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Halle Berry was born on August 14th 1966, in Cleveland,
Ohio to parents of an interracial marriage. Halle's mother Judy is white
and her father black. Halle and her older sister Heidi and two brothers
were brought up by her mother who worked as a Psychiatric nurse after
Halle's father left them in 1970. He returned to the family for a short
time in 1974 and proceeded to commit abuse against not only Halle's
mother, but on the entire family including Halle, her sister and even the
family's dog. Halle has sought and had no contact with him since that
time.
Halle grew up in predominately white neighborhood in the suburbs of
Cleveland and had to adjust to being a bit different than most of her
classmates. This made her determined to succeed socially and she made many
friends. She also set a goal of becoming an actress. She became an
outstanding student academically and then won a spot as a cheerleader and
a place on the roles of the National Honor Society.
During her Junior year in High School, her boyfriend entered her name in
the Miss Teen Ohio Beauty Pageant and she won. Soon afterwards, She became
the editor of the school newspaper and was also elected both Class
President and Queen of the Prom during her Senior year. The Prom Queen
election provided considerable excitement as she competed opposite a very
competitive blonde and blue-eyed young lady who charged that Halle's
supporters had committed election day fraud by stuffing the ballot boxes.
This dispute went to court and the judge decided to settle it with a coin
toss. Halle won and the rest is history.
Halle went on to win several additional competitions without the need for
coin tosses. These included Miss Teen All America, Miss Ohio, first
runner-up for Miss USA, and competed for Miss World. Halle then entered
college in Cleveland's Cuyahoga Community College in 1986 and began
studying Journalism and Broadcasting. Halle did not complete her degree,
deciding instead to focus on the opportunities being offered her to Model
fashions and to begin studying Drama in Chicago.
After a year in Chicago, Halle moved to New York City and quickly landed
her first television role as Emily Franklin one of four models living
together in New York in the sitcom Living Dolls. The show flopped, but
Halle was noticed and got another opportunity in 1989 when Spike Lee cast
her as a crack-addicted woman in Jungle Fever . This was a wonderful
opportunity to act opposite Samuel L. Jackson. She studied for the role by
interviewin actual cocaine addicted women and did not bathe for the 10
days leading up to filming so that she could better feel the character she
was playing. She did a wonderful acting job and got several rave notices.
Halle's next opportunity was on television in 1991 when she played in
several performances in Knots Landing. In 1993, Halle landed her first
film starring role opposite Eddie Murphy in Boomerang. Halle achieved
celebrity status after her performance as a drug addicted mother who
abandons her infant in a garbage can in the critically acclaimed feature
film Losing Isaiah.
During this time, Halle’s personal life was was rebounding from several
unhappy relationships with men. In one relationship, her boyfriend lost
his temper and he beat her so badly that she lost a portion of her left
ear. However; in 1993 she met and fell in love with Atlanta Braves
outfielder David Justice. They had a fairy tale 6 month courtship and then
married. They became known as one of the most beautiful celebrity couples
in the world. However; the roads of their lives led in opposite directions
and they divorced 4 years later. The story of their breakup was tragic,
and it left Halle very saddened and cynical about love. She then focused
on good work both in acting and in helping the underprivileged. She did a
lot of charity work which included a dangerous trip to Yugoslavia to
entertain and support the U.S. troops there. She also did many hours of
work for the National Breast Cancer Coalition. Her humanitarian efforts
won for her a prestigious award from the Harvard Foundation for
Intercultural and Race Relations.
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