Halle Berry: A Stormy Life (Mass Market Paperback)

~ (Author)

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Product Description

First known for her beauty - she was the first black American Miss World entrant and is the face and spokeswoman for Revlon - Halle Berry is now acknowledged as a supremely talented actress. She got her first big break as a crack addict in Spike Lee's Jungle Fever, won a Golden Globe for her portrayal of 50s black actress Dorothy Dandridge and in 2002 became the first African-American woman to win a Best Actress Oscar for her role in Monster's Ball. She has also appeared in mainstream movies, such as X-Men, Die Another Day and is to star as Catwoman in Summer 2004. However, her personal life has often been difficult. Berry hadn't seen her abusive father for twelve years before he died, and her two marriages have been troubled. In 2000 she was involved in a hit and run accident, for which she was given three years' probation. In this biography, Frank Sanello delves into the life of Halle Berry to uncover the truth behind the abuse, the racism and the screen nudity, while also showing how one of the most beautiful and talented women in the world still finds it difficult to get the parts she wants.

About the Author

Frank Sanello is an established biographer, having written about Tom Cruise, Mark Wahlberg, Julia Roberts, Sharon Stone, Jimmy Stewart, Steven Spielberg and Sylvester Stallone. He has been a journalist for the Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, New York Times, People, Cosmopolitan, Penthouse and the Los Angeles Daily News.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 282 pages
• Publisher: Virgin Publishing; illustrated edition edition (June 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0753508532
• ISBN-13: 978-0753508534
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,304,950 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars 3 1/2 Stars, What a Woman!, October 19, 2006

By	Mikeisha Best "Miss Mikeisha" (Mitchellville, Maryland United States) - See all my reviews

Halle Maria Berry is one intriguing woman. Her story truly adds credence to the fact that looks aren't everything because her life has been quite a bumpy road, and she is often called the most beautiful woman in the world. Frank Sanello does a good job in telling us Berry's story; he includes very descriptive events and accounts of her life. One flaw of this book was the amount of times he mentioned Berry's beauty. Almost the entire world knows how good-looking Berry is, but he just brings it up one too many times. Put it this way; it's mentioned at least 20 times. Another flaw about the book is that a big Halle Berry fan would probably know most of the information in the book. For example, me. Although I was aware of many of the stories told, I also learned new things about her. Sanello got the vast majority of his infrormation from interviews and magazine articles.

Halle Berry was born in Cleveland, OH to Jerome and Judith Berry. Berry had also been close to her mother, but never truly had a strong union with her father because he began abusing her older sister Heidi and their mother early on. He never abused Halle, but because of his abuse to the other members of her family, she stayed away from him. In this publication, we learn that Halle Berry will do anything to get what she wants for her career. Most of the movies she has been in, she had to beg, and do some very unlikely things to get her roles. For example, for her first movie, "Jungle Fever", director Spike Lee dismissed the idea of Berry being the crackhead. At first Berry begged and begged but Lee remained adament about not giving her the role. But, Berry didn't bathe for 10 days, removed all make-up and visited crack houses to truly get the essence of the life of a crackhead! We also learned about the flack Berry faced for not only starring in "Monster's Ball", but winning the Oscar for it!

Berry's love life has been as difficult as her movie career. Her plethora of failed relatinships are talked about in great detail. One would think that a man would feel fortunate and privledged to have Miss Halle on their arm, and for a period of time they feel that way, but after awhile, the relationship spirals down. Perhaps the most mind-boggling aspect of this is her relationship with singer Eric Benet. There didn't seem to be a major problem in their relationship aside from the fact that he was "Mr. Halle Berry". But, after he married her, he became one of the biggest philanderers you'd ever want to see!

This is an overall interesting read and made me respect Halle Berry even more. This book would be great for someone who would like to know how she got to where she is, and the struggles she faced upon getting there. She has, in a sense, lived a "stormy life".