Editing Halle Berry (section)

==Early life==
Berry was born Maria Halle Berry in [[Cleveland, Ohio]],<ref name="actors">"Halle Berry". ''[[Inside the Actors Studio]]''. [[Bravo (U.S. TV network)|Bravo]], October 29, 2007.</ref> on August 14, 1966,<ref>Although ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica|Britannica Kids]]'' [http://kids.britannica.com/comptons/article-9389354/Halle-Berry gives a 1968 birthdate] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120817132742/http://kids.britannica.com/comptons/article-9389354/Halle-Berry |date=August 17, 2012 }}, (from the original on August 17, 2012), she stated in interviews prior to August 2006 that she would turn{{nbsp}}40<!-- 40 is intentional --> then. See: [https://web.archive.org/web/20090103001746/http://www.femalefirst.co.uk/celebrity/Halle%2BBerry-9679.html FemaleFirst], [https://web.archive.org/web/20060525074438/http://www.darkhorizons.com/news06/berry.php DarkHorizons], [http://www.filmmonthly.com/Profiles/Articles/HalleBerryX3/HalleBerryX3.html FilmMonthly] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060903215437/http://www.filmmonthly.com/Profiles/Articles/HalleBerryX3/HalleBerryX3.html |date=September 3, 2006 }}, and see also [https://web.archive.org/web/20040803104157/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/07/20/earlyshow/leisure/celebspot/main630707.shtml Profile], cbsnews.com; accessed May 5, 2007.</ref> to Judith Ann (née Hawkins), a first generation American whose mother, Nelle Hawkins, (née Dicken), came from [[Liverpool]],<ref>{{cite news |last=Echo |first=Liverpool |date=March 25, 2002 |title=Halle's Liverpool roots |url=https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/halles-liverpool-roots-3559287 |access-date=July 31, 2019 |website=Liverpool Echo |language=en |archive-date=August 1, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801104746/https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/halles-liverpool-roots-3559287 |url-status=live }}</ref> and Jerome Jesse Berry, an African-American man.<ref name="actors" /> Her name was legally changed to Halle Maria Berry at the age of five.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.genealogy.com/famousfolks/halleb/d0/i0000001.htm |website=Genealogy.com |title=First Generation |url-status=deviated |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120509181354/http://www.genealogy.com/famousfolks/halleb/d0/i0000001.htm |archive-date=May 9, 2012 }}</ref> Her parents selected her middle name from [[Halle Brothers Co.|Halle's Department Store]], which was then a local landmark in Cleveland.<ref name="actors" /> Berry's mother worked as a psychiatric nurse, and her father worked in the same hospital as an attendant in the psychiatric ward; he later became a bus driver.<ref name="actors" /> They divorced when Berry was four years old, and she and her older sister Heidi Berry-Henderson<ref name="nea">{{cite news|first=Frank|last=[[Frank Lovece|Lovece]]|date=July 7, 1992|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1955&dat=19920705&id=I_ohAAAAIBAJ&pg=1658,2911296|title=Halle Berry Is Poised to Become Major Star|newspaper=[[Newspaper Enterprise Association]]/[[Reading Eagle]]|location=[[Reading, Pennsylvania]]|access-date=May 11, 2023|archive-date=September 1, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200901194743/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1955&dat=19920705&id=I_ohAAAAIBAJ&pg=1658,2911296|url-status=live}}</ref> were raised exclusively by their mother.<ref name="actors" /> She has been estranged from her father since childhood,<ref name="actors" /><ref name="Showbiz">{{cite web|url=http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/01/28/1043534043252.html|title=Showbiz Bytes 28-01-03|date=January 28, 2003|work=The Age|access-date=December 15, 2007|archive-date=November 12, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121112161104/http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/01/28/1043534043252.html|url-status=live}}</ref> noting in 1992 that she did not even know if he was still alive.<ref name="nea" /> Her father was abusive to her mother, and Berry has recalled witnessing her mother being beaten daily, kicked down stairs, and hit in the head with a wine bottle.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Gennis|first1=Sadie|date=February 21, 2015|title=Halle Berry Opens Up About Childhood Experience with Domestic Violence|url=https://www.tvguide.com/news/halle-berry-childhood-domestic-violence|work=TVGuide|access-date=May 7, 2015|archive-date=March 1, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190301074807/https://www.tvguide.com/news/halle-berry-childhood-domestic-violence/|url-status=live}}</ref> Berry has also said that she was bullied as a child and, as a result, learned how to fight and protect herself.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esUrEuJ-3fY |title=Halle Berry Gets Real About Action Movie Injuries! |date=2024-08-20 |author=((FOX 13 Seattle)) |access-date=2024-11-03 |via=YouTube}}</ref>

Berry grew up in [[Oakwood, Cuyahoga County, Ohio|Oakwood, Ohio]],<ref>[http://people.com/archive/the-woman-who-would-be-queen-vol-39-no-7/ The Woman Who Would Be Queen | PEOPLE.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612162407/https://people.com/archive/the-woman-who-would-be-queen-vol-39-no-7/ |date=June 12, 2018 }} Retrieved May 20, 2018.</ref> and graduated from [[Bedford High School (Bedford, Ohio)|Bedford High School]], where she was a cheerleader, honor student, editor of the school newspaper, and [[Prom|prom queen]].<ref name=Hurts/> She worked in the children's department of [[Higbee's]] department store. She then continued her studies at [[Cuyahoga Community College]]. In the 1980s, she entered several beauty contests, winning Miss Teen All American 1985 and [[Miss Ohio USA]] 1986.<ref name="peo1">{{cite magazine|url=http://www.people.com/people/halle_berry/biography|title=Halle Berry Biography|magazine=[[People (American magazine)|People]]|access-date=December 15, 2007|archive-date=August 29, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160829174903/http://www.people.com/people/halle_berry/biography|url-status=dead}}</ref> She was the 1986 [[Miss USA]] first runner-up, with [[Christy Fichtner]] of Texas taking home the crown.<ref name="peo1" /> In the Miss USA 1986 pageant interview competition, Berry said she hoped to become an entertainer or do some kind of work in media. Her interview was awarded the highest score by the judges.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pageant-almanac.com/miss-usa/scorecard.php#1986 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071009090510/http://www.pageant-almanac.com/miss-usa/scorecard.php |archive-date=October 9, 2007 |website=Pageant Almanac |title=Miss USA 1986 Scores |access-date=December 21, 2007 |url-status=usurped}}</ref> In 1986, Berry became the first African-American to represent the United States at the [[Miss World 1986|Miss World]] beauty pageant. She placed sixth, with [[Trinidad and Tobago]]'s [[Giselle Laronde]] being crowned Miss World.<ref>{{cite book|first=Frank|last=Sanello|year=2003|title=Halle Berry: A Stormy Life| publisher=Tebbo|isbn=978-1-7424-4654-7}}</ref>