Commercial pastels

Pastel is an art medium in the form of a stick, consisting of pure powdered pigment and a binder. The pigments used in pastels are the same as those used to produce all colored art media, including oil paints; the binder is of a neutral hue and low saturation.

The color effect of pastels is closer to the natural dry pigments than that of any other process.^[1]

The noun "pastel" gives rise to:

• another noun, for an artwork whose medium is pastels
• a verb, meaning to produce an artwork with pastels
• an adjective, meaning pale in color

Pastel media[link]

Pastel sticks or crayons consist of pure powdered pigment combined with a binder. The exact composition and characteristics of an individual pastel stick depends on the type of pastel and the type and amount of binder used. It also varies by individual manufacturer.

Dry pastels have historically used binders such as gum arabic and gum tragacanth. Methyl cellulose was introduced as a binder in the twentieth century. Often a chalk or gypsum component is present. They are available in varying degrees of hardness, the softer varieties being wrapped in paper. Some pastel brands use pumice in the binder to abrade the paper and create more tooth.

Dry pastel media can be subdivided as follows:

• Soft pastels: This is the most widely used form of pastel. The sticks have a higher portion of pigment and less binder, resulting in brighter colors. The drawing can be readily smudged and blended, but it results in a higher proportion of dust. Finished drawings made with soft pastels require protecting, either framing under glass or spraying with a fixative to prevent smudging; Hairspray also works. White chalk may be used as a filler in producing pale and bright hues with greater luminosity.^[2]
• Pan Pastels invented in the past few years are formulated with a minimum of binder in flat compacts like women's makeup and applied with special Sofft micropore sponge tools. No liquid is involved. Pan Pastels can be used for the entire painting or in combination with soft and hard sticks.
• Hard pastels: These have a higher portion of binder and less pigment, producing a sharp drawing material that is useful for fine details. These can be used with other pastels for drawing outlines and adding accents. Hard pastels are traditionally used to create the preliminary sketching out of a composition.^[3] However, the colors are less brilliant and are available in a restricted range in contrast to soft pastels.
• Pastel pencils: These are pencils with a pastel lead. They are useful for adding fine details.

In addition, pastels using a different approach to manufacture have been developed:

• Oil pastels: These have a soft, buttery consistency and intense colors. They are dense and fill the grain of paper and are slightly more difficult to blend than soft pastels, but do not require a fixative. They may be spread across the work surface by thinning with turpentine.^[4]
• Water-soluble pastels: These are similar to soft pastels, but contain a water-soluble component, such as glycol. This allows the colors to be thinned out to an even, semi-transparent consistency using a water wash. Water-soluble pastels are made in a restricted range of hues in strong colors. They have the advantages of enabling easy blending and mixing of the hues, given their fluidity, as well as allowing a range of color tint effects depending upon the amount of water applied with a brush to the working surface.

There has been some debate within art societies as to what exactly counts as a pastel. The Pastel Society within the UK (the oldest pastel society) states the following are acceptable media for its exhibitions: "Pastels, including Oil pastel, Charcoal, Pencil, Conté, Sanguine, or any dry media". The emphasis appears to be on "dry media" but the debate continues.

Manufacture[link]

In order to create hard and soft pastels, pigments are ground into a paste with water and a gum binder and then rolled or pressed into sticks. The name "pastel" comes from Medieval Latin pastellum, woad paste, from Late Latin pastellus, paste. The French word pastel first appeared in 1662.

Most brands produce gradations of a color, the original pigment of which tends to be dark, from pure pigment to near-white by mixing in differing quantities of chalk. This mixing of pigments with chalks is the origin of the word "pastel" in reference to "pale color" as it is commonly used in cosmetic and fashion venues.

A pastel is made by letting the sticks move over an abrasive ground, leaving color on the grain of the paper, sandboard, canvas etc. When fully covered with pastel, the work is called a pastel painting; when not, a pastel sketch or drawing. Pastel paintings, being made with a medium that has the highest pigment concentration of all, reflect light without darkening refraction, allowing for very saturated colors.

