Halle Berry's Real Name: Halle Maria Berry

Quick answer: Halle Berry's full name is Halle Maria Berry, with Maria as her middle name. She was born on August 14, 1966, in Cleveland, Ohio. She became the first African American to win the Academy Award for best actress, for Monster's Ball (2001). She is also known as Storm in the X-Men films and for Die Another Day (Library of Congress; Britannica).

Real name and early life

The Library of Congress name authority files her as "Berry, Halle." One citation, from a biography, notes she was "b. Aug. 14, 1966, in Cleveland, Ohio; middle name: Maria." Another lists her as "Berry, Halle Maria," born August 14, 1966, in Cleveland, and a student at Cuyahoga Community College. Some references, including Wikipedia, say her name was first recorded as Maria Halle Berry. The LOC sources quoted here use Halle as her first name and Maria as her middle name.

Britannica says she was a teenage finalist in national beauty pageants, worked as a model, and began acting on television in 1989.

Career highlights

Spike Lee's Jungle Fever (1991) and the Eddie Murphy comedy Boomerang (1992) first brought her attention. She starred with Jessica Lange in Losing Isaiah (1995). Playing Dorothy Dandridge, the first African American nominated for best actress, in Introducing Dorothy Dandridge (1999) won her an Emmy and a Golden Globe.

Her role as Leticia Musgrove in Monster's Ball made Oscar history. She played Storm in X-Men (2000) and its sequels (2003, 2006, 2014) and starred in Swordfish (2001) and the Bond film Die Another Day (2002). Gothika (2003) and Catwoman (2004) were her first top-billed theatrical films. Later work includes Their Eyes Were Watching God (2005), Perfect Stranger, Things We Lost in the Fire, Frankie & Alice, Cloud Atlas (2012) in several roles, The Call, Kidnap, Kingsman: The Golden Circle, and John Wick: Chapter 3—Parabellum (2019).

She made her directing debut with Bruised (2020), starring as a mixed martial arts fighter. She then played an astronaut in Moonfall (2022), and Britannica notes that she starred with Chris Hemsworth in the 2026 heist film Crime 101. LOC also notes her NAACP Image Award and an African American Film Critics Association best actress award.

Name notes for searchers

"Halle" is a given name, not a nickname, and Berry is her family surname. Searches for "Maria Halle Berry" refer to the birth-record order some sources report. LOC records Halle Maria Berry, so both names describe the same woman.