A woman whose combination of talent, tenacity, and beauty has made her one of Hollywood's busiest actors, Halle Berry has enjoyed a level of success that has come from years of hard work and her share of career pitfalls.
Halle berry appeared as an actress and model on Bob Hope's USO Tour; television appearances include "Living Dolls," ABC, "Knots Landing," CBS, "Queen," CBS TV miniseries, "Solomon and Sheba," made for cable television movie, "Oprah Winfrey Presents: The Wedding," ABC, "Introducing Dorothy Dandridge," HBO, "Oprah Winfrey Presents: Their Eyes Were Watching God," ABC; motion picture appearances include Jungle Fever, Strictly Business, and The Last Boy Scout, all 1991, Boomerang, 1992, Father Hood, 1993, The Program, The Flintstones in 1994, Losing Isaiah, 1995, Executive Decision, Rich Man's Wife in 1996, B.A.P.S., 1997, Bulworth, Why Do Fools Fall In Love? in 1998, X-Men, 2000, Swordfish, Monster's Ball in 2001, Die Another Day, 2002, X2, Gothika in 2003, Catwoman, 2004, Robots (voice), 2005; has competed in beauty pageants. Volunteer, Juvenile Diabetes Association.
Berry's interest in show business came courtesy of her participation in a number of beauty pageants throughout her teens, including the 1986 Miss U.S.A. Pageant. A native of Cleveland, OH, where she was born to an African-American father and white mother on August 14, 1968, Berry was raised by her mother, a psychiatric nurse, following her parents' divorce. At the age of 17, she appeared in the spotlight for the first time as the winner of the Miss Teen All-American Pageant, and subsequently became a model. Berry won her first professional acting gig on the TV series Living Dolls, and then appeared on Knots Landing before winning her first big-screen role in Spike Lee's Jungle Fever. It was on the set of the film that she first earned her reputation for her full commitment to acting, reportedly refusing to bathe for weeks in preparation for her portrayal of a crack addict.
Following her film debut, Berry was cast opposite Eddie Murphy in Boomerang (1992) as the comedian's love interest; not only did she hold her own against Murphy, but the same year she did acclaimed work in the title role of the Alex Haley miniseries Queen, playing a young woman struggling against the brutal conditions of slavery.
After a comedic turn as sultry secretary Sharon Stone in the 1994 live-action version of The Flintstones, Berry returned to more serious fare with her role in the adoption drama Losing Isaiah (1995). Starring opposite Jessica Lange as a former crack addict battling to win custody of her child, who as a baby was adopted by an affluent white couple, Berry earned a mixed reception from critics, some of whom noted that her scenes with Lange highlighted Berry's own shortcomings.
However, critical opinion of the actress' work was overwhelmingly favorable in 1998, when she starred as a street smart young woman who comes to the aid of a bumbling politician in Warren Beatty's Bullworth. The following year, Berry won even greater acclaim -- and an Emmy and Golden Globe -- for her turn as tragic screen siren Dorothy Dandridge in the made-for-cable Introducing Dorothy Dandridge. Unfortunately, any acclaim Berry enjoyed was overshadowed by her widely publicized brush with the law in February of 2000, when she allegedly ran a red light, slammed into another car, and then left the scene of the accident. The actress, who suffered a gash to her forehead (the driver of the other car sustained a broken wrist), was booked in a misdemeanor court in early April of that year.
Fortunately for Berry, her subsequent onscreen work removed the spotlight from her legal troubles; that same year, she starred as Storm in Bryan Singer's hugely successful adaptation of The X-Men. Working alongside a cast that included Ian McKellen, Hugh Jackman, Famke Janssen, and Anna Paquin, Berry was hailed for her work as the first African-American comic book heroine on the screen. Acclaim was not quite as forthcoming for her work opposite John Travolta in Dominic Sena's cheesy thriller Swordfish, which touted itself as the first movie to feature Berry baring her breasts. Unfortunately, it didn't allow for equal exploitation of the talents that Berry possessed above her collarbone.