Pastel supports[link]

Pastel supports need to provide a "tooth" for the pastel to adhere and hold the pigment in place. Supports include:

• laid paper (e.g. Ingres; Canson Mi Teintes)
• abrasive supports (e.g. with a surface of finely ground pumice or marble dust)

Protection of pastel artworks[link]

Scenery painter in Schlosspark Charlottenburg, Berlin

Pastels can be used to produce a permanent work of art if the artist meets appropriate archival considerations. This means:

• Use only pastels with lightfast pigments. Pastels which have used pigments which change color or tone when exposed to light have suffered the same problems as can be seen in some oil paintings using the same pigment.
• Works are done on an acid free archival quality support. Historically some works have been executed on supports which are now extremely fragile and the support rather than the pigment needs to be protected under glass and away from light
• Works are properly mounted and framed under glass in a way which means that the glass does not touch the artwork. This avoids the deterioration which is associated with environmental hazards such as air quality, humidity, mildew problems associated with condensation and smudging.
• Some artists protect their finished pieces by spraying them with a fixative. A pastel fixative is an aerosol varnish which can be used to help stabilize the small charcoal or pastel particles on a painting or drawing. It cannot prevent smearing entirely without dulling and darkening the bright and fresh colors of pastels. It is also toxic, therefore it requires careful use.
• SpectraFix, a modern casein fixative available premixed in a pump misting bottle or as concentrate to mix with vodka or other high proof drinking alcohol, is not toxic and does not darken or dull pastel colors. However, SpectraFix takes some practice to use because it's applied with a pump misting bottle instead of an aerosol spray can. It's easy to use too much SpectraFix and leave puddles of liquid that may dissolve passages of color, also it takes a little longer to dry than conventional spray fixatives between light layers.

For these reasons, some pastelists avoid its use except in cases where the pastel has been overworked so much that the surface will no longer hold any more pastel. The fixative will restore the "tooth" and more pastel can be applied on top. It is the tooth of the painting surface that holds the pastels, not a fixative. Abrasive supports avoid or minimize the need to apply further fixative in this way.

Glassine (paper) is used by artists to protect artwork which is being stored or transported. Some good quality books of pastel papers also include glassine to separate pages.

Techniques[link]

A pastel frottage created by rubbing pastel on paper laid over stone

On the Cliff by Theodore Robinson, 1887. A warm beige paper is used as a colored ground to enhance the pink colors. The rough textured ground provided by the paper also enhances the impressionistic style of the pastel work.

Pastel techniques can be challenging since the medium is mixed and blended directly on the working surface, and unlike paint, colors cannot be tested on a palette before applying to the surface. Pastel errors cannot be covered the way a paint error can be painted out. Experimentation with the pastel medium on a small scale in order to learn various techniques gives the user a better command over a larger composition.^[5]

Pastels have some techniques in common with painting, such as blending, masking, building up layers of color, adding accents and highlighting, and shading. Some techniques are characteristic of both pastels and sketching mediums such as charcoal and lead, for example, hatching and crosshatching, and gradation. Other techniques are particular to the pastel medium.

• Colored grounds - the use of a colored working surface to produce an effect such as a softening of the pastel hues, or a contrast
• Dry Wash (art)
• Erasure
• Feathering
• Frottage (art)
• Impasto
• Pouncing
• Resist techniques
• Scraping out
• Scumbling
• Sfumato
• Sgraffito
• Stippling
• Textured grounds - the use of coarse or smooth paper texture to create an effect, a technique also often used in watercolor painting
• Wet brushing

Health and safety hazards[link]

Pastels are a dry medium and produce a great deal of dust, which can cause respiratory irritation. More seriously, pastels use the same pigments as artists' paints, many of which are toxic. For example, exposure to cadmium pigments, which are common and popular bright yellows, oranges, and reds, can lead to cadmium poisoning. Pastel artists, who use the pigments without a strong painting binder, are especially susceptible to such poisoning.

