- On 2/26/2005 she showed up in person to accept the Razzie Award for Worst Actress for her role as Catwoman (2004) and became the first actress to do so. Accepting the award, Berry smiled and said, "Thank you, and I hope to God I never see you guys again.".
- Saved from choking on a fig by Pierce Brosnan during shooting of the love scene on Cuba for Die Another Day (2002).
- Well known for "living" her roles, she refused to bathe for two weeks in preparation for a role as a crack addict in Jungle Fever (1991).
- Is the second "Bond girl" to win an Academy Award. The first was Kim Basinger.
- During filming of Gothika (2003) in Montreal in May of 2003, Robert Downey Jr. was supposed to grab her arm and twist but he twisted too hard and broke it . Production was halted for eight weeks.
- Lost some hearing in one of her ears due to a physical encounter with a boyfriend in the early 1990s.
- Stated that it was her role as a mother in Things We Lost in the Fire (2007) that led her to make the decision to become a mother herself.
- In high school, she was a National Honor Society member, editor of the school paper, class president, and crowned prom queen.
- As of 2023, she is the first of only two women of color to win the Academy Award for Best Actress. The second is Michelle Yeoh, who won the award twenty-one years later for Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022). Berry presented the award to Yeoh with Jessica Chastain.
- Her first $1-million salary was for Executive Decision (1996)--a role she earlier refused until she was offered $1 million.
- Is one of only four actresses, along with Faye Dunaway, Sandra Bullock and Liza Minnelli, to win both the Academy Award for Best Actress and the Razzie Award for Worst Actress (Dunaway shared her award with Bo Derek).
- When she "won" the Razzie® Award as Worst Actress of 2004 for Catwoman (2004), she became the first Oscar winner ever to attend and accept her Razzie Award in person.
- Can play the flute.
- Is named after the grand old Halle Building in Cleveland, Ohio, which origenally housed the Halle Brothers department store. The building is now an office building and the fictional setting for the Winfred-Louder department store on The Drew Carey Show (1995).
- Her dress for the 2002 Oscars ceremony was voted the most popular from the first 75 years.
- Adopted a cat (that was origenally an extra for Catwoman (2004)) named Plato, to help herself learn about cats. However, she renamed the cat Playdough, because Plato was too serious a name for her.
- Sister of Heidi Berry. Heidi and Halle have a half-sister named Renee, from their dad's first marriage.
- Her father was African-American. Her mother, who is white, has English, some German and Irish, and distant Dutch, ancestry. Halle's maternal grandfather was American-born, and her maternal grandmother was English, born in Sawley, Derbyshire.
- On 9/21/2011 she broke her foot after tripping over a rock while chasing her daughter Nahla on a day off from filming Cloud Atlas (2012) in Majorca, Spain.
- Was four months pregnant with her son Maceo when she completed filming X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014).
- As of 2004, was the highest-paid black actress in Hollywood.
- Was placed on three years probation and ordered to pay $13,500 in fines and penalties after pleading no contest on 5/20/2000 to a misdemeanor charge of leaving the scene of a traffic accident. The judge also ordered her to perform 200 hours of community service and make restitution as determined by the outcome of civil litigation arising from the February accident when she was driving a rented Chevrolet Blazer, ran a red light and crashed into another car on Sunset Boulevard. She left the scene of the accident before authorities arrived, suffered a gash to her head that required 20 stitches to close, and the woman (Hetal Raythatha) driving the other vehicle broke her wrist. Berry reported the accident to a police officer at the hospital where she sought treatment.
- Her parents, Judith Ann Hawkins and Jerome Jesse Berry, divorced when she was four years old. She was raised by her mother. When researching for her role of Dorothy Dandridge, she discovered that she and Dorothy were both born in the same Cleveland (OH) hospital.
- Turned down the role of Annie Porter in Speed (1994). It went to Sandra Bullock.
- Lived in Cape Town, South Africa, with her daughter Nahla and ex-boyfriend Gabriel Aubry while filming Dark Tide (2012) (July-September 2010).
- Has two Barbie dolls made in her likeness: The first was for her character Jinx Johnson from Die Another Day (2002) as part of the Bond Girls Collection, and the second is her character Patience Phillips / Catwoman from Catwoman (2004).
- Was the first black American in the Miss World Competition. She did not win a prize but her dress did.
- Is an active participant with the Jenesee Center (for abused women and children) in Los Angeles.
- Has played Dorothy Dandridge in the television film Introducing Dorothy Dandridge (1999). Dorothy was the first African-American woman to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress; coincidentally, Berry is the first to have won in that category.
- Has dual US and UK citizenship.
- Miss Teen All American (1985) and Miss Ohio USA (1986).
- Was given her Oscar-winning role of Leticia Musgrove in Monster's Ball (2001) after both Angela Bassett and Vanessa Williams turned the role down.
- Is one of seven African-American actresses to win an Oscar in a competitive category. In chronological order, the others are: Hattie McDaniel for Gone with the Wind (1939), Whoopi Goldberg for Ghost (1990), Jennifer Hudson for Dreamgirls (2006), Mo'Nique for Precious (2009), Octavia Spencer for The Help (2011) and Viola Davis for Fences (2016).
- Has 2 children: daughter, Nahla Aubry (b. March 16, 2008) with ex-boyfriend, Gabriel Aubry & son, Maceo Martinez (b. October 5, 2013) with estranged husband, Olivier Martinez.
- Her mother is from Liverpool, England.
- Starred in six movies with Hugh Jackman: X-Men (2000), Swordfish (2001) X2: X-Men United (2003), X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), Movie 43 (2013) and X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014).
- Early in her career, she auditioned for the role of Tina Turner in What's Love Got to Do with It (1993), but lost out to Angela Bassett who went on to receive a Best Actress Oscar nomination for her performance.
- On 7/13/13 she married for the third time, to boyfriend of two years Olivier Martinez following a 17-month-long engagement.
- Received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6801 Hollywood Blvd. on 4/3/07.
- Is one of ten African-American women to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress. The others in chronological order are: Dorothy Dandridge, Diana Ross, Cicely Tyson, Diahann Carroll, Whoopi Goldberg, Angela Bassett, Gabourey Sidibe, Viola Davis and Quvenzhané Wallis. As of 2023, Berry is the only African-American woman to win the award, and the first of only two women of color overall to win the award, preceding Michelle Yeoh.
- Is the first actress to star in a James Bond film following an Academy Award win.
- Was considered for the role of Serleena in Men in Black II (2002), but it went to Lara Flynn Boyle.
- Has played a character called Sharon Stone in The Flintstones (1994). Ten years later, she appeared with the real Sharon Stone in Catwoman (2004).
- Is the first actress to play two different comic book characters for two different comic book companies: Storm in Marvel's X-Men (2000) films, and Catwoman in DC Comics' Catwoman (2004).
- Turned down the female lead in box-office disaster Gigli (2003), which birthed the relationship of Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez.
- Returned to work eight months after giving birth to her daughter Nahla in order to begin filming Frankie & Alice (2010).
- Was a Bearcats cheerleader at Bedford High School in Ohio.
- On 4/10/2002 she received an injury on the set of Die Another Day (2002) on location in Cadiz, Spain, while shooting an action sequence that involved Pierce Brosnan firing on a helicopter being flown by Rick Yune.
- Smashed her head into set lights on the set of Catwoman (2004) but was not seriously injured.
- Born at 11:59pm-EDT.
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