This Millionaire Oscar Winner Once Lived In A Homeless Shelter

Actress Halle Berry’s career spanning over 30 years encompasses success on the big screen and on television. She has won an Oscar, co-starred in a James Bond movie, and played Catwoman. Berry is a multimillionaire at age 55.

To date, Berry’s net worth stands at $90 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth. Let us take a look at how she built her fortune slowly over the years.

Berry wasn't born with a silver spoon in her mouth. Her parents divorced when she was four years old, from which point on she lived exclusively with her mother.

She started entering beauty pageants in the 1980s. She gained attention in 1986 when she won the first runner-up in Miss USA – one of the world's top beauty pageants.

Her modeling career started after winning the pageant.

In 1989, Berry’s acting career started. That same year she landed a role in the ABC sitcom “Living Dolls.” In 1991, she landed a role in the Spike Lee film "Jungle Fever."

Her breakthrough film role was in the romantic comedy "Boomerang," alongside Eddie Murphy, in 1992.

Like other actors, Berry faced challenges early in her career. In 2017, she revealed she had lived in a homeless shelter just months after she moved to New York City to pursue her dream of becoming an actress.

“Three months later, I was out of my cash,” she said on “The Jess Cagle Interview.” “I called my mother and asked her to send me some money, and she said no, and that subsequently led to a year of not speaking to her because I was so upset that she wouldn’t help me.”

She said the experience helped her become the woman she is today.

“It was [to] prove to her and everybody else. It took me right back to my high school years. ‘You say I can’t, watch me. I’m going to figure this out.’ And shelter life was part of figuring it out for a minute until I could get a waitressing job. Then I got a bartending job, and until I could figure that out, that’s what I did.”

Today, Berry is considered one of Hollywood's most talented and bankable actors. She has appeared in many successful projects, including “Swordfish,” the James Bond movie “Die Another Day” and “Gothika.”

In 2002, she won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in “Monster's Ball."

Berry was one of the top-paid actors in the 2000s. Today, she consistently earns $10-$12 million per major film role.