Pastel art in art history[link]

The pastel medium was first mentioned by Leonardo da Vinci in 1495.

Artists such as Maurice Quentin de La Tour and Rosalba Carriera have been using pastels to create masterpieces as far back as 1703.

During the 18th century the medium became fashionable for portrait painting, sometimes in a mixed technique with gouache.

In the United States, initially pastels only had occasional use in portraiture. However in the late nineteenth century, pastel (like watercolor) became more popular.^[6] The Society of Painters in Pastel was founded in 1885. The Pastellists, led by Leon Dabo, organized in New York in 1910.

Pastels have become popular in modern art because of the medium's broad range of bright colors.

Pastel artists[link]

• 

  Rosalba Carriera, Self-portrait holding a portrait of her sister, 1715, pastel on paper; Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

• 

  Maurice Quentin de La Tour, a bravura pastel portrait of Louis XV, 1748

• 

  Jean Baptiste Simeon Chardin. Self Portrait, in pastel, 1771, The Louvre

• 

  Edgar Degas, La Toilette (Woman Combing Her Hair), c. 1884–1886, pastel on paper, Pushkin Museum, Moscow

• 

  Mary Cassatt, Sleepy Baby, 1910

• Flowers in a Green Vase by Leon Dabo.jpg

  Leon Dabo, Flowers in a Green Vase, c. 1910s, pastel

The 18th-century painters Maurice Quentin de La Tour (see above portrait) and Rosalba Carriera are especially well known for their pastel technique. Jean Baptiste Simeon Chardin's 1699-1779 pastel portraiture and still life paintings are much admired. The 19th-century French painter Edgar Degas was a most prolific user of pastel and its champion. Mary Cassatt, introduced the Impressionists and pastel to her friends in Philadelphia and Washington, and helped popularize both in the USA.

Whistler produced a quantity of pastels around 1880, including a body of work relating to Venice, and this probably contributed to the growing enthusiasm for the medium. In particular, he demonstrated how few strokes were required to evoke a place or an atmosphere (example Note in Pink and Brown (17.97.5). Modern notable artists who have worked extensively in pastels include Fernando Botero, Francesco Clemente, Daniel Greene, Wolf Kahn, and R. B. Kitaj.

See also[link]

• Caran d'Ache (company)
• Chalk
• Color theory
• Drawing
• The Pastellists

References[link]

• Pilgrim, Dianne H. "The Revival of Pastels in Nineteenth-Century America: The Society of Painters in Pastel". American Art Journal, Vol. 10, No. 2 (Nov., 1978), pp. 43–62. doi:10.2307/1594084.
• Jeffares, Neil. Dictionary of Pastellists Before 1800. London: Unicorn Press, 2006. ISBN 0-906290-86-4.

External links[link]

• http://www.artdupastelenfrance.fr/Art du Pastel en France
• Pastel society of eastern Canada
• Pastel society of America

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Pastel

• Dictionary of pastellists before 1800

Halle Berry
Berry in February 2007
Born	Maria Halle Berry (1966-08-14) August 14, 1966 (age 45) Cleveland, Ohio, United States
Occupation	Actress, former model
Years active	1989–present
Spouse	David Justice (m. 1992–1997) «start: (1992)–end+1: (1998)»"Marriage: David Justice to Halle Berry" Location: (linkback:http://en-wiki.pop.wn.com/index.php/Halle_Berry) Eric Benét (m. 2001–2005) «start: (2001)–end+1: (2006)»"Marriage: Eric Benét to Halle Berry" Location: (linkback:http://en-wiki.pop.wn.com/index.php/Halle_Berry)
Partner	Gabriel Aubry (2005–10) Olivier Martinez (2010–present)
Children	Nahla Ariela Aubry

Halle Berry ( /ˈhæli ˈbɛri/; born August 14, 1966^[1]) is an American actress and a former fashion model. Berry received an Emmy, Golden Globe, SAG, and an NAACP Image Award for Introducing Dorothy Dandridge^[2] and won an Academy Award for Best Actress and was nominated for a BAFTA Award in 2001 for her performance in Monster's Ball, becoming the first and, as of 2012, only woman of African American descent to have won the award for Best Actress. She is one of the most highly paid actresses in Hollywood and also a Revlon spokesmodel.^[3][4] She has been involved in the production side of several of the films in which she performed.