Berry again bared more than her character's inner turmoil in Monster's Ball (2001), a romantic drama directed by Marc Forster that starred the actress as a woman who becomes involved with a racist ex-prison-guard (Billy Bob Thornton) who oversaw the prison execution of her husband (Sean Combs). Berry earned wide critical praise for her work in the film, as well as Golden Globe and Oscar nominations for Best Actress. And though she may have lost out to Sissy Spacek in the Golden Globes, her night at the Oscars found Berry the favored performer as took home a statue for Best Actress. A momentous footnote in Academy Award history, Berry's win marked the first time an African American had been bestowed that particular honor.
Although her turn in the James Bond flick Die Another Day was so successful that talk began of a spin-off film, Berry's first true post-Oscar vehicle Gothika proved to be unpopular with both critics and moviegoers. Luckily, 2003 wasn't a total loss for her though as X2: X-Men United was a box-office smash and was regarded by many to be superior to its predecessor. Sticking with comic-books as source-material, Berry could be seen in Catwoman the following Summer. The film was the biggest flop of her career, panned by audiences and critics, and earning the actress a coveted Razzie for her terrible performance. She won back a great deal of respect, however, by starring in the made for TV adaptation of the Zora Neale Hurston novel Their Eyes Were Watching God the next year. She followed this moving performance with a return to her X-Men comrades for X-Men: The Last Stand in 2006, then signed on to star alongside a decidedly creepy Bruce Willis in the suspense thriller Perfect Stranger (2007), directed by James Foley. In that film, she portrayed a hard-nosed reporter prone to catching and indicting sleazebags, who becomes unduly implicated with a pathological corporate big wig responsible for murdering his wife (Willis). The film netted mostly negative reviews (one prominent critic branded it as yet another ill-advised choice for Berry), but such comments seemed myopic and ham-handed in retrospect; whatever the strengths and weaknesses of the film per se, the Stranger part in fact represented one of three extremely ambitious assignments in a powerhouse year for Berry that demanded the utmost of the actress's dramatic abilities: the others included the uplifting psychological drama Things We Lost in the Fire (2007) - as an emotionally shattered housewife, reeling from the tragic violent death of her husband, who finds unlikely solace in a friendship with a recovering heroin addict (Benicio del Toro); and Class Act (2007), as a real-life middle school teacher who runs for Congress at the behest of her students and captures a whopping 35% of the popular vote. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, Rovi
Berry received an Emmy, Golden Globe, SAG, and an NAACP Image Award for Introducing Dorothy Dandridgeand won an Academy Award for Best Actress and was also nominated for a BAFTA Award in 2001 for her performance in Monster's Ball, becoming the first and, as of 2011, only woman of African American descent to have won the award for Best Actress. She is one of the most highly paid actresses in Hollywood and also a Revlon spokeswoman. She has also been involved in the production side of several of her films.
Before becoming an actress, Berry entered several beauty contests, finishing as the 1st runner-up in the Miss USA Pageant (1986), and coming in 6th place in the Miss World Pageant in 1986.[2] Her breakthrough feature film role was in the 1991 Jungle Fever. This led to roles in The Flintstones (1994), Bulworth (1998), X-Men (2000) and its sequels, and as Bond Girl Jinx in Die Another Day (2002). She also won the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress in 2005 for Catwoman and accepted the award in person.
In 1986 Berry enrolled at Cuyahoga Community College in Cleveland to study broadcast journalism. When she took an internship at a local radio station, Berry discovered she disliked reporting. She left college before completing her degree to pursue modeling and study acting in Chicago. Her mother encouraged the career transition, Berry divulged to Chua: "When I left home to start acting, [my mother's] attitude was, 'Keep your chin up, go do it; but if you fail, home is always here.'"
While in Chicago, Berry auditioned for a role in producer Aaron Spelling's television pilot Charlie's Angels '88. Although the show did not materialize, Spelling was impressed with Berry's screen test. He encouraged her not to give up acting. Two big breaks in the young actress's career came with a three-week USO tour with Bob Hope and a starring role as a teenage fashion model in the short-lived television series Living Dolls. Berry remarked in Ebony, "Here I was an ex-model, a former beauty queen and when Living Dolls was canceled, I was playing a model. People weren't taking me seriously."
