Halle Berry is an American actress, former fashion model and beauty queen. She was one of the highest-paid actresses in 2000.
Gatekeepers News reports that Halle Berry first turned heads on the pageant circuit, where she was Miss Teen All-American in 1985, Miss Ohio in 1986, first runner-up at the Miss USA pageant in 1986, and the first African-American to ever compete in the Miss World pageant.
She made the transition to film work, with Spike Lee’s “Jungle Fever”, and has since gone on to a steady career in film and television movie work.
Early Life
Maria Hally Berry was born on August 14, 1966 in Cleveland, Ohio. Her first name was legally changed to Halle when she was five. It was a reference to a local department store called Halle’s Department Store. Her parents divorced when she was four years old from which point on she lived exclusively with her mother.
In the early 1980s Halle began entering beauty pageants. She won both Miss Teen All American and Miss Ohio USA in 1985. In 1986 she placed second in the Miss USA Beauty Pageant. She then placed first in the Miss USA World Beauty Pageant.
In 1989, Halle changed her focus from modeling to acting. That same year she landed a role on an ABC sitcom called Living Dolls. She appeared in 12 episodes. In 1991 she landed a role in the Spike Lee film Jungle Fever. More film and television roles followed and by the mid-1990s she had grown into one of the biggest stars on the planet. In 1996 she earned her first major paycheck when she earned $1 million to star in Executive Decision.
In 2000 she first appeared as Storm in the X-Men film franchise. She appeared in a total of four X-Men movies.
Awards
Halle won an Emmy, Golden Globe and SAG Award for her portrayal of Dorothy Dandridge in the film Introducing Dorothy Dandridge. Berry also won an Oscar for Best Actress for her starring role in Monster’s Ball and was nominated for a BAFTA award in 2001 for the same performance. Halle Berry is the only African-American actress to win an Academy Award for “Best Actress”.
Personal Life
Halle was married to baseball player David Justice from 1993 to 1997. She was married to musician Eric Benét from 2001 to 2005. She dated Canadian model, Gabriel Aubry from 2005 to 2010. They had one child together. She was married to actor Olivier Martinez from 2013 to 2016. They have one child together.
In 2014, a judge ruled that Berry had to pay over $16,000 a month in child support to her ex, Gabriel Aubry, to provide for their daughter Nahla until she turns 19. The court also ordered Berry to pay $115,000 retroactively in child support and Aubry’s cover the legal fees. Berry is fully responsible for paying the tuition for Nahla’s school and both parents will divide the heath care costs. Berry and Aubry met in 2005 and split in 2010, which set off a bitter custody and child support battle. Tensions erupted in a physical altercation between Aubry and Berry’s husband, Olivier Martinez, on Thanksgiving Day in 2012, when Aubry came to Berry’s home to drop off then 4-year-old Nahla. Berry and Aubry’s legal battles also included Berry seeking to relocate their daughter to France, and Nahla’s nanny filing a restraining order against Aubry. Since their custody dispute came to an end in spring 2011, both parents have shared equal custody of Nahla.
Net Worth
Halle Berry has a net worth of $90 million.
