BORN
Halle Maria Berry on the 14th of August 1968 in Cleveland, Ohio.
FAMILY
Halle is the younger daughter of Jerome and Judith Berry, who were both in the medical industry (her father was a hospital attendant, and her mother was a psychiatric nurse). Halle’s parents divorced when she was four years old, so her mother raised both her and her older sister Heidi.
ON LOVE
Halle has been married to singer Eric Benet since 2001, however they have recently separated citing marital problems. Eric has a daughter named India from a previous marriage, making Halle her stepmother. She was also previously married to baseball player David Justice from 1993 to 1997.
FIRST FILM
Starting as a beauty queen, Halle competed in competitions such as Miss Teen All-American Pageant (which she won in 1985), Miss USA Pageant (in which she was the first runner up in 1986) and the Miss World Pageant, Halle landed her first role as far from her beauty queen background as imaginable: a crack addict in the Spike Lee film Jungle Fever in 1991.
CAREER
Halle featured in a number of films in the 90’s, such as Last Boy Scout, Boomerang, The Flintstones, Executive Decision, Race The Sun, and Bulworth – however it wasn’t until X-men in 2000 that she received commercial and critical success as Storm (a role she later reprised in the sequel X2, released in 2003). Halle went on to star in the blockbuster Swordfish with John Travolta and Hugh Jackman, after which she featured in the art house film Monster’s Ball – a very wise move on Halle’s part, as she went on to win an Oscar (many will remember her teary and emotional acceptance speech). Halle also made a splash as Bond girl Jinx in 2002’s Die Another Day, which is being considered for its own spin off movie named after her character. Her most recent film is the thriller Gothika, which is released in the UK in April this year.
FUTURE
Halle is currently filming Catwoman (a film based on the DC comic, which was originally a spin off from Batman). She plays the title role, following the footsteps (or should that be paw prints?) of Michelle Pfeiffer in Batman Returns.
FAVOURITES
Her favorite food is grilled tuna and garlic mashed potatoes, Christmas is her favorite holiday, and her favorite place to travel to is Paris.
BET YOU DIDN’T KNOW
She was named after department store Halle Brothers!
Halle turned down the lead female role in Speed (which then went to Sandra Bullock)
QUOTE
"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.