Halle Berry is an American film actress, the first African American to win the Academy Award for best actress.
Background
Berry was born Maria Halle Berry; her name was legally changed to Halle Maria Berry at age five. Her parents selected her middle name from Halle's Department Store, which was then a local landmark in her birthplace of Cleveland, Ohio. Her mother, Judith Ann (née Hawkins) was a psychiatric nurse. Her father, Jerome Jesse Berry, was an African-American hospital attendant in the psychiatric ward where her mother worked; he later became a bus driver. Berry's maternal grandmother, Nellie Dicken, was born in Sawley, Derbyshire, England, while her maternal grandfather, Earl Ellsworth Hawkins, was born in Ohio. Berry's parents divorced when she was four years old; she and her older sister, Heidi Berry-Henderson, were raised exclusively by their mother.
Berry was estranged from her father since her childhood. Her father was very abusive to her mother. Berry has recalled witnessing her mother being beaten daily, kicked down stairs and hit in the head with a wine bottle.
Education
Berry attended a nearly all-white public school, and as a result was subjected to discrimination at an early age. Her early bouts with racism greatly influenced her desire to excel. Throughout high school, the determined teen participated in a dizzying array of extracurricular activities, holding positions of newspaper editor, class president, and head cheerleader.
Halle graduated from Bedford High School where she was a cheerleader, honor student, editor of the school newspaper and prom queen. She worked in the children's department at Higbee's Department store. She was adjudged the first runner-up in the Miss USA pageant in 1986. This success inspired her to ditch her studies and pursue a career as a fashion model.
For a short time she attended Cleveland's Cuyahoga Community College, where she studied broadcast journalism. However, Berry abandoned her idea of a career in news reporting before receiving her degree.
A natural performer, Berry earned a handful of beauty pageant titles during the early 1980s, including Miss Teen Ohio and Miss Teen America. She was eventually awarded first runner-up in the 1985 Miss U.S.A. competition.
Choosing to wholeheartedly devote her time to a career in entertainment, Berry first moved to Chicago and then to New York City, where she found work as a catalog model. As the 1980s turned into the 90s, the aspiring actress began a career in television with a role on the short-lived sitcom Living Dolls (1989), followed by a year-long run on the CBS prime-time drama Knot's Landing, in 1991. Berry's first big-screen break came later that year when she was cast as Samuel L. Jackson's drug-addicted girlfriend in Spike Lee's critically acclaimed film, Jungle Fever.
More substantial supporting roles followed, including that of a stripper in the action-thriller The Last Boy Scout (1991), starring Bruce Willis, and as the woman who finally wins the heart of Eddie Murphy in the romantic comedy Boomerang (1992). With a few films under her belt, Berry accepted more offbeat roles, making cameos in the rockumentary CB4 (1993), which traced the rise and fall of a rap group by the same name. In 1994, the live-action version of The Flintstones featured Berry as a Stone-Age seductress. Berry offered a no-holds-barred performance as a rehabilitated crack addict seeking to regain custody of her son in Losing Isaiah (1995). Berry, who played opposite Jessica Lange and David Strathairn, was noted for her believable portrayal of a mother struggling with addiction and loss. Later that year, Berry overcame Hollywood's racial barriers when she was cast as the first African American to play the Queen of Sheba, in the Showtime's movie Solomon & Sheba.
Berry's acting credits the next year included two 1996 crime thrillers: The Rich Man's Wife, and Executive Decision. The latter film marked Berry's first leading role in a feature. In 1998, she took a turn as one of three wives laying claim to Frankie Lyman's estate in the biographical drama Why Do Fools Fall in Love?, and then played a liberal urban youth in the political satire Bulworth, opposite Hollywood veteran Warren Beatty. In 1999, Berry released her most passionate project to date, co-producing and starring in Introducing Dorothy Dandridge, an HBO biopic. Berry was noted for her striking resemblance to the late Dorothy Dandridge, and for her engaging depiction of the actress' struggle to succeed in the racially biased industry of 1950s Hollywood. Berry earned both a Golden Globe Award and an Emmy Award for Best Actress in a Television Movie for her role.
