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Halle Berry was born on August 14,
1968 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
would eventually lead to her first weekly TV series, 1989's Living Dolls,
where she soon gained a reputation for her onset tenacity, preferring to
"live" her roles and remaining in character even when the
cameras stopped rolling. It paid off in 1991 when on the set of the movie
Jungle Fever Halle reportedly refused to bathe for several days to prepare
for her role as a crack addict. This role became her big screen
breakthrough.
The following year, she was cast as Eddie Murphy’s love interest in
Boomerang, 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 The Flintstone’s. She next had a highly
publicized costarring role with Jessica Lange in the adoption drama Losing
Isaiah. Though the movie received mixed reviews, Halle 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 struggling politician, Warren Beatty, in Bulworth. The
following year she won even greater acclaim for her role as actress
Dorothy Dandridge in made-for-cable's Introducing Dorothy Dandridge 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, in which she played
Storm, a mutant who has the ability to control the weather. Halle next
played John Travolta’s sexy sidekick, Ginger Knowles, in Swordfish, the
movie was a considered a flop, but Halle’s role was much talked about.
In the same year Halle played Leticia Musgrove in the drama Monster’s
Ball. For her portrayal of the struggling mother, Halle won the Best
Actress award at the 2002 Academy Awards. She was the first African
American woman to ever win that award.
In 2002 Halle played sexy bond-girl Jinx in the latest James Bond film Die
Another Day. In the summer of 2003 she reprised her role as Storm in X-Men
2. The sequel was a surprising critical and box-office success, ensuring a
third movie in the series. Later this year she will star in Gothika with
Penelope Cruz and Robert Downey Jr.
Halle Berry Partners
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