite actresses are Dorothy Dandridge, Jodie Foster and Whoopi Goldberg.

Named #41 on the Maxim magazine Hot 100 of 2005 list.

Harvard University's Hasty Pudding Theatricals' 2006 Woman of the Year

Was born in Cleveland but grew up in Oakwood Village, Ohio. She still has family there.

Named #5 in FHM's "100 Sexiest Women in the World 2005" special supplement. (2005)

Was featured as #7 in Maxim Magazine's "Hot 100 of 2002" supplement. (2002)

Mother is from Liverpool, England.

First actress to star in a "Bond-film" following an Oscar win

Adopted Eric Benét's daughter India

Named #6 in FHM magazine's "100 Sexiest Women in the World 2006" supplement. (2006).

Well known for "living" her roles, she refused to bathe for two weeks in preparation for a role as a crack addict in Jungle Fever (1991).

Her maternal grandmother was English. Also has other English (distantly related to the Baronets Beresford, Viscounts of Tyrone, Earls of Tyrone and Marquesses of Waterford, to Barons Decies and to Baron Beresford, and to the Marquess of Campo-Maior Count of Trancoso in Portugal), Irish, German and remote Dutch ancestry.

Received the 2,333rd star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on April 3, 2007.

Is one of five African-American actresses to win an Oscar in a competitive category. In chronological order the others are: Hattie McDaniel for Gone with the Wind (1939), Whoopi Goldberg for Ghost (1990), Jennifer Hudson for Dreamgirls (2006) and Mo'Nique for Precious (2009).

Is an active participant with the Jenesee Center (for abused women and children) in Los Angeles.

Ranked #55 on the Maxim magazine Hot 100 of 2007 list.

Saved from choking on a fig by Pierce Brosnan during shooting of the love scene on Cuba for Die Another Day (2002).

Is one of eight African-American actresses to be nominated for the Best Actress Oscar. The others in chronological order are: Dorothy Dandridge, Diana Ross, Cicely Tyson, Diahann Carroll, Whoopi Goldberg, Angela Bassett and Gabourey Sidibe.

Studies acting under Ivana Chubbuck.

Halle and her partner Gabriel Aubry became the parents of a daughter named Nahla Ariela Aubry, born at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, on 16 March 2008.

Early in her career she auditioned for the role of Tina Turner in What's Love Got to Do with It (1993), but lost out to Angela Bassett who went on to receive a Best Actress Oscar nomination for her performance.

Was given her Oscar-winning role of Leticia Musgrove in Monster's Ball (2001) after both Angela Bassett and Vanessa Williams turned the role down.

Was named "Sexiest Woman Alive" by Esquire magazine in 2008.

Moved to a residence in Saint-Hyacinthe (Montreal), Quebec, Canada in mid October, 2008.

Returned to work eight months after giving birth to her daughter Nahla in order to begin filming Frankie and Alice (2010).

Lives in Los Angeles and Malibu, California.

Was in a relationship with Gabriel Aubry (November 2005-April 2010).

Stated that it was her role as a mother in Things We Lost in the Fire (2007) that led her to make the decision to become a mother herself.

Was in a relationship with Michael Ealy (July 2004-October 2005).

Lived in Cape Town, South Africa with her daughter Nahla and ex-boyfriend Gabriel Aubry whilst filming Dark Tide (2011) (July-September 2010).

Is in a relationship with Olivier Martinez, having met on the set of Dark Tide (2011) (July 2010).


Personal Quotes
On Dorothy Dandridge: "...You have to find a way to be sad on every day, in every scene, in every moment. And always try to hide the sadness. And (then) you'll get the essence of who she was."

"This moment is so much bigger than me, This moment is for Dorothy Dandridge, Lena Horne, Diahann Carroll... It's for the women that stand beside me, Jada Pinkett Smith, Angela Bassett, Vivica A. Fox... and it's for every nameless, faceless woman of color that now has a chance, because the door tonight has been opened." - During her Oscar acceptance speech.

On choosing both serious and popcorn-movie roles: "There's art and there's commerce. You have to find a way to mesh the two. It's important to do the little movies just for the love of the art. But it's those big movies that take you around the world and make you globally famous."

I'll never get married again, and I always hate to say never to anything, but I will never marry again.

I was black growing up in an all-white neighborhood, so I felt like I just didn't fit in. Like I wasn't as good as everybody else, or as smart, or whatever.

Blackness is a state of mind and I identify with the black community. Mainly, because I realized, early on, when I walk into a room, people see a black woman, they don't see a white women. So out of that reason alone, I identify more with the black community.

I spent a lot of time with a crown on my head.

The worst thing a man can ever do is kiss me on the first date.

I don't see a white woman. I see a black woman, even though my mother is white [her father Jerome is black]. Knowing that has made my life easier, I think.

I want to be the next Spike Lee. I want to help other black folks to get into Hollywood and be successful in Hollywood.

What is my real purpose here? I've looked at what I do. I make believe and make movies. I entertain people and get paid for it. Sometimes it seems like such a shallow existence. How insignificant in the scheme of life.

"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. And I hope to God I never see these people again." - on accepting her Razzie Award for Worst Actress

I never wanted to be a model. My modeling career was nothing but a stepping stone to my acting career and that's all I ever saw it as. A pointless rock in the river that has to be stepped on in order to get to the meaningful oasis of acting.

I guess you could say I have bad taste in men. But I no longer feel the need to be someone's wife.

(On receiving a film festival award while pregnant) I am three times the girl I used to be. This is the second red carpet where I didn't have to think about sucking in my stomach - because I can't!

You think you know what love is - until you have a child and discover that unconditional mother love.

I once was stupid enough to say, in a previous relationship, 'I'm going to be with this person forever,' and realised, as I grew, that I don't know if forever is possible.


Salary
Perfect Stranger (2007) $10,000,000
Catwoman (2004) $14,000,000
Gothika (2003) $6,000,000
Die Another Day (2002) $4,000,000
Monster's Ball (2001) $600,000
Swordfish (2001) $2,500,000
Executive Decision (1996) $1,000,000

Where Are They Now
(2009) Appeared in a PSA for the "Children's Diabetes Foundation".