Halle Berry Autograph

Halle Maria Berry (born Maria Halle Berry; August 14, 1966) is an American actress and former fashion model. She won an Academy Award for Best Actress in 2002 for her performance in Monster's Ball, becoming the first and, as of 2014, the only woman of African-American descent to win an Oscar for a leading role. She was one of the highest paid actresses in Hollywood during the 2000s and has been involved in the production side of several of the films in which she performed.

Before becoming an actress, Berry entered several beauty contests, finishing as the 1st runner-up in the Miss USA Pageant and coming in 6th place in the Miss World Pageant in 1986. Her breakthrough film role was in 1992's Boomerang, which led to roles in films such as The Flintstones (1994), Bulworth (1998) and Introducing Dorothy Dandridge (1999), for which she won the Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award for Best Actress, among many other awards. In addition to her Academy Award win, Berry reached a higher level of prominence in the new millennium with roles such as Storm in the Swordfish (2001), and Die Another Day (2002), where she played Bond Girl Jinx, later finding success in the 2010s with movies such as Cloud Atlas (2012) and The Call (2013).