was born in Cleveland, Ohio. Her father, Jerome Jesse Berry, was African-American, and worked as a hospital attendant. Her mother, Judith Ann (Hawkins), who is Caucasian, has English and German ancestry, and is a retired psychiatric nurse. Halle has an older sister named Heidi Berry. Halle first came into the spotlight at seventeen years 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 U.S.A. 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 Fiebre salvaje (1991) because the role provided her big screen breakthrough. The following year, she was cast as Eddie Murphy's love interest in Boomerang (El príncipe de las mujeres)(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 Los Picapiedra (1994). She next had a highly publicized costarring role with Jessica Lange in the adoption drama Instinto maternal (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 Dorothy Dandridge (1999), 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. - IMDb Mini Biography By: TrendEkiD@aol.com
Spouse
Olivier Martinez (13 July 2013 - present) (1 child)
Eric Benét (24 January 2001 - 3 January 2005) (divorced)
David Justice (1 January 1993 - 24 June 1997) (divorced)
Trade Mark
Short spikey pixie hairstyle
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 and Jerome Jesse Berry, divorced when she was 4 years old. She was then raised by her mother. When researching for her role of Dorothy Dandridge, she discovered that she and Dorothy were both born in the same Cleveland, Ohio hospital.
Named one of People magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People in the World (1998).
Miss USA; first runner-up to Christy Fichtner who was on the first season of Who Wants to Marry My Dad? (2003) (1986).
Miss Teen All American (1985) and Miss Ohio USA (1986).
Attended Cuyahoga Community College in Cleveland, Ohio.
Turned down the role of Annie Porter in Speed - Máxima potencia (1994), which went to Sandra Bullock.
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.
Lost some hearing in one of her ears due to a physical encounter with a boyfriend in the early 1990s.
Attended Heskett Middle School in Bedford Heights, Ohio.
Is the first African-American actress to win the Academy Award for Best Actress.
Older sister Heidi Berry (born 1964) is estranged from Halle.
(April 10, 2002) She received an injury on the set of Muere otro día (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.
Has portrayed Dorothy Dandridge in the television film Dorothy Dandridge (1999). 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.
Named one of People magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People in the World (2002).
Attended and graduated from Bedford High School in Bedford, Ohio.
Is the first black American in the Miss World Competition. She did not win a prize but her dress did.
Is the second "Bond girl" to win an Academy Award. The first was Kim Basinger.
Her dress for the 2002 Oscars ceremony was voted the most popular from the first 75 years.
Ranked #96 in Premiere magazine's 2003 annual Power 100 List.
Named one of People magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People in the World (2003).
Voted the 10th Sexiest Female Movie Star in the Australian Empire Magazine. [September 2002]
Has starred in six movies with Hugh Jackman: X-Men (2000), Operación Swordfish (2001) X-Men 2 (2003), X-Men. La decisión final (2006), Movie 43 (2013) and X-Men: Días del futuro pasado (2014).
Broke her arm on the set of Gothika (2003), filming in Montreal. [May 2003]
Was a Bearcats cheerleader at Bedford High School.
Became engaged to singer Eric Benét on August 14, 1999. Benet has a daughter, India (born 1991).
Halle's father was African-American. Halle's mother, who is Caucasian, has Dutch, English, German, and remote Irish ancestry. Halle's maternal grandfather was American-born, and Halle's maternal grandmother was English, born in Sawley, Derbyshire.
Is 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 X-Men 2 (2003), and Catwoman for DC Comics' Catwoman (2004).
Is currently the highest paid black actress in Hollywood (2004).
Named one of People magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People in the World (2004). She has now appeared on this list eight times, tying with Julia Roberts for the most appearances.
Ranked #7 in FHM magazine's "100 Sexiest Women in the World 2004" supplement.
Has played a character called Sharon Stone in Los Picapiedra (1994). Ten years later, she appeared with the real Sharon Stone in Catwoman (2004).
Wisely turned down the female lead in box office disaster Una relación peligrosa (2003), which birthed the relationship of Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez.
Smashed her head into set lights on the set of Catwoman (2004). She was not 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 Decisión crítica (1996) - a role 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 Muere otro día (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 Panorama para matar(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.".
Is 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.
Named one of People magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People in the World (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.
Ranked #41 on Maxim magazine's Hot 100 Women 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.
Ranked #5 in FHM magazine's "100 Sexiest Women in the World 2005" supplement.
Ranked #7 on Maxim magazine's Hot 100 Women of 2002 list.
Is the first actress to star in a "Bond-film" following an Academy Award win.
Ranked #6 in FHM magazine's "100 Sexiest Women in the World 2006" supplement.
Well known for "living" her roles, she refused to bathe for two weeks in preparation for a role as a crack addict in Fiebre salvaje (1991).
Received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6801 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on April 3, 2007.