Hoping audiences would view her differently, Berry prepared for her next role as a crack addict named Vivien in Jungle Fever by interviewing several crack addicts and going ten days without a bath. Although her role brought her acclaim, Berry took a recurring part in the television series Knots Landing for financial purposes. "I'm a real miser," the actress told Werner. "I want a cushion," she added.
After Berry's 1991 appearance as a femme fatale in the motion picture Strictly Business, Peter Biskind wrote in Premiere, "Berry may still be playing somebody's girlfriend, but clearly her star is ascending." The actress almost lost the leading role of Natalie in the comedy. She recalled to Chua, "I found out that they hired me, thought I was too light-skinned, hired someone darker, realized that was a mistake, and then hired me again. And I understood that I had gone through all of this agony for two weeks just because of my skin color."
Although critics were divided in their reviews of the film, Berry's portrayal marked a turning point in her career. Her appearance in leading roles was assured with her selection as Damon Wayans' exotic dancer girlfriend in the movie The Last Boy Scout. Vincent Canby of the New York Times wrote, "The best thing in the film is Halle Berry. She is an actress who is going places." Berry researched her role in the movie by paying the owner of a Hollywood strip joint to let her dance. After the film's success, Berry commented to Biskind, "I don't want to rise to superstardom overnight, like Julia Roberts. There's no place to go but down."
"Though she is an imposing beauty ... Berry's radiant looks belie the strengths that have made her a young actress worth watching," wrote Chua in 1992, after the release of the comedy Boomerang. Judy Gerstel of the Detroit Free Press lauded Berry in the film as "versatile," noting that her role as Angela was "played to doe-eyed perfection." The year Boomerang was released, Ebony profiled the young actress as an image breaker: "A down-to-earth, drop-dead gorgeous woman, Berry exudes confidence, having already shattered the Hollywood adage that models can't act."
"I don't want to be just a sex goddess," film and television actress Halle Berry divulged to Lawrence Chua in Elle, "but then I don't want to play just crackheads either." Notable whether playing ingénues or junkies, she has performed roles in films as diverse as Boomerang, which starred Eddie Murphy, and filmmaker Spike Lee's controversial Jungle Fever. A former model and first runner-up in the Miss USA pageant, Berry, who also appeared on television as Debbie Porter on Knots Landing, postulates that planning helped her leap to leading lady status in the film industry. The actress told Chua, "Preparation, luck and opportunity seemed to come together at the same time."
Throughout her acting career, Berry has sought roles that were diverse. She went from a hip-hop dancer in Strictly Business to a college co-ed in The Program to playing a recovering drug addict fighting for her son in Losing Isaiah--she won raves for this portrayal. She is also known to play characters of the past. She portrayed Alex Haley's paternal grandmother in "Queen," a television miniseries. She took a turn as a pre-historic secretary in the live-action film, The Flintstones, and she played Sheba in "Solomon and Sheba," a made for cable television movie. This also marked the first time an African American has portrayed Sheba, who was an Ethiopian. In one year alone, Berry portrayed the love interest of Warren Beatty in Bulworth, then a young woman trying to choose between two men while dealing with her past in "The Wedding," produced by Oprah Winfrey, and Why Do Fools Fall In Love?, a movie based on singer Frankie Lymon's life, where she played Zola Taylor, a member of the singing group The Platters and one of Lymon's wives.
In addition to becoming one of Hollywood's best known African American actresses, Berry returned to modeling when she signed with Revlon Cosmetics. She also signed on for many more movie appearances. Berry was a huge hit in the 1999 HBO biopic Introducing Dorothy Dandridge. The film told the life story of Dandridge, a promising young nightclub singer-turned-actress who faced racial prejudice during the 1950s as she tried to become a star. Dandridge was the first black sex symbol of the big screen and the first black actress to receive an Academy Award nomination, though she never achieved star status because of her skin color. Berry, herself, was eager to play the role and counts Dandridge among her idols. As Berry told Jet, "I was mesmerized by her poise and her charisma. I had never seen a Black woman quite like that in a film. She was someone I could admire and aspire to be like. She gave me hope."
