Halle Maria Berry is an American actress. She won the 2002 Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in the romantic drama Monster’s Ball. As of 2018, she’s the only black woman to have won the award. Take a look below for 30 more fun and fascinating facts about Halle Berry.

1. Berry was one of the highest paid actresses in Hollywood during the early 2000s and has been involved in the production of several of the movies that she’s performed in.

2. She’s a Revlon spokesmodel.

3. Before becoming an actress, Berry started modeling and entered several beauty contests, finishing as the first runner-up in the Miss USA Pageant and coming in sixth place in the Miss World Pageant in 1986.

4. Her breakthrough movie role was in the romantic comedy Boomerang, alongside Eddie Murphy, which led to roles in movies such as the comedy The Flintstones, the political comedy-drama Bulworth, and the television movie Introducing Dorothy Dandridge.

5. Berry won the Primetime Emmy Award and Golden Globe award for Best Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie for her role in Introducing Dorothy Dandridge.

6. She garnered high profile roles in the 2000s, such as Storm in X-Men, the action crime thriller Swordfish, and the spy movie Die Another Day, where she played Bond Girl Jinx.

7. In 2010s, she appeared in movies such as the science fiction movie Cloud Atlas, the crime thriller The Call, and X-Men: Days of Future Past.

8. She used to be married to baseball player David Justice, and singer-songwriter Eric Benet.

9. She has a daughter by model Gabriel Aubry and a son by actor Olivier Martinez.

10. Berry is named after the grand old Halle Building in Cleveland, Ohio, which originally housed the Halle Brothers department store.

11. Halle and her older sister, Heidi, spent the first few years of their childhood living in an inner-city neighborhood.

12. In the early 1970s, Jerome Berry abandoned his wife and children, after which, Judith moved her family to the predominantly white Cleveland suburb of Bedford.

13. Berry attended a nearly all-white public school, and as a result was subjected to discrimination at an early age. Her early bouts with racism greatly influenced her desire to excel.

14. She was a cheerleader, a member of the Honor Society, president of her class, school newspaper editor and prom queen.

15. After her graduation, Berry enrolled at the Cuyahoga Community College and studied Broadcast Journalism before dropping out.

16. In 1989, she was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes.

17. Her first movie break came when she was cast as Samuel L. Jackson’s drug addicted girlfriend in Spike Lee’s critically acclaimed movie Jungle Fever.

18. She began a relationship with Wesley Snipes after meeting him on the set of Jungle Fever. She lost 80% of her hearing after being beaten by him.

19. She turned down the role of Annie in Speed, which went to Sandra Bullock.

20. Playboy Magazine named Berry the 100 Sexiest Women of the Century, in 1998.

21. In February, 2000, she was involved in a hit and run accident that erupted into a tabloid scandal. After enduring a minor head injury, she claimed that she didn’t remember leaving the scene. As a result of her actions, she was placed on probation, given community service and fined $13,500.

22. She received a $500,000 bonus for showing her breasts in a topless scene in the 2001 movie Swordfish.

23. She 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.

24. In April, 2007, Halle Berry was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

25. In August, 2013, Berry testified alongside Jennifer Garner before the Assembly Judiciary Committee in support of a bill that would protect celebrities’ children from harassment by photographers.

26. Her father was abusive towards her mother and he died in 2003 from Parkinson’s Disease. She’s admitted that she never forgave him for his abusive ways.

27. In 2007, she attempted suicide after her second failed marriage.

28. When Halle was pregnant with Nahla, she received death threats. The threats became so prevalent that she had to hire security.

29. She has to pay Gabriel Aubry $16,000 per month in child support for her daughter Nahla.

30. Before getting her big break, she was homeless. After moving to New York to pursue an acting career, she ran out of money and had to move to a homeless shelter.