Halle Berry
Halle Maria Berry (born August 14, 1966) is an American actress.
Halle was born in Cleveland, Ohio.
In the late 1980's, she went to Chicago to pursue a modeling career as well as acting. One of her first acting projects was a television series for local cable by Gordon Lake Productions called "Chicago Force" where she also worked with photographer and screenwriter Robert Oliver.
Halle auditioned for a role in an updated "Charlie's Angels" television series by producer Aaron Spelling. At the time, Spelling wanted one of the "Angels" to be a woman of color. She did not get the role but she impressed Spelling by her skills. He encouraged her to continue perfecting her craft.
In 1989, Halle landed the role of brainy "Emily Franklin" in the ABC television series called "Living Dolls."
Halle's breakthrough feature film role was in "Jungle Fever" where she played a drug addict named Vivian. Her first co-staring role was in the film "Strictly Business." Another one of her early roles was in a supporting capacity in the Flintstones movie where she played "Sharon Stone." She played the superhero Storm in 2000 in the successful film, X-Men. "Gothika" was the first film that she "carried," i.e., the film focusing entirely on her.
She won the best actress Oscar in 2002 for Monster's Ball, becoming the first African American woman to win this award. Ironically in 1999, Berry played the first African American woman to be nominated for a best actress Academy Award, Dorothy Dandridge, in HBO's "Introducting Dorothy Dandridge."
Halle, although generally considered African American, is biracial, and was raised by her white mother Judith Berry who was born in England.
Halle's talents as an actress are often overshadowed by her physical beauty. Much was made of her first topless scene in the film "Swordfish," thirty seconds of film for which she was paid an additional $1,000,000.
In 2004, she will get her "star" on the Hollywood Boulevard Walk of Fame in Hollywood, California.
She has diabetes. Her website is http://www.hallewood.com.
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Introducing Dorothy Dandridge |
Filmography
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