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.