HALLE SAYS 'I TRIED BLACK MEN': Actress pokes fun at her past dating/marriage history in new issue of Essence, on stands today.

*Halle Berry jokes about her unsuccessful record with black men in the new March 2009 issue of Essence magazine, which features the Academy Award-winning actress on the cover.
"I tried black men. I tried," she wails in a mock southern accent. "I married two black men. You know I tried." She laughs again before making clear that "I don't hold all black males responsible because of the two bad eggs I got. I even dated black men after my last divorce, but this is just where I found love."

Berry and her boyfriend of four years, French Canadian model Gabriel Aubrey, have a 9-month-old daughter named Nahla. Asked by Essence contributor Lola Ogunnaike about being a mom, the film star said, "I thought I knew love before, but I never knew anything like this."

Berry graces the Essence cover for the seventh time in her career. While the interview is designed to promote her next movie "Frankie and Alice," she was asked about her decision to go bald for her role in the 2010 romantic comedy "Nappily Ever After."

"I am shaving it off,' she says. "I know. Here comes the controversy, but I have to do it for the role and it will grow back—I hope."

The Essence "Hollywood Special" issue also includes a photo spread featuring the legendary Diahann Carroll, Oscar nominee Taraji P. Henson and "The Secret Lives of Bees" director Gina Prince-Bythewood. Each of the ladies will be honored at the second annual Essence Black Women in Hollywood Luncheon taking place Feb. 19 during Oscar Week at the Beverly Hills Hotel. The March 2009 issue hits newsstands today (Feb. 12).