In February of 2000, Berry faced controversy when the actress was involved in a hit-and-run accident that erupted into a tabloid scandal. After enduring a minor head injury, she claimed that she did not remember leaving the scene. As a result of her actions, she was placed on probation, given community service, and fined $13,500.
Undeterred by the challenges faced in her personal life, Berry continued to star in blockbuster hits, including X-Men (2000), the big-budget screen adaptation of the long-running Marvel Comic. In the highly anticipated summer release, Berry's character, Storm, teamed up with fellow mutant heroes played by Anna Paquin and Patrick Stewart. In the summer of 2001, she co-starred with John Travolta in the action movie Swordfish. Audiences did not respond positively to the film, and publicity for the movie centered mostly around Berry's topless scene, for which the actress was allegedly paid a $500,000 bonus.
But Berry also garnered the most positive critical notice of her film career that same year in the dark drama Monster's Ball. Berry played the wife of a death row prisoner (Sean "Puffy" Combs) who becomes romantically involved with a racist prison guard (Billy Bob Thornton). The role earned Berry a Golden Globe nomination for best actress in a drama as well as the Academy Award for best actress. In her emotional acceptance speech, Berry acknowledged the honor of becoming the first African-American woman to win the Oscar for best actress by thanking all the performers who came before her.
In 2002, Halle Berry joined the ranks of the legendary "Bond Girls" as the character Jinx in the hit James Bond spy adventure Die Another Day. The actress appeared in several more comic-book-inspired films over the next few years. First, she reprised her role as Storm in X2 (2003), the second installment of Marvel Comics' X-Men film franchise. She then starred in the film adaptation of DC Comics' Catwoman, in which she played the lead character and her feline alter-ego. In 2005, she took the lead in the TV adaptation of Zora Neale Hurston's classic 1937 novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, which was produced by Oprah Winfrey's production company, Harpo. She also lent her voice for the CGI cartoon project, Robots. Then in 2006, she starred in the third X-Men installment, X-Men: The Final Stand, switching gears in 2007 to star in the heart-racing thriller, Perfect Stranger, co-starring Bruce Willis.
In 2011 Berry appeared in the ensemble romantic comedy New Year’s Eve, and the following year she starred as a diving instructor vexed by sharks in the thriller Dark Tide. In the elaborately structured epic Cloud Atlas (2012), she performed multiple roles, including a 1970s journalist and a futuristic island tribeswoman. In July 2014, Halle took the small screen with a starring role in the CBS sci-fi series Extant. In the series, she plays an astronaut who returns to earth pregnant after a 13-month solo space mission. Steven Spielberg is a producer on the series. Berry later starred in the thrillers The Call (2013) and Kidnap (2017), portraying an emergency call-centre operator attempting to thwart a serial killer and a mother whose son is abducted, respectively. She then appeared in the spy movie Kingsman: The Golden Circle and starred in Kings (both 2017), playing a foster parent living in Los Angeles during the riots of 1992.
Halle Berry not sure which God to believe in. She once said: "I believe in God. I just don't know if that God is Jehovah, Buddha or Allah."
Politics
Berry took part in a nearly 2,000-house cell-phone bank campaign for Barack Obama in February 2008.
In August 2013, Berry testified alongside Jennifer Garner before the California State Assembly's Judiciary Committee in support of a bill that would protect celebrities' children from harassment by photographers. The bill passed in September.
Views
Along with Pierce Brosnan, Cindy Crawford, Jane Seymour, Dick Van Dyke, Téa Leoni, and Daryl Hannah, Berry successfully fought in 2006 against the Cabrillo Port Liquefied Natural Gas facility that was proposed off the coast of Malibu. Berry said, "I care about the air we breathe, I care about the marine life and the ecosystem of the ocean." In May 2007, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed the facility. Hasty Pudding Theatricals gave her its 2006 Woman of The Year award.
In April 2013, she appeared in a video clip for Gucci's "Chime for Change" campaign that aims to raise funds and awareness of women's issues in terms of education, health, and justice.
Quotations:
"Beauty is not just physical."