Before becoming an actress, Berry entered several beauty contests, finishing as the 1st runner-up in the Miss USA Pageant (1986), and coming in 6th place in the Miss World Pageant in 1986.^[2] She made her film debut with a small role in 1991's Jungle Fever. This led to starring roles in The Flintstones (1994), Bulworth (1998), X-Men (2000) and its sequels, and as Bond Girl Jinx in Die Another Day (2002). She also won the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress in 2005 for Catwoman and accepted the award in person—one of the few performers to do so.^[5]

Early life[link]

Berry was born Maria Halle Berry, though her name was legally changed to Halle Maria Berry in 1971.^[6] Berry's parents selected her middle name from Halle's Department Store, which was then a local landmark in her birthplace of Cleveland, Ohio.^[7] Her mother, Judith Ann (née Hawkins),^[8] who is of European descent, was a psychiatric nurse. Her father, Jerome Jesse Berry, was an African American hospital attendant in the same psychiatric ward where her mother worked; he later became a bus driver.^[7][9] Berry's maternal grandmother, Nellie Dicken, was born in Sawley, Derbyshire, England, while her maternal grandfather, Earl Ellsworth Hawkins, was born in Ohio.^[10] Berry's parents divorced when she was four years old; she and her older sister Heidi^[11] were raised exclusively by her mother.^[7] Berry has said in published reports that she has been estranged from her father since her childhood,^[7][12] noting in 1992, "I haven't heard from him since [he left]. Maybe he's not alive."^[11]

Berry graduated from Bedford High School. She worked in the children's department at Higbee's Department store. She then studied at Cuyahoga Community College. In the 1980s, she entered several beauty contests, winning Miss Teen All-American in 1985 and Miss Ohio USA in 1986.^[2] She was the 1986 Miss USA first runner-up to Christy Fichtner of Texas. In the Miss USA 1986 pageant interview competition, she said she hoped to become an entertainer or to have something to do with the media. Her interview was awarded the highest score by the judges.^[13] She was the first African-American Miss World entrant in 1986, where she finished sixth and Trinidad and Tobago's Giselle Laronde was crowned Miss World.^[14]

Acting career[link]

1989–2002[link]

In the late 1980s, Berry went to Chicago to pursue a modeling career as well as acting.^[15] One of her first acting projects was a television series for local cable by Gordon Lake Productions called Chicago Force. In 1989, Berry moved to New York City to further pursue her acting ambitions. During her early time there she ran out of money and had to live briefly in a homeless shelter.^[15][16][17] Later in 1989, her situation improved and she was cast in the role of model Emily Franklin in the short-lived ABC television series Living Dolls, which was shot in New York and was a spin-off of the hit series Who's the Boss?.^[15] During the taping of which she lapsed into a coma and was diagnosed with diabetes.^[18][19] After the cancellation of Living Dolls, she moved to Los Angeles.^[15] She went on to have a recurring role on the long-running primetime serial Knots Landing. In 1992, Berry was cast as the love interest in the video for R. Kelly's seminal single, Honey Love.^[20][21]

Berry visiting with sailors and Marines during the opening day of Fleet Week New York 2006

Her breakthrough feature film role was in Spike Lee's Jungle Fever, in which she played a drug addict named Vivian.^[7] Her first co-starring role was in the 1991 film Strictly Business. In 1992, Berry portrayed a career woman who falls for Eddie Murphy in the romantic comedy Boomerang. That same year, she caught the public's attention as a headstrong biracial slave in the TV adaptation of Queen: The Story of an American Family, based on the book by Alex Haley. Berry was in the live-action Flintstones movie playing the part of "Sharon Stone", a sultry secretary who seduced Fred Flintstone.^[22]

Berry tackled a more serious role, playing a former drug addict struggling to regain custody of her son in Losing Isaiah (1995), starring opposite Jessica Lange. She portrayed Sandra Beecher in Race the Sun (1996), which was based on a true story, shot in Australia, and co-starred alongside Kurt Russell in Executive Decision. Beginning in 1996, she was a Revlon spokeswoman for seven years and renewed her contract in 2004.^[4][23]

In 1997, Halle starred alongside Natalie Deselle Reid in the comedy film, B*A*P*S. Although panned by critics, it showed Halle's acting versatility.In 1998, Berry received praise for her role in Bulworth as an intelligent woman raised by activists who gives a politician (Warren Beatty) a new lease on life. The same year, she played the singer Zola Taylor, one of the three wives of pop singer Frankie Lymon, in the biopic Why Do Fools Fall in Love. In the 1999 HBO biopic Introducing Dorothy Dandridge, she portrayed the first black woman to be nominated for a Best Actress Academy Award, and it was to Berry a heart-felt project that she introduced, co-produced and fought intensely for it to come through.^[7] Berry's performance was recognized with several awards, including an Emmy and a Golden Globe.^[2][24]

Berry portrayed the mutant superhero Storm in the film adaptation of the comic book series X-Men (2000) and its sequels, X2: X-Men United (2003) and X-Men: The Last Stand (2006). In 2001, Berry appeared in the film Swordfish, which featured her first nude scene.^[25] At first, she refused to be filmed topless in a sunbathing scene, but she changed her mind when Warner Brothers raised her fee substantially.^[26] The brief flash of her breasts added $500,000 to her fee.^[27] Berry considered these stories to be rumors and was quick to deny them.^[25][28] After turning down numerous roles that required nudity, she said she decided to make Swordfish because her husband, Benét, supported her and encouraged her to take risks.^[29]

In 2001, Berry appeared as Leticia Musgrove, the wife of an executed murderer, in the film Monster's Ball. Her performance was awarded the National Board of Review and the Screen Actors Guild best-actress prizes; in an interesting coincidence she became the first African-American to win the Academy Award for Best Actress (earlier in her career she portrayed Dorothy Dandridge, the first African-American to be nominated for Best Actress, and who was born at the same hospital as Berry, in Cleveland, Ohio).^[30] The NAACP issued the statement: "Congratulations to Halle Berry and Denzel Washington for giving us hope and making us proud. If this is a sign that Hollywood is finally ready to give opportunity and judge performance based on skill and not on skin color then it is a good thing."^[31] Her role also generated controversy. Berry's graphic nude love scene with a racist character played by co-star Billy Bob Thornton was the subject of much media chatter and discussion among African-Americans. Many in the African-American community were critical of Berry for taking the part.^[29] Berry responded: "I don't really see a reason to ever go that far again. That was a unique movie. That scene was special and pivotal and needed to be there, and it would be a really special script that would require something like that again."^[29]

Berry signs autographs for US soldiers in Bosnia-Herzegovina, December 24, 1996

Berry asked for a higher fee for Revlon advertisements after winning the Academy Award, and Ron Perelman, the cosmetics firm's chief, congratulated her, saying how happy he was that she modeled for his company. She replied, "Of course, you'll have to pay me more." Perelman stalked off in a rage.^[32] Her win at the Academy Awards led to two famous "Oscar moments." In accepting her award, she gave an acceptance speech honoring previous black actresses who had never had the opportunity. She said, "This moment is so much bigger than me. This is for every nameless, faceless woman of colour who now has a chance tonight because this door has been opened."^[33] One year later, as she presented the Best Actor award, winner Adrien Brody ran on stage and, instead of giving her the standard peck on the cheek, planted a long kiss on Berry.

