Who is Halle Berry?

Former beauty queen Halle Berry is an esteemed actress. She was the first African-American woman to have won an Academy Award (Best Actress) for her performance in Monster’s Ball (2001). Besides, she has also played some well-known roles in other films. Her popular films include Jungle fever (1991), X-Men (2000), Swordfish (2001), Die Another Day (2001), Gothika (2003), Cloud Atlas (2012), and Kidnap (2017).

Early Life:

Halle was born on 14 August 1966 at Cleveland, Ohio, to an African-American father, Jerome Jesse Berry, who worked as a hospital attendant. Her mother, Judith Berry, is Caucasian, with an English and German Ancestry, and a retired nurse who worked in the psychiatric department. Halle is the youngest daughter, and her older sister is Heidi Berry.

In the ’70s, Jerome abandoned his wife and children. After that, Judith moved to Cleveland, occupied mostly by white people, with her daughters. So, she had to go to an all-white public school, where Halle was subjected to significant racial discrimination. The discrimination built her ambition to outshine others.

Throughout her school life, she stayed determined and gave her best in all tasks she undertook. She participated and excelled in many co-curricular activities. Besides, she also held crucial high school positions, including a newspaper editor, head cheerleader, class president, etc.

Pageants and Modeling Career:

Like other co-curricular activities, Halle also attracted limelight in modeling. She won the title, “Miss Teen All-American Pageant,” at 17, representing Ohio State. In 1986, she was the first runner-up for the Miss USA pageant. After the pageant, she decided to become a model.

For a short period, she joined Cuyahoga Community College in Cleveland for a degree in Broadcast Journalism. But she couldn’t hold the idea of a journalism career for long and dropped before completing the degree. She started devoting her time and efforts to a career in the entertainment industry. Halle moved to Chicago and then New York to work as a model.

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A Career in Films and Television:

Her love for modeling led her to a role in the ABC TV series, Living Dolls (1989). Although she gained popularity for her performance, she went into a coma and had to quit. After recovering from a coma, she moved to LA and joined her recurring role in Knots Landing, a long-running primetime serial.

Start of Halle’s Film Career:

Her first break to a career in films came in 1991 with Jungle Fever. She played a drug addict, Vivian. It is believed that she refused to bathe for several days to look perfect for the part. The next year, she earned a role opposite Eddie Murphy in Boomerang (1992) and earned fame again in 1994 with The Flintstones. In 1995, Halle landed a role in the adoption drama Losing Isaiah (1995) opposite Jessica Lange. The movie earned mixed reviews, but Halle Berry gained prominence and continued to work harder.

Earning Recognition and Success:

In 1998, Halle gained critical success for Bulworth. The following year, she got greater recognition for Dorothy Dandridge (1999), which led her to the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress. She also received significant box office success for X-Men (2000), wherein she played a mutant Storm who could control the weather. In 2001, she worked in two titles, Swordfish and Monster’s Ball, but the latter made her the first African-American woman to have won an Academy Award for the Best Actress.

She reappeared in her role of Storm in X-Men 2 (2003), X-Men – The final Stand (2006), and then X-Men – Days of Future Past (2014). However, after a reasonably okay performance of Die Another Day (2002) and Gothika (2003), Halle had a critical commercial failure with Catwoman in 2004.

In 2005, she played the lead role in Their Eyes were Watching God, with Oprah Winfrey as the producer. In 2007, she was a part of the film Perfect Stranger and did a series of films before returning to Cloud Atlas (2012). 2014 marked her return to the small screen with Extant.

Kidnap (2017), Kingsman: The Golden Circle, and John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (2019) were her next titles.

Honors and Controversies:

Halle Berry is one of the highest-earning actresses in Hollywood. One of her highest earnings on records is $14 million per film. She earned significant fame in 2007 with the award Hollywood Walk of Fame Star.

Halle has always been praised for her beauty. She earned a spot among playboy magazine’s 100 sexiest women in 1998. Halle’s other recognitions include a place in People Magazine’s 50 most beautiful people on Earth and Esquire Magazine’s Sexiest women in 2008.

The Controversy: In 2000, Berry faced controversy for a hit-and-run case that was published in a tabloid scandal. She endured a minor head injury, and she said that she did not know about going from there. However, she was placed on probation of community service and fined $13,500.

Personal Life:

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Halle Berry had a romantic past with her Jungle Fever co-actor Wesley Snipes. In 1993, she married Atlanta Braves outfielder David Justice and divorced in 1997. Her next relationship was a secret engagement with musician Eric Benét, and the marriage lasted from 2001 to 2005.

After Eric, she dated French-Canadian supermodel Gabriel Aubry whom she met at a photoshoot for Versace. Several months later, they announced that they were expecting their first child together. They welcomed a baby girl Nahla Ariela on 16 March 2008. The coupled announced a split in 2010.

Next, Berry dated actor Olivier Martinez, and they got engaged. Later, she announced that they were expecting a child together. They both exchanged vows on 13 July 2013 and welcomed a baby boy Maceo-Robert. Two years later, she got divorced again.

As of 2020, her latest relationship is with Van Hunt.

Halle Berry’s Net Worth:

Academy Award-winning actress Halle Berry has a successful career in Hollywood spanning across 40+ years. Her big break came with the film Boomerang in 1992 and then in The Flintstones (1994). From there onward, she gave some stunning performances and won an Academy Award in 2001 for Monster’s Ball.

After these, when she returned to the small screen with the Sci-Fi Drama Extant, she earned nearly 100,000 dollars per episode for her performance and co-production. For 26 episodes, she earned 2.6 million. She is one of the highest-earning actresses in Hollywood from the mid-2000s. She made an estimated 10 to 14 million dollars per movie. Throughout her career, she earned $3.64 billion at the global box office.

Endorsements:

Films are not the only source of Berry’s income. She also worked for some major brand endorsements. As a brand ambassador of Revlon since 1996, she earns $1 million per year. She has also collaborated with Versace.

In 2014, Berry started her lingerie line titled, “Scandale Paris” and launched a “Halle” fragrance line.

Combining her earnings from Films, Television series, Endorsements, and Businesses, Hale Berry’s Net Worth is approximately $70 to $80 million.