"I'm done with men... I'm going to be alone. I have no luck with relationships. I don't think I'm made for marriage."
"I'm not sad at all about turning 40."
"I know that I will never find my father in any other man who comes into my life, because it is a void in my life that can only be filled by him."
"I spent a lot of time with a crown on my head."
"My whole life I've had the fear that I was going to be abandoned."
"I'm learning to accept the lack of privacy as the real downer in my profession."
"And you also have to do movies that are about commerce because that's what is required of the industry today."
"If you really want to be competitive in today's market you have to be in movies that make money."
"You have to get the audience invested even if you're doing something that they think is dumb, it's kind of what these movies are all about."
Personality
Halle Berry favorite food is grilled tuna teamed with garlic mashed potatoes.
Physical Characteristics:
Her height is 5 ft 5½ (166 cm), weight - 55 kg (121 pounds). Her hair and eyes are black. Her measurements: 36-26-37 in or 91.5-66-94 cm. Dress size - 6 (US) or 36 (EU), shoe size - 7 (US) or 37.5 (EU).
She is a follower of Harley Pasternak’s 5 Factor Diet, according to which she eats 5 meals a day after regular intervals. She also follows 3-2-1 workout method and executes exercises for 25 minutes a day.
She is type 2 diabetic.
Quotes from others about the person
"That was the first time she was given the opportunity to use what I think is still an underrated talent." - James Foley.
"I love Halle. She's so sweet. I connected with her immediately and, even though we only worked together for a few days, it was the best connection I've ever had with an actress. She made me feel like I could trust her." - Penelope Cruz.
"As beautiful as Halle is on the outside, she's 10 times more beautiful on the inside." - Rick Yune.
Interests
Halle has two dogs named Polly and Willy.
She likes to watch comedy movies rather than drama.
Halle likes to purchase shoes (if compared to bags). She has 100s of shoes and Halle keeps them out of the box at the display so that she does not forget that she owns them.
Politicians
Barack Obama
Writers
She is passionate about reading. LOVE by Toni Morrison is one of her favorite novels. She also like Nappily Ever After, The Rumi Collection, The Color of Water, Meditations For Women Who Do Too Much.
Artists
Her favorite actresses are Dorothy Dandridge, Jodie Foster, Whoopi Goldberg.
Sport & Clubs
Fitness
Music & Bands
Miley Cyrus, Lady Gaga, Hip-hop
Connections
Berry has a checkered romantic past; she was involved in a stormy relationship with Jungle Fever co-star Wesley Snipes before marrying Atlanta Braves outfielder David Justice in 1993. The couple divorced in 1997, after which time Berry became secretly engaged to R&B musician Eric Benét. She and Benét were married from 2001 to 2005.
During a photoshoot for Versace in November 2005, Berry met her next boyfriend, French-Canadian supermodel Gabriel Aubry. Several months later, Berry confirmed that she and Aubry were expecting their first child together. The couple welcomed a daughter, Nahla Ariela, on March 16, 2008. She and Aubry split in 2010.
Later that year, Berry began dating actor Olivier Martinez. In March 2012, the couple got engaged, and in April 2013, they announced that they were expecting their first child together.
On July 13, 2013, a 46-year-old Berry and 47-year-old Martinez exchanged vows in an intimate ceremony at France's Chateau des Conde. That October, the couple welcomed their first child together, a baby boy, Maceo-Robert. After two years of marriage, in 2015 the couple announced they were divorcing. The divorce became final in December 2016.
2000, Introducing Dorothy Dandridge - Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie
2002, Monster's Ball - Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
2000, Introducing Dorothy Dandridge - Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie
2002, Monster's Ball - Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
1995, Alex Haley's Queen - Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series, or Dramatic Special
2000, Introducing Dorothy Dandridge - Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series, or Dramatic Special
2002, Swordfish - Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture
2003, Die Another Day - Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture
2011, Frankie & Alice - Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture
1995, Alex Haley's Queen - Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series, or Dramatic Special
2000, Introducing Dorothy Dandridge - Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series, or Dramatic Special
2002, Swordfish - Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture
2003, Die Another Day - Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture
2011, Frankie & Alice - Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture