Named after a department store in Cleveland, Ohio, Berry was a Miss USA contestant before heading to Chicago to pursue modeling.

Her role in Spike Lee's Jungle Fever in 1991 put her on the map, but it wasn't until her performances in X-Men as Storm and rolling around on the carpet with Billy Bob Thornton in the award winning Monster's Ball that she became a true superstar.

Beautiful Berry has been a double-edged sword, capable of pulling off serious Oscar-winning performances and popcorn action roles at the same time.

For five years, Berry was married to pro baseball player David Justice, before entering a four-year marriage to R&B singer Eric Benet. Unbelievably, Benet was unfaithful to the utterly hot Berry.

Lately, her love life is seeing some sunshine with Versace model Gabriel Aubry. The pair welcomed daughter Nahla Ariela Aubry in March 2008.