Is one of 7 African-American actresses to win an Oscar in a competitive category. In chronological order the others are: Hattie McDaniel for Lo que el viento se llevó (1939), Whoopi Goldberg for Ghost (Más allá del amor) (1990), Jennifer Hudson for Dreamgirls(2006), Mo'Nique for Precious (2009), Octavia Spencer for Criadas y señoras (2011) and Lupita Nyong'o for 12 Years a Slave (2013).
Is an active participant with the Jenesee Center (for abused women and children) in Los Angeles.
Ranked #55 on Maxim magazine's Hot 100 Women of 2007 list.
Saved from choking on a fig by Pierce Brosnan during shooting of the love scene on Cuba for Muere otro día (2002).
Is one of 10 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, Gabourey Sidibe, Viola Davis and Quvenzhané Wallis.
Studies acting under Ivana Chubbuck.
Lives in Los Angeles and Malibu, California.
Early in her career, she auditioned for the role of Tina Turner in Tina (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.
Has a half-sister, Renee Berry (born 1959), from her father Jerome Berry's marriage to Edwina Taylor.
Favorite and least favorite words as respectively revealed to host James Lipton on Inside the Actors Studio: Halle Berry (2007) are "Chutzpah" and "Nigger".
When she "won" the Razzie® Award as Worst Actress of 2004 for Catwoman, Berry became the first Oscar winner ever to attend and accept her Razzie Award in person.
Was in a relationship with Michael Ealy (July 2004-October 2005).
Stated that it was her role as a mother in Cosas que perdimos en el fuego (2007) that led her to make the decision to become a mother herself.
Returned to work 8 months after giving birth to her daughter Nahla in order to begin filming Frankie & Alice (2010).
(September 21, 2011) Broke her foot after tripping over a rock whilst chasing her daughter Nahla on a day off from filming El atlas de las nubes (2012) in Majorca, Spain.
Wanted to play the lead roles in El silencio de los corderos (1991) and Una proposición indecente (1993), but was not even allowed to audition for either role.
Canceled her appearance on the Oscars on February 26, 2012, due to her broken foot.
Lived in Saint-Hypolite (north of Montreal, Quebec, Canada) from October 2008 until April 2010.
Lived in Cape Town, South Africa with her daughter Nahla and ex-boyfriend Gabriel Aubry whilst filming Marea letal (2012) (July-September 2010).
Was in a relationship with Gabriel Aubry from 2005 to 2010. They have a daughter together.
Gave birth to her 1st child at age 41, a daughter Nahla Ariela Aubry on March 16, 2008. Child's father is her now ex-boyfriend, Gabriel Aubry.
(July 13, 2013) Married for the 3rd time her boyfriend of 2 years Olivier Martinezfollowing a 17-month-long engagement.
Gave birth to her 2nd child at age 47, a son Maceo Robert Martinez on October 5, 2013. Child's father is her 3rd husband, Olivier Martinez.
Was 4 months pregnant with her son Maceo when she completed filming X-Men: Días del futuro pasado (2014).
Appeared in a PSA for the "Children's Diabetes Foundation" (2009).
Met French husband-to-be Olivier Martinez on the set of Marea letal (2012).
Returned to work 3 months after giving birth to her son Maceo to begin filming Extant(2014).
Was the 121st actress to receive an Academy Award; she won the Best Actress Oscar for Monster's Ball (2001) at The 74th Annual Academy Awards (2002) on March 24, 2002.
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.
During her Oscar acceptance speech: 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.
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.
Humor is always part of the best hours in life.
When you have children, you get to see things all over again. So I've never laughed as hard, I've never done more silly things. And I go to great lengths to make my daughter laugh.
[on the difference between wants and needs] I don't think nudity is ever necessary.
[on her evolving style and archiving her clothes] My style has evolved in a nice way, but everyone has bad moments. Someone just showed me a photo from the '80s in which I was wearing a polka-dot and flower-print suit with puffy sleeves. At the time I thought I was stylin'! But no.
[on what she's learned through the growth of her career and aging] Throughout my career I have been talked out of things I wanted to do, and when I look back I think, I should have followed my instincts. I relied on others to guide me because I thought they knew better. But as I've gotten older, I've learned to trust myself.
[on having short hair] I think I am at my best when my hair is short. It's easier to take care of and more of who I am. Women are conditioned to think we need long hair. I see that happening with my daughter. She is so in love with her hair right now. She says, "Look, Mommy - it's so long!". As women, we think it defines us, and we learn that at a young age.
[on her fashion advice for anyone] Don't be a slave to trends. People who are never develop their own style. I have friends who are tragic - always trying to wear the latest thing, and it doesn't always look good on them. I mean, that may be good on Kate Moss on the runway, but honey, you can't pull it off.
I'm a hopeless romantic - and I won't stop until I get it right!
I'm embracing the fact that with each new year comes a new line on my face, and that just makes me more of who I'm evolving into.
Salary
Executive Decision (1996) $1.000.000
Swordfish (2001) $2.500.000
Monster's Ball (2001) $600.000
Die Another Day (2002) $4.000.000
Gothika (2003) $6.000.000
Catwoman (2004) $14.000.000
Perfect Stranger (2007) $10.000.000 ...............................................................................................
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