Playing Dandridge pushed Berry to new heights as an actress and she impressed director Martha Coolidge, who told Jet, "There couldn't be a better person ? to portray Dorothy Dandridge. She is beautiful in the same way. She also has an incredible sensitivity. She is absolutely driven in the same way and, even today, feels the same outrage at limitations placed on her that Dorothy felt in her day." Berry won several awards for her role, including a Golden Globe for best performance by an actress in a miniseries or made-for-TV motion picture.
Berry was just getting stared. In 2001 she blew audiences away in Monster's Ball, portraying Leticia Musgrove, a black woman who becomes involved with her husband's white prison guard executioner. Renowned movie critic Roger Ebert proclaimed the movie to be the best of the year. Sure enough, Berry won an Academy Award for best actress in a leading role, becoming the first African American to win in that category.
Berry also tried her hand at sci-fi fantasy, starring in X-Men in 2000 and X2 in 2003, proving herself to be a successful action heroine who could draw people into the box office. X-Men had a colossal opening, drawing $54 million its first weekend, which was the largest-ever opening for a non-sequel film. Berry failed, however, in trying to bring the comic-book heroine Catwoman to life in 2004. This flick garnered horrible reviews, especially for Berry. Critics lambasted her performance, saying she never should have taken the role, which was more suited for a person with a dancing background who could pull off the feline moves. Berry's performance was so bad it earned her a Razzie Award for worst actress. Putting the failure behind her, Berry turned to filming X-Men 3, due in 2006, and looked forward to the future. Despite the shortcomings of some of her films, Berry, unlike Dandridge, has successfully fought Hollywood's racism and risen above her circumstances. She has proven to herself--and others--that she is a fighter and will continue to do so.
International success
As Bond girl Giacinta 'Jinx' Johnson in the 2002 blockbuster Die Another Day, Berry recreated a scene from Dr. No, emerging from the surf to be greeted by James Bond as Ursula Andress had 40 years earlier. Lindy Hemming, costume designer on "Die Another Day", had insisted that Berry wear a bikini and knife as an homage. Berry has said of the scene: "It's splashy", "exciting", "sexy", "provocative" and "it will keep me still out there after winning an Oscar." The bikini scene was shot in Cadiz; the location was reportedly cold and windy, and footage has been released of Berry wrapped in thick towels in between takes to avoid catching a chill. According to a ITV news poll, Jinx was voted the fourth toughest girl on screen of all time. Berry was hurt during filming when debris from a smoke grenade flew into her eye. It was removed in a 30-minute operation.
After Berry won the Academy Award, rewrites were commissioned to give her more screentime for X2. Berry stated during interviews for X2 that she would not return as Storm unless the character had a significant presence comparable to the comic-book version.
In November 2003, she starred in the psychological thriller Gothika opposite Robert Downey Jr., during which she broke her arm. Downey was supposed to grab her arm and twist but twisted too hard. Production was halted for eight weeks.[39] It was a moderate hit at the United States box office, taking in $60 million; it earned another $80 million abroad. Berry appeared in the Limp Bizkit music video for "Behind Blue Eyes" for the motion picture soundtrack for the film. The same year, she was named #1 in FHM's 100 Sexiest Women in the World poll.[41] In 2004, Berry was voted fourth of Empire magazine's 100 sexiest film stars of all time poll.
Berry received $12.5 million for the title role in the film Catwoman, a $100 million movie; it grossed $17 million on its first weekend. She was awarded a "worst actress" Razzie award in 2005 for this role. She appeared at the ceremony to accept the award in person (making her the third person, and second actor, to ever do so) with a sense of humor, considering it an experience of the "rock bottom" in order to be "at the top". Holding the Academy Award in one hand and the Razzie in the other she said, "I never in my life thought that I would be here, winning a Razzie. It's not like I ever aspired to be here, but thank you. When I was a kid, my mother told me that if you could not be a good loser, then there's no way you could be a good winner." The Fund for Animals praised Berry's compassion towards cats and for squelching rumors that she was keeping a Bengal tiger from the sets of Catwoman as a "pet."
Berry next appeared in the Oprah Winfrey-produced ABC TV movie Their Eyes Were Watching God (2005), an adaptation of Zora Neale Hurston's novel, in which Berry portrayed Janie Crawford, a free-spirited woman whose unconventional sexual mores upset her 1920s contemporaries in a small community. She was nominated for an Emmy for this TV film. Meanwhile, she voiced the character of Cappy, one of the many mechanical beings in the animated feature Robots (2005).
