Halle Berry Biography

Halle Berry, actress

Birthdate: August 14, 1966

Birthplace: Cleveland, Ohio

Sign: Leo

Halle Berry is an actress, a Bond girl and former beauty queen. The daughter of a white woman and a black man, Berry is the only woman of African-American descent to have won an Academy Award for Best Actress.

Berry won her Oscar in 2002 for her performance in the film "Monster's Ball." During her acceptance speech she gave an "Oscar moment" and honored previous black actresses who had never had the opportunity.

A year later, Berry had another Oscar moment when she presented the Best Actor award. When she announced Adrien Brody as the winner he ran on stage and instead of giving her a light kiss he grabbed her and planted a long kiss on Berry.

Berry was born in Cleveland, Ohio on August 14, 1966. She is the daughter of a Liverpool-born Englishwoman named Judith Ann and an African-American named Jerome Jesse Berry.

Her parents divorced when she was four years old, and she was raised by her mother who was a psychiatric nurse. Berry has reported that she has been estranged from her father since she was a child.

In the 1980s, Berry entered several beauty contests. She won the 1985 Miss Teen All-American pageant and in 1986 became Miss Ohio USA. She was first runner-up in the Miss USA competition in 1986 and sixth place in Miss World that year.

In the late '80s Berry went to Chicago to pursue a modeling and acting career. Her first co-starring role was in the 1991 film "Strictly Business."

She began to step into the public spotlight that same year when she portrayed a headstrong biracial slave in the television adaptation of "Queen: The Story of an American Family," based on a book by Alex Haley.

In the 1999 HBO film "Introducing Dorothy Dandridge," Berry portrayed the first black woman to be nominated for a Best Actress Academy Award, the award she later went on to win. Her role in the HBO biopic was recognized with several awards, including an Emmy and a Golden Globe.

Berry played the mutant superhero Storm in the movie "X-Men" in 2000 and went on to star in both of its sequels.

She made history when she appeared as Leticia Musgrove, the wife of an executed murderer, in the film "Monster's Ball." In addition to the Academy Award, she also awarded the National Board of Review and the Screen Actors Guild awards.

In 2002, Berry played Bond girl Jinx in "Die Another Day" and famously recreated the scene Ursula Andress had done 40 years earlier when she burst from the surf to greet James Bond.

Berry has been the face of Revlon for many years and has topped many Sexiest and Most Beautiful lists in magazines. She is one of Hollywood's highest paid actresses.

Berry was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in April 2007 for her contributions to the film industry.

Berry has been married twice and is currently involved with French-Canadian supermodel Gabriel Aubry, who is ten years younger than her, and the two are expected a baby.

Berry's first marriage was to baseball player David Justice and her second marriage to musician Eric Benet. Berry said she does not plan on getting married again.