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Quick Facts
- NAME: Halle Berry
- OCCUPATION: Film Actress
- BIRTH DATE: August 14, 1966 (Age: 46)
- EDUCATION: Bedford High School, Cuyahoga Community College
- PLACE OF BIRTH: Cleveland, Ohio
- Full Name: Halle Maria Berry
- AKA: Halle Berry
- ZODIAC SIGN: Leo
Best Known For
Halle Berry is an American actress, former fashion model and former beauty queen. One of the highest-paid actresses in Hollywood, she is also a Revlon spokeswoman.
Videos see all videos
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Halle Berry - Oscar Win (1:33)
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Halle Berry - Beauty (1:00)
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Halle Berry - Full Episode (45:16)
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Halle Berry - Oscar Win
When Halle Berry started out as an actress, Hollywood was a very different place. Her career and her historic Oscar win for Best Actress have helped to change the landscape for African-American actresses.
Halle Berry - Beauty
Even though Halle Berry is one of Hollywood's leading ladies, that she has also set a new standard of beauty as the face of Revlon for over a decade.
Halle Berry - Full Episode
Halle Berry survived two divorces, a controversial hit and run charge, and a Razzie award for "Catwoman" to become the first African-American to win the Oscar for Best Actress.
Oprah Winfrey - Mini Biography
Watch a short biography of Oprah Winfrey who hit the national spotlight with her talk show, "The Oprah Winfrey Show."
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Play NowHalle Berry. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 05:07, May 25, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/halle-berry-9542339.
Halle Berry. [Internet]. 2013. The Biography Channel website. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/halle-berry-9542339 [Accessed 25 May 2013].
"Halle Berry." 2013. The Biography Channel website. May 25 2013, 05:07 http://www.biography.com/people/halle-berry-9542339.
"Halle Berry," The Biography Channel website, 2013, http://www.biography.com/people/halle-berry-9542339 [accessed May 25, 2013].
"Halle Berry," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/halle-berry-9542339 (accessed May 25, 2013).
Halle Berry [Internet]. The Biography Channel website; 2013 [cited 2013 May 25] Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/halle-berry-9542339.
Halle Berry, http://www.biography.com/people/halle-berry-9542339 (last visited May 25, 2013).
Halle Berry. The Biography Channel website. 2013. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/halle-berry-9542339. Accessed May 25, 2013.
Later that year, Berry overcame Hollywood's racial barriers when she was cast as the first African-American to play the Queen of Sheeba in Showtime's movie Solomon & Sheeba.
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 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.
Oscar Winner
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 and the Academy Award for Leading Actress. In her emotional acceptance speech, Berry acknowledged the honor of becoming the first African-American actress to win the Oscar for her lead role by thanking all the performers who came before her.
Hollywood Star
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.
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African-American Biopics
View groupWho can forget Angela Bassett as Tina Turner or Jamie Foxx as Ray Charles? Do you remember who played Billie Holiday? Or who Beyoncé performed as in the film Cadillac Records? More recent African-American biopics include the Lifetime original movie Betty & Coretta (2013), starring Angela Bassett as Coretta Scott King and Mary J. Blige as Betty Shabazz, and The Butler (2013), starring Forest Whitaker and based on the life of Eugene Allen.
View our photos of African-American biopics to compare these famous figures to the actors and actresses who have portrayed them.
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Onscreen Superheroes
View groupThe world craves the idea of unattainable perfection, and the superhero—an aspirational figure who is stronger, faster and smarter than the average human—is the epitome of human perfection. For more than two centuries, philosophers, comic book artists, writers and academics have debated the role of the superhero, from how they should interact with society to what they should wear when they're saving the world. And now, with the rash of superhero films in Hollywood, the debate becomes who should portray these larger-than-life characters on the big screen. Here are the actors and actresses who have been chosen to represent the mighty superhero. Whether it's running faster than the speed of light or stopping a speeding train with one hand, these performers are renowned for bringing the vision of the superhero to reality.
Onscreen Superheroes 36 people in this group
