Halle
Berry
All
of her life, Halle
Berry has been valued for her beauty. She was an adorable
child, grew up to be a beauty contest winner and is currently Revlon’s
ravishing spokeswoman. But Halle Berry greatest
achievement has been proving time and time again, that she has the
talent and the brains to be more than just a beautiful face! She
was born August 14, 1968, in Cleveland, Ohio. Her mother, Judith
was (*and still is) a nurse in a psychiatric ward, but her father
has been absent from most of Halle’s life. He left the family when
she was four, returning when she was eight. The second time around,
he beat Halle’s sister, mother, and even the family dog. Halle has
no contact with her father to this day due to his inexcusable behavior.
Halle Berry mixed-race heritage was immediately
an issue in the Midwest. She had to deal with the taunts of other
children, black and white; and also thanks to her beauty, she received
a lot of resentment. In high school, she was chosen queen of the
prom but was accused of stuffing the ballot box. *The uproar was
handled with a frustrating transparent solution: Halle was forced
to share the title-with a W.A.S.P (white, Anglo-Saxon Protestant)
blonde. Despite such a humilitaing and unfair attack, Halle began
competing in formal beauty contests, and winning many. Her first
win was as Miss Teen All-American, and she went on to win the coveted
title of Miss Ohio! She may have not been good enough for high school,
but she was officially the most beautiful woman in the state! As
Miss Ohio, Halle Berry won the chance to compete
in the 1986 Miss USA Pageant. She dazzled the judges with her poise
and her stunning evening gown and swimsuit, so it came as no surprise
that she made it all the way to the finals. She was chosen as first
runner-up, which in the Miss USA is even more important than in
other national pageants because, while the winner goes on to compete
for the title of Miss Universe, the first runner up competes for
Miss World. Halle didn’t win Miss World, but she did walk away from
the pageant years with enough money to pull herself through community
college (majoring in broadcast journalism) and a lot of invaluable
experience on-camera and in high pressure situations. Halle
Berry was about to embark on an acting career that would
eventually make her one of the most famous former title-holders
of all time, ranking right up there with Vanessa L. Williams.
Halle Berry started by knocking down a high-profile
leading role on a glamorous TV sitcom. Not bad for a first-timer!
The show, Living Dolls, was about four, young struggling models.
Halle played "Emily Franklin" in this unsuccessful spin-off
from Tonya Danza’s Whose the Boss? She enjoyed playing the most
serious of the four women, a girl who longed to be a doctor instead
of dreaming only of the fame on the catwalk. Unfortunately, nobody
watched, and the plug was pulled on Living Dolls after only three
months. Halle next appeared in the memorable role as "Debbie
Porter" on Knots Landing in 1991, one of the televisions most-watched
nighttime soaps. TV was good to Halle Berry, and
she would return to it later, after conquering more challenging
roles roles in film. Halle Berry first movie almost
never happened. She was hired to star in the comedy Strictly Business
(1991), but was almost immediately fired by the director. The reason?
She wasn’t "black enough!" Halle was outraged, but was
relieved when the director himself was axed and she was rehired
by his replacement. Black audiences warmed up to Halle Berry,
and producers kept her phone ringing off the hook. She scored a
solid part in The Last Boy Scout (1991) and would star in a series
of mostly light-hearted popcorn films, like Boomerang (1992), The
Program (1993) and Fatherhood (1993). But Halle also proved she
was interested in stretching as an actress. She didn’t want to be
seen as just window dressing. Her portrayal of a crack addict in
Spike Lee’s Jungle Fever (1992) won her critical acclaim, and she
proved herself an effective dramatic lead opposite Jessica Lange
in the heat-lugging drama Losing Isaiah (1993). Both films dealt
with the kinds of racial insults Halle has dealt with her whole
life.
Halle Berry personal life was blooming along with
her career. She had been through many abusive relationships, including
one in which a man beat her so merciless that she lost [80%] in
her left ear, in 1993 she met and fell in love with Atlanta Braves
outfielder David Justice. Despite her fear that she would never
learn how to have a stale relationship, Halle Berry
proposed to Justice six months after they met. The couple had a
fair tale wedding and were regularly featured in magazines as one
of the most beautiful celebrity couples. Sadly their marriage faultered
in less than three years ending bitterly. The couple announced on
February 22, 1996, that their union was over. The story behind their
breakup was tragic, and it left Halle very vulnerable. She’d thought
she was saying "I do" forever, but was depressed to find
that her husband was less than worthy of such a vow. She threw herself
into charity work, including a treacherous trip to Sarajevo to support
our troops, and many hours of participation in the National Breast
Cancer Coalition. Her humanitarian efforts would result in a prestigious
award from the Harvard foundation for intercultural and Race relations,
an honor that moved Halle to tears when she received it.
After Halle Berry nasty divorce, she had the full
support of the media, and she bounced back, resuming her hectic
film career and revisiting television. She is an inspiration to
everyone who’s ever survived an acrimonious divorce. Halle
Berry recent films have been escapist fare like Executive
Decision (1996) and the hilarious comedy B.A.P.S. (1997), with the
exception of her appearance in this year’s scratching political
satire Bulworth with Warren Beatty. She takes on an ever juicer
three-dimensional role in the movie, Why Do Fools Fall in Love?
, costarring Vivica Fox and Lela Rochan. Halle Berry
most exciting new product fulfills a lifelong dream of hers-in conjunction
with HBO, she will produce and star in The Dorothy Dandridge Story,
a biography about the star of the classic 1954 musical Carmen Jones
who died tragically at 41 in the 60s. Just as several top Black
actresses quarreled for the rights to play Josephine Baker, Halle
is rushing her project out ahead of any potential studio releases,
including a proposed Dandridge film starring Janet Jackson and Whitney
Houston.
Halle Berry booming popularity also led to her
multi-million dollar contract with Revlon, which has splashed her
pretty face [world-wide] in a series of eye-catching print ads.
But no matter how good she looks, Halle Berry fans
know that her beauty is just a reflection of the kind of inner beauty
that fuels icons.
