Halle Berry

Born on August 14, 1966 in Cleveland, Ohio, Halle Maria Berry and her older sister Heidi were raised by their mother Judith, a psychiatric ward nurse. Halle's father walked out on the family when she was only 4 years old. Although living in a single-parent household was somewhat tough, Halle's mom managed to move the family out of the inner-city neighborhood and into the suburbs of Cleveland. But because the neighborhood was predominantly white, Halle and her sister were treated cruelly because of their dark skin. Determined not to let the color of her skin get the best of her, Halle made it a point to make friends, and her dream of becoming an actress had already begun to surface. By the time Halle reached high school, she was a cheerleader, an honor society member, editor of the school paper, and class president. Not surprisingly, she was crowned her high school's prom queen. In 1983, when she was only 17 years old, Halle's then-boyfriend entered her name in the Miss Teen Ohio beauty pageant. Once again, it's no surprise that Halle got to wear the crown in that competition. But it didn't stop there: Halle won many other high-profile competitions, including Miss Teen All-American, Miss USA (first runner-up) and Miss World. Once she was done raking in points by winning pageant after pageant, Halle continued her education at Cleveland's Cuyahoga Community College in 1986, studying broadcast journalism.