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Halle Berry was born on August 14th, 1966 in Cleveland, Ohio. She is the youngest daughter of Jerome and Judith Berry.

Halle’s father abandoned the family in the early ’70s, following that Judith moved her family to a Cleveland suburb of Bedford.

Halle attended a nearly all-white public school and faced discrimination and racism at an early age. In high school, Halle Berry was super involved. She was her school’s newspaper editor, class president, and head cheerleader!

In the early ’80s, Halle Berry earned the titles of Miss Teen Ohio and Miss Teen America. In 1985, she was first runner-up at the 1985, Miss U.S.A. competition.

For a while, Berry attended Cleveland’s Cuyahoga Community College and studied broadcast journalism. She left before receiving her degree. Berry wanted to pursue a career in entertainment and decided to move to Chicago and then New York City. In New York City, she found work as a catalog model.

In the early ’90s, the aspiring actress started a career and it all began with the short-lived sitcom, Living Dolls. She also had a role in Knot’s Landing. Berry’s first big break came when she was cast as Samuel L. Jackson’s drug-addicted girlfriend in the film, Jungle Fever.

Following that, she starred in The Last Boy Scout with Bruce Willis and in the romantic comedy, Boomerang with Eddie Murphy.

Who could forget Halle Berry’s role in the live-action version of The Flintstones in 1994? In 1995 she starred in Losing Isaiah, a crack addict who hopes to gain custody of her son.

Later that same year, she became the first African American to play the Queen of Sheba in Showtime’s movie, Soloman & Sheba. Berry’s first leading role in a feature were in the 1996 crime thriller films, The Rich Man’s Wife and Executive Decision.

In 1999, Berry co-produced and starred in Introducing Dorothy Dandridge, an HBO biopic. She went on to win a Golden Globe Award and Emmy Award for Best Actress in a Television Movie for the role.

Berry starred in the blockbuster hit, X-Men in 2000 as Storm and partnered with Anna Paquin and Patrick Stewart in the new project.

Berry portrayed the wife of a death row prison (portrayed by Diddy) and becomes romantically involved with a racist guard (Billy Bob Thorton).

Her role in the film got her a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Drama and an Academy Award for Best Actress.

She was honored with the award for Best Actress and became the first African American Woman to win the Oscar!

“Beauty is not just physical.” – Halle Berry

 

All information obtained on Biography