Upper body shot of Berry in long sleeved red jersey and jeans with midriff slightly exposed. A crowd in is the background.
Berry on the red carpet of Robots
In 2006, Berry, Pierce Brosnan, Cindy Crawford, Jane Seymour, Dick Van Dyke, Tea Leoni, and Daryl Hannah successfully fought the Cabrillo Port Liquefied Natural Gas facility that was proposed off the coast of Malibu. Berry said "I care about the air we breathe, I care about the marine life and the ecosystem of the ocean."[48] In May 2007, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed the facility. Hasty Pudding Theatricals gave her its 2006 Woman of The Year award.
Berry is involved in production of films and television. She served as executive producer on Introducing Dorothy Dandridge in 1999, and Lackawanna Blues in 2005. Berry both produced and starred in the thriller Perfect Stranger with Bruce Willis and in Things We Lost in the Fire with Benicio del Toro. Berry then starred in the film Frankie and Alice in which she plays Frankie Murdoch who is a young multiracial American women with dissociative identity disorder struggling to retain her true self and not give into her racial alter personality. She was awarded the African-American Film Critics Association for best actress and also was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama.
Berry is one of the highest-paid actresses in Hollywood, earning $10 million per film.[3] In July 2007, she topped In Touch magazine's list of the world's most fabulous 40-something celebrities. On April 3, 2007, she was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in front of the Kodak Theatre at 6801 Hollywood Boulevard for her contributions to the film industry.
Berry has served for many years as the face of Revlon cosmetics and also as the face of Versace. The Coty Inc. fragrance company signed Berry to market her debut fragrance in March 2008. Berry was delighted, saying that she had created her own fragrances at home by mixing scents.
Domestic partnership and custody dispute
In November 2005, Berry began dating French-Canadian supermodel Gabriel Aubry, nine years her junior. The couple met at a Versace photoshoot. After six months with Aubry, she stated in an interview, "I'm really happy in my personal life, which is a novelty to me. You know, I'm not the girl that has the best relationships."
At one point, Berry had indicated that she planned to adopt children, but her experience playing a mother in Things We Lost In The Fire opened her mind to the possibility of motherhood. After initially denying rumors, she confirmed in September 2007 that she was three months pregnant. Berry gave birth to a girl named Nahla Ariela Aubry on March 16, 2008, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. Nahla means "honeybee" in Arabic; Ariela is Hebrew for "lion for God". Berry hired security guards after receiving racist threats to her unborn baby from a stalker, who said her child will be "cut into hundreds of pieces".
At one time, Berry indicated that she did not intend to marry again, insisting the couple's life was already complete without the need for a marriage. She stated that she hoped to have a second child right away. Aubry told In Touch magazine, "I'd like Nahla to have a sibling in 2009."
On April 30, 2010, it was reported that Berry and Aubry had separated. Several days later, Berry's representative confirmed the relationship had ended, saying, "They have been split for some time, but remain friends and committed parents to their daughter." They worked out a financial and 50/50 custody deal with a family lawyer, but TMZ reported that it was not final. Aubry filed documents with the Los Angeles Superior Court on December 30, 2010, asking the court to formally recognize his paternity and grant a court order giving him and Berry joint legal and physical custody over their daughter. On January 31, 2011, Berry's representative told People that Berry had pulled out of the film New Year's Eve to make time for custody litigation because the actress "has serious concerns for her daughter's well-being while in the care of her father for any extended period of time and is prepared to take all necessary steps to protect her". The publicist claimed that Berry "has attempted to resolve these custody issues amicably with her daughter's father...directly, but given his lack of cooperation, Halle has no choice but to seek swift judicial intervention." The following day, Aubry responded by saying through his representative that he was "disappointed in Halle's decision to falsely malign him publicly and for her own purposes", calling himself "a caring father who shares custody of Nahla". Aubry further stated that "he refuses to be pulled into her dispute over a canceled film production" and "also refuses to air their issues in the press as he believes this may ultimately harm their daughter".
