On August 14, 1966 Halle Maria Berry was born in Cleveland, Ohio. She was the youngest daughter born to Jerome and Judith Berry.

Berry’s family lived in an inner-city neighborhood for the first few years of her life. After her father Jerome left his wife, Judith moved the family to the Cleveland suburb of Bedford.

When Berry was a teenager she won a handful of beauty pageant titles, including Miss Teen Ohio and Miss Teen America. She would eventually win first runner-up in the 1985 Miss U.S.A competition.

In college, Berry decided to pursue a degree in broadcast journalism at Cleveland’s Cuyahoga Community College. After quickly deciding it wasn’t for her, Berry decided to instead focus efforts towards a career in Entertainment.

As an actress, Berry began her television mark on a short-lived sitcom Living Dolls, which was followed by a year on the CBS prime-time drama Knot’s Landing.

Her big break came in the form a Spike Lee Joint titled Jungle Fever in which she played Samuel L. Jackson’s drug addicted girlfriend. She became a mainstay by continuing to play alongside famous leading men, including Bruce Willis in The Last Boy Scout and Eddie Murphy in Boomerang.

In 2002, Halle Berry became a Bond Girl in Die Another Day and followed with her role as Storm in X2, the sequel to X MEN.

Her most notable performance to date was in 2001, in a dark drama, entitled Monster’s Ball.

The role earned Berry a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Drama and the Academy Award for Leading Actress. She became the first African-American actress to win the Oscar for her lead role.

To watch Berry’s emotional acceptance speech at the 2002 Academy Awards, CLICK HERE.

Today, Berry is one of the highest paid actresses in Hollywood, making as much as $14 million per film.

To view her full filmography, visit the Internet Movie Database: Halle Berry.

Source: Biography.com: Halle Berry