Etienne Comar

Halle Berry, an American actress, won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in the 2001 film *Monster's Ball*. Born on August 14, 1966, in Cleveland, Ohio, to nurse Judith Ann Hawkins and hospital attendant Jerome Jesse Berry, she had an older sister, Heidi. Her parents separated when she was four, and she was raised by her mother and sister. She was a very active student at Bedford High School, serving as editor of the school newspaper and a cheerleader. She graduated from Cuyahoga Community College. Her beauty brought her attention, leading to her being crowned Miss Ohio in 1986 and finishing as the first runner-up in Miss USA the same year. In the late 1980s, she moved to New York to pursue acting, initially facing setbacks. She found success with the TV series *Living Dolls*. Around this time she was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. She made her film debut in Spike Lee's *Jungle Fever*. Roles in films such as *The Flintstones* and *Race the Sun* increased her prominence. In 2000, she gained worldwide recognition portraying Storm in the *X-Men* film adaptation, reprising the role in sequels *X2: X-Men United*, *X-Men: The Last Stand*, and *X-Men: Days of Future Past*. At the end of 2001, her portrayal of Leticia Musgrove, the widow of an executed murderer, in *Monster's Ball*, earned her the Academy Award for Best Actress, making her the first African American woman to win the award. Her dress at the ceremony also attracted significant attention. In 2002's *Die Another Day*, a James Bond film, she played Jinx Johnson, echoing Ursula Andress's role from *Dr. No* forty years prior. In late 2003, she starred in the psychological thriller *Gothika*, suffering a broken arm during filming. Her performance as Catwoman was less well-received, earning her a Razzie Award for Worst Actress in 2005. In 2017, she starred in *Kidnap*, *Kings* (directed by Deniz Gamze Ergüven), and *Kingsman: The Golden Circle*. She was married to baseball player David Justice from 1993 to 1997 and to Eric Benét from 2001 to 2005. She has a daughter, Nahla, with Canadian model Gabriel Aubry (2005-2010) and a son, Maceo, with French actor Olivier Martinez (2013-2016). She has frequently appeared on many magazines' 'Most Beautiful People' lists. She also lives with partial hearing loss in her left ear due to domestic violence from a former partner.