August  14

Maria Halle Berry's Birthday
 

Halle Berry once said that you need to experience rock bottom to truly be at the top. And she should know – her career has had nearly as many low points as it has had highs. For every highly respected Monster’s Ball  (2001) that’s earned her high accolades, there’s been a Catwoman (2004) to balance it out. 

Berry was born Maria Halle Berry on August 14, 1966. Her parents divorced when she was four and she was raised solely by her mother. In the 1980s, Berry began competing in beauty pageants and was awarded 1^st runner-up in the 1986 Miss USA contest. Moving to Chicago to pursue an acting career, Berry lapsed into a diabetic coma on the set of a spin-off of Who’s the Boss. Spike Lee’s Jungle Fever (1991)proved to be her big breakout role, wherein she played a drug addict dating Samuel L. Jackson. 

Berry then starred in the highly praised Queen (1993), a miniseries based on the book by Alex Haley, and then seduced John Goodman in the bizarre Flintstones  (1994) live-action remake. After portraying the first black woman to be nominated for an Academy Award in Introducing Dorothy Dandridge (1999), she accepted an extra $500,000 to take her top off in the otherwise abysmal Swordfish (2001). There’s a pattern here. 

In 2001, in an amazing instance of life imitating art, Berry surpassed her role of Dandridge and became the first (and as of this writing, only) black woman to win an Academy Award for her work in Monster’s Ball. She gave an inspiring speech on the opportunity this represented for all black actresses. 

It would seem that Berry’s career had nowhere to go but up. She had a returning role in the highly-successful X-Men franchise and an Oscar, successfully bridging the gap between summer-movie hottie and successful dramatic actress. 2002’s Die Another Day, the worst Bond film to date, was only memorable because of Berry’s recreation of Ursula Andress’ infamous belted bikini from Dr. No. 

True to form, Berry followed up these dizzying successes with some more… grounded work. She was “honored” for her “acting” in 2004’s Catwoman at the Gold Raspberry Awards, where she won “Worst Actress.” Putting aside the obvious fruit-related puns, Halle was one of only two actors in the Razzie’s history to accept their award in person – the other was fellow Oscar-winner Sandra Bullock. 

The authors feel that Berry’s inconsistencies in performance do not necessarily stem from a lack of talent – on the contrary, Berry has an arresting screen presence and strong dramatic chops. Rather, moving forward, the lovely Ms. Berry might want to exercise a little more prudence in her role selection, although the perpetually-delayed Jaws knockoff Dark Tide (2011) might not be a step in the right direction. 

To honor the stunning and groundbreaking actress on her birthday, celebrate with a desert whose name hopefully won’t become a reference to her career. I know I said I was going to avoid fruit puns, but this one was just too delicious to resist. However, we suggest making this just dessert with Splenda in case you invite her over for a birthday party since she has diabetes. But don't serve it with Swordfish or she may never forgive you.
 

Berry Crumble