Berry bags pudding gong

Halle Berry was awarded Harvard University's Hasty Pudding award on Thursday - with Richard Gere to be awarded the male equivalent next week.

The gongs, which went to Catherine Zeta-Jones and Tim Robbins last year, are awarded by Hasty Pudding Theatricals, America's oldest undergraduate theatre company, at their Cambridge, Massachusetts, campus.

Berry insists she takes the honour "very seriously - it's going to go right next to my Oscar".

Harvard student Peter Dodd gushes: "She's just such a good role model for anyone interested in the arts, and she's just so fun."