Star assets: celebs who boast beauty, brains and talent

Jet, Jan 5, 2004

There's no perfect formula for making a star. But there are certain raw elements that go into the mix. Talent is one, along with a sharp mind to handle the business side of stardom. Good looks aren't always necessary, but they don't hurt either. Then if the cosmic forces of luck and opportunity collide, maybe, just maybe, a star will be born.

The five celebrities profiled on these pages--an Oscar winner, a tennis queen, a Hollywood prince, a rap master and a singer with a blazing bright destiny--were blessed with those gifts of beauty, brains and skill. Each one dared to dream big and captured the hearts of millions in the process. And all discovered that the only limits to their success were the limits of their imaginations.

Halle Berry

Halle Berry's stunning beauty may have unlocked a few doors in Hollywood, but her talent and tenacity as an actress keeps them from slamming shut in her pretty face. Her visceral portrayal of a widow who forges a desperate relationship with a White prison guard in Monster's Ball earned her the best-actress Oscar in 2002. And when she stepped to the podium to give her acceptance speech as the first Black woman to win for Best Actress in the 74-year history of the Academy Awards, the magnitude of the moment was not lost on her.

"This moment is so much bigger than me," said Berry, who struggled through tears as she spoke. "It's for every nameless, faceless woman of color that now has a chance because this door tonight has been opened."

Fate has been exceptionally kind to the 37-year-old Oscar winner. Born in Cleveland, Berry's good looks as a teen garnered her a Miss Ohio title, a first runner-up slot in the Miss USA competition and a spot in the top five at the Miss World pageant before she ventured into a modeling career.

In 1989 she made her acting debut, playing a model, on the sitcom "Living Dolls." Two years later she got her big-screen break when Spike Lee cast her as a crack addict in Jungle Fever and her career as an actress took flight. Since then, Berry has become one of Hollywood's highest-paid stars with her stellar list of screen credits, including her highly acclaimed portrayal of singer-actress Dorothy Dandridge in the 1999 biopic Introducing Dorothy Dandridge, which earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Actress; her role as the superhero Storm in X-Men (2000) and X2 (2003); and the coveted "Bond girl role of Jinx in the 20th James Bond film, Die Another Day (2002).

She recently starred in the supernatural thriller Gothika and has a string of upcoming films, including Catwoman, Nappily Ever After, The Set-Up, The Guide and the animated film, Robots.

But just as fate has been kind to Berry, it has been cruel at times. The star has weathered many storms in her life, from a strained relationship with her father and her battle with diabetes to her highly publicized hit-and-run trial and the breakup of her two marriages. But through it all, she's remained a class act.

Will Smith

You name it and Will Smith has done it. Blasted space aliens. Check Battled ruthless drug lords. Check. Knocked out a heavyweight boxer, rescued a damsel in distress, saved the world. Check, check and check.

The Philadelphia native also has been blessed with a successful recording career. As part of the Grammy-winning rap duo D.J. Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, Will Smith, aka the Fresh Prince, broke onto the entertainment scene in 1988 with the album He's the D.J., I'm the Rapper. Smith recorded four other albums with Jeff before launching his solo album Big Willie Style in 1997 and Willennium two years later.

His success as a rap star segued into an acting career when Smith made his television debut in 1991 as a smart-aleck teen from Philly sent to live with his affluent West Coast relatives on the sitcom "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air." But it wasn't until Smith took on the role of Paul, a homosexual hustler passing himself off as the son of actor Sidney Poitler in the 1993 film Six Degrees of Separation that critics looked beyond Smith's sitcom image as a lovable goof to see his potential as a dramatic actor.

Since then, no role seems unattainable for Smith, who was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor in 2002 for his role as heavyweight boxing legend Muhammad Ali in the film Ali. His meteoric rise from the lanky rapper lamenting about how "parents just don't understand" to the handsome A-list Hollywood actor he is today proves fairy tales really can come true.

Beyonce

Beyonce Knowles has all the markings of an icon--beautiful face, brickhouse body, breathtaking voice. She's got it and she flaunts it. At 22, the Houston native already has the first-name recognition reserved for more seasoned celebrities thanks to her dynamic performances in films, television, music videos, talk shows, even commercials.

One of the hottest recording artists on the charts, Beyonce recently earned six Grammy Award nominations, including Best Contemporary R&B Album for her first solo CD, Dangerously In Love, and Record of the Year for the single Crazy In Love featuring Jay Z. Also a rising movie star, Beyonce has several films to her credit, including The Fighting Temptations, Austin Powers in Goldmember and Carmen: A Hip Hopera, A founding member of the Grammy-winning R&B group Destiny's Child, Beyonce hit the music scene in 1998 when the group released its self-titled CD, which quick[y went platinum. The group's 1999 sophomore album, The Writing's On The Wall, went multi-platinum and the bouncy track Say My Name netted Destiny's Child two Grammy Awards in 2001. But the victory was bittersweet. In 2000, the Destiny's Child, a quartet, replaced two of its original members, who later filed a lawsuit against the group. That same year, the group lost another member and became a trio and for awhile, the destiny of Destiny's Child seemed uncertain.