| BIOGRAPHY
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.
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.
|
FILMOGRAPHY
• Robots (2005)
• Catwoman (2004)
• Gothika (2003)
• X2: X-Men United (2003)
• Die Another Day (2002)
• Monster's Ball (2001)
• Swordfish (2001)
• X-Men (2000)
• Introducing Dorothy Dandridge (1999)
• Bulworth (1998)
• Why Do Fools Fall In Love (1998)
• B.A.P.S. (1997)
• Executive Decision (1996)
• Race the Sun (1996)
• The Rich Man's Wife (1996)
• Losing Isaiah (1995)
• The Flintstones (1994)
• Father Hood (1993)
• The Program (1993)
• Boomerang (1992)
• The Last Boy Scout (1991)
• Strictly Business (1991) |
