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. 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 Flintstones, The (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 superstardom.

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.

Trivia

• Is a spokeswoman for Revlon cosmetics.
• 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 diabetic
• Halle's parents, Judith & Jerome 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 [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).
• 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".
• 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 EST 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, Ohio.
• Is the second "Bond Girl" to win an Oscar. The first was Kim Basinger (Best Supporting Actress for L.A Confidential, 1997.)
• First African American actress to win the Oscar for Best Actress. Has a step-daughter named India Sister Heidi 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.
• As a young aspiring actress Halle Berry was the leading lady in R. Kelly and Public Announcement's 1991 video hit Honey Love, where they re-enacted a scene from 9 1/2 Weeks.
• 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 is the only official "Bond Girl" to win an Academy Award. Although Kim Basinger (Best Actress, L.A. Confidential) was a "Bond Girl", "Never Say Never Again" is not included in the list of 20 official James Bond films.
• 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. She has now appeared on this list seven times.
• Voted the 10th Sexist Female Movie Star in the Australian Empire Magazine September 2002. Starred in three movies with Hugh Jackman: X Men (2000); Swordfish (2001) and X2: X Men United (2003).
• May 2003 - Broke her arm on the set of "Gothika", filming in Montreal. Measurements: 36C-22-37 (Source: Celebrity Sleuth magazine) Was a Bearcats cheerleader at Bedford High School.
• Became engaged to singer 'Eric Benet' on 14 August 1999. Benet has a daughter, India (b. 1991) Half British on her mother's side.
• The first actress to star & portray two different comic book characters for two different comic book companies (Storm) for Marvel's X-Men & X2 & (Catwoman) for D.C Comics.
• 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.

Personal Quotes

"...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." - re: Dorothy Dandridge

"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, Angela Bassett, Vivica 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.

"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." (on choosing both serious and popcorn-movie roles)

Catwoman (2004)$14,000,000
Gothika (2003)$14,000,000
Die Another Day (2002)$4,000,000
Monster's Ball (2001)$600,000
Swordfish (2001)$2,500,000