2002–present[link]

Berry in Hamburg in 2004

As Bond girl Giacinta 'Jinx' Johnson in the 2002 blockbuster Die Another Day, Berry recreated a scene from Dr. No, emerging from the surf to be greeted by James Bond as Ursula Andress had 40 years earlier.^[34] Lindy Hemming, costume designer on Die Another Day, had insisted that Berry wear a bikini and knife as an homage.^[35] Berry has said of the scene: "It's splashy", "exciting", "sexy", "provocative" and "it will keep me still out there after winning an Oscar."^[29] The bikini scene was shot in Cadiz; the location was reportedly cold and windy, and footage has been released of Berry wrapped in thick towels in between takes to avoid catching a chill.^[36] According to a ITV news poll, Jinx was voted the fourth toughest girl on screen of all time.^[37] Berry was hurt during filming when debris from a smoke grenade flew into her eye. It was removed in a 30-minute operation.^[38]

After Berry won the Academy Award, rewrites were commissioned to give her more screentime for X2.^[39]

In November 2003, she starred in the psychological thriller Gothika opposite Robert Downey Jr., during which she broke her arm in a scene with Downey, who twisted her arm too hard. Production was halted for eight weeks.^[40] It was a moderate hit at the United States box office, taking in $60 million; it earned another $80 million abroad.^[41] Berry appeared in the Limp Bizkit music video for Behind Blue Eyes for the motion picture soundtrack for the film. The same year, she was named #1 in FHM's 100 Sexiest Women in the World poll.^[42]

Berry received $12.5 million for the title role in the film Catwoman,^[41] a $100 million movie; it grossed $17 million on its first weekend.^[43] She was awarded a "worst actress" Razzie award in 2005 for this role. She appeared at the ceremony to accept the award in person (making her the third person, and second actor, to ever do so)^[44] with a sense of humor, considering it an experience of the "rock bottom" in order to be "at the top".^[5] Holding the Academy Award in one hand and the Razzie in the other she said, "I never in my life thought that I would be here, winning a Razzie. It's not like I ever aspired to be here, but thank you. When I was a kid, my mother told me that if you could not be a good loser, then there's no way you could be a good winner."^[30] The Fund for Animals praised Berry's compassion towards cats and for squelching rumors that she was keeping a Bengal tiger from the sets of Catwoman as a "pet."^[45]

Berry next appeared in the Oprah Winfrey-produced ABC TV movie Their Eyes Were Watching God (2005), an adaptation of Zora Neale Hurston's novel, in which Berry portrayed Janie Crawford, a free-spirited woman whose unconventional sexual mores upset her 1920s contemporaries in a small community. She was nominated for an Emmy for this TV film. Meanwhile, she voiced the character of Cappy, one of the many mechanical beings in the animated feature Robots (2005).^[46]

Berry on the red carpet of Robots

In 2006, Berry, Pierce Brosnan, Cindy Crawford, Jane Seymour, Dick Van Dyke, Tea Leoni, and Daryl Hannah successfully fought the Cabrillo Port Liquefied Natural Gas facility that was proposed off the coast of Malibu.^[47] Berry said, "I care about the air we breathe, I care about the marine life and the ecosystem of the ocean."^[48] In May 2007, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed the facility.^[49] Hasty Pudding Theatricals gave her its 2006 Woman of The Year award.^[50]

Berry is involved in production of films and television. She served as executive producer on Introducing Dorothy Dandridge in 1999, and Lackawanna Blues in 2005. Berry both produced and starred in the thriller Perfect Stranger with Bruce Willis and in Things We Lost in the Fire with Benicio del Toro, the first film in which she worked with a female director, Danish Susanne Bier, a new feeling of "thinking the same way", which she appreciated.^[51] Berry then starred in the film Frankie and Alice, in which she plays Frankie Murdoch, a young multiracial American women with dissociative identity disorder struggling against her alter personality to retain her true self. She was awarded the African-American Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress and also was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama.

