Berry, Halle (1966–)

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Berry, Halle (1966–)

African-American actress and model. Born Halle Maria Berry, Aug 14, 1966, in Cleveland, Ohio; dau. of Jerome Berry (African-American) and Judith Berry (Caucasian psychiatric nurse); sister of Heidi Berry; m. David Justice, Dec 31, 1992 (div. 1996); m. Eric Benét, Jan 24, 2001 (sep. 2004).

Representing Ohio, won Miss Teen All-American Pageant (1985) and was 1st runner-up in Miss USA Pageant (1986); became a model; appeared in tv series "Living Dolls" (1989); came to prominence as a crack addict in Spike Lee's film Jungle Fever (1991); acclaimed for performances in cable tv's "Introducing Dorothy Dandridge," for which she won a Golden Globe for Best Actress (1999), and Monster's Ball, for which she became the 1st African-American woman to win an Academy Award for Best Actress (2002); other films include Boomerang (1992), The Flintstones (1994), Losing Isaiah (1995), Bulworth (1998), X-Men (2000), Swordfish (2001), Die Another Day (2002), X2 (2003) and Catwoman (2004).

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