Name : Halle Berry
Birth Date : August 14, 1968
Birth Place : Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Height : 5' 7
Education : Bedford High School in Cleveland (until 1984)
Cuyahoga Community College in Cleveland, Ohio (majored in
Broadcast Journalism; graduated in 1986)
Husband : Eric Benet (jazz musician; born on October 15, 1970;
engaged on August 14, 1999; married on 24, January 2001;
separated on October 1, 2003; filed for
Halle Berry Detailed Biography
Born
August 14, 1968, in Cleveland, Ohio, Halle is the youngest daughter born
to Jerome and Judith Berry, an interracial couple. Halle, and her older
sister Heidi, spent the first few years of their childhood living in an
inner-city neighborhood. Her abusive father, Jerome Berry, abandoned his
wife and children, and left the family when Halle was four years old.
Halle was raised almost totally by her mother, Judith, a psychiatric
nurse. Judith then moved her family to the predominantly white Cleveland
suburb of Bedford. This rough start to her life did not deter her from
excelling in whatever she did. Halle attended a nearly all-white public
school, and as a result, she was subjected to discrimination at an early
age. Throughout high school, Halle participated in a variety of
extracurricular activities, holding positions of newspaper editor, class
president, member of the honor society, varsity cheerleader, and prom
queen.
Halle won Miss Ohio, Miss Teen All-American, and in 1986, was first
runner-up in the Miss USA pageant. She was the first African American to
represent the U.S. in the Miss World competition in London. Halle
attended Cleveland's Cuyahoga Community College, where she studied
broadcast journalism. Halle abandoned her idea of a career in news
reporting however, choosing to wholeheartedly devote her time to a
career in entertainment. She first moved to Chicago, then New York City,
where she found work as a catalog model.
Halle's acting career began in television with a role on the short-lived
sitcom "Living Dolls". This was followed by a year-long run on the CBS
prime time drama "Knot’s Landing". Halle's first big screen break came
later that year when she was cast as Samuel L. Jackson’s drug addicted
girlfriend in Spike Lee’s "Jungle Fever". More substantial supporting
roles followed, including that of a stripper in the action-thriller "The
Last Boy Scout", starring Bruce Willis. This success lead to Halle as
the woman who finally wins Eddie Murphy’s heart in the romantic comedy
"Boomerang".
Halle, now with a few films under her belt, accepted more offbeat roles,
making cameos in the rockumentary "CB4" which traced the rise and fall
of the titled rap group. She then starred in the live action version of
"The Flintstones", featuring Halle as a Stone Age seductress, a very
sexy and successful performance. Halle's next role was a no-holds-barred
performance as a rehabilitated crack addict seeking to regain custody of
her son in "Losing Isaiah". The story was set in the midst of a bitter
custody battle with adoptive parents, played by Jessica Lange and David
Strathairn. Later that year, Halle overcame Hollywood's racial barriers
when she was cast as the first African American to play the Queen of
Sheeba in Showtime’s movie "Solomon & Sheeba". Halle has been introduced
as the new Bond Girl, and we are sure to see her in a very sexy role in
the near future.