Berry is one of the highest-paid actresses in Hollywood, earning $10 million per film.^[3] In July 2007, she topped In Touch magazine's list of the world's most fabulous 40-something celebrities. On April 3, 2007, she was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in front of the Kodak Theatre at 6801 Hollywood Boulevard for her contributions to the film industry.^[52][53] As of 2011, Berry's worldwide box office gross has been more than 2.7 billion US$. In 2011, she appeared in New Year's Eve, and is playing one of the leads in the film Cloud Atlas, which is expected to be released in October 2012.^[54] Berry has served for many years as the face of Revlon cosmetics and also as the face of Versace. The Coty Inc. fragrance company signed Berry to market her debut fragrance in March 2008. Berry was delighted, saying that she had created her own fragrances at home by mixing scents.^[55]

Berry at the 2003 Comic-Con International in San Diego, CA

Personal life[link]

Berry at the 83rd Academy Awards, February 27, 2011

Berry has been married twice. Her first marriage was to former baseball player David Justice, from 1993^[56] to 1996. Their divorce was finalized in 1997.^[57] Berry has stated publicly that she was so depressed after her breakup with Justice that she considered taking her own life,^[58] but she could not bear the thought of her mother finding her body.^[59]

Berry was married to Eric Benét from early 2001 to 2005.^[29][60] Berry credited Benét with support after she was involved in a February 2000 traffic collision, in which she left the scene of the accident. Some in the media complained that her misdemeanor hit and run charge was preferential treatment;^[61][62] she had also been the driver in an alleged hit and run incident three years earlier in which no charges were filed.^[63] The incident became fodder for comedians. Berry pleaded no contest, did community service, paid a fine and was placed on three years' probation.^[64] A civil lawsuit was settled out of court.^[65][66] While married to Benét, Berry adopted his daughter, India.^[60] The divorce was finalized in January 2005.^[67]

In November 2005, Berry began dating French-Canadian model Gabriel Aubry. The couple met at a Versace photoshoot.^[68] Berry gave birth to a girl named Nahla Ariela Aubry on March 16, 2008, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.^[69] Nahla means "honeybee" in Arabic; Ariela is Hebrew for "lion for God".^[70] On April 30, 2010, Berry and Aubry announced their separation.^[71] Aubry filed documents with the Los Angeles Superior Court on December 30, 2010, asking the court to formally recognize his paternity and grant a court order giving him and Berry joint legal and physical custody over their daughter.^[72][73]

Berry has been dating actor Olivier Martinez since 2010.^[74] Martinez confirmed their engagement in March 2012.^[75]

In the media[link]

Berry took part in a nearly 2000-house party cell-phone bank campaign for Barack Obama in February 2008.^[76]

In October 2008, Berry was named Esquire magazine's "Sexiest Woman Alive", about which she stated "I don't know exactly what it means, but being 42 and having just had a baby, I think I'll take it.^[77][78] Men's Health ranked her at No. 35 on their "100 Hottest Women of All-Time" list.^[79]

In 2009, she was voted #23 on Empire's 100 Sexiest Film Stars.^[80]

Also in 2009, the 'rapper' Hurricane Chris released a song entitled "Halle Berry (She's Fine)," extolling Berry's sex appeal.

Filmography[link]

Awards[link]

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Banting, Erinn. Halle Berry, Weigl Publishers, 2005 – ISBN 1-59036-333-7
• Gogerly, Liz. Halle Berry, Raintree, 2005 – ISBN 1-4109-1085-7
• Naden, Corinne J. Halle Berry, Sagebrush Education Resources, 2001 – ISBN 0-613-86157-4
• O'Brien, Daniel. Halle Berry, Reynolds & Hearn, 2003 – ISBN 1-903111-38-2
• Sanello, Frank. Halle Berry: A Stormy Life, Virgin Books, 2003 – ISBN 1-85227-092-6
• Schuman, Michael A. Halle Berry: Beauty Is Not Just Physical, Enslow, 2006 – ISBN 0-7660-2467-9

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Halle Berry

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Halle Berry

• Halle Berry at the Internet Movie Database
• Halle Berry at AllRovi
• Works by or about Halle Berry in libraries (WorldCat catalog)