Jennifer Beals
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Jennifer Beals (born December 19, 1963) is an American actress and a former teen model. She is known for her roles as Alexandra "Alex" Owens in the 1983 film Flashdance, and as Bette Porter on the Showtime drama series The L Word. She earned an NAACP Image Award and a Golden Globe Award nomination for the former. She has appeared in more than 50 films. Beals was born on the South Side of Chicago, the daughter of Jeanne (née Anderson), an elementary school teacher, and Alfred Beals, who owned grocery stores. She is multiracial; her father was African American, and her mother is Irish American. She has two brothers, Bobby and Gregory.Her father died when Beals was nine years old, and her mother married Edward Cohen in 1981. Beals has said her biracial heritage had some effect on her, as she "always lived sort of on the outside", with an idea "of being the other in society". She got her first job at age 13 at an ice cream store, using her height at the time (she is now nearly 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)), to convince her boss she was 16. Beals was inspired to become an actress by two events: doing a high school production of Fiddler on the Roof and seeing Balm in Gilead with Joan Allen while volunteer-ushering at the Steppenwolf Theatre. Beals graduated from the progressive Francis W. Parker School. She also was chosen to attend the elite Goodman Theatre Young People's Drama Workshop. Beals attended Yale University, receiving a B.A. in American literature in 1987; she deferred a term so she could film Flashdance. While at Yale, Beals was a resident of Morse College. Description above from the Wikipedia article Jennifer Beals, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known for
Credits
After (2019)
as Karen Gibson
The Book of Eli (2010)
as Claudia
Flashdance (1983)
as Alex Owens
Runaway Jury (2003)
as Vanessa Lembeck
Four Rooms (1995)
as Angela
Before I Fall (2017)
as Mrs. Kingston
The Grudge 2 (2006)
as Trish Kimble
Luckiest Girl Alive (2022)
as Lolo Vincent
Devil in a Blue Dress (1995)
as Daphne Monet
Vampire's Kiss (1989)
as Rachel
Troubled Waters (2006)
as FBI Agent Beck
The Last Days of Disco (1998)
as Nina
My Bodyguard (1980)
as Clifford's Friend (uncredited)
The Bride (1985)
as Eva
The Thief and the Cobbler (1993)
as Princess YumYum (voice)
A Wife's Nightmare (2014)
as Liz
Dr. M (1990)
as Sonja Vogler
A Night for Dying Tigers (2010)
as Melanie
Blood and Concrete (1991)
as Mona
The Prophecy II (1998)
as Valerie Rosales
Feast of All Saints (2001)
as Dolly Rose
Manhattan Night (2016)
as Lisa Wren
The Anniversary Party (2001)
as Gina Taylor
Queen to Play (2009)
as L’Américaine
Hollywood: No Sex, Please! (2018)
Actor
Indecency (1992)
as Ellie Shaw
Caro diario (1993)
as Jennifer Beals
Turbulence 2: Fear of Flying (1999)
as Jessica
The White Orchid (2018)
as Vivian
That's Dancing! (1985)
Actor
Wishful Thinking (1999)
as Elizabeth
Body and Soul (2000)
as Gina
Break a Leg (2005)
as Juliet
The Search for One-eye Jimmy (1994)
as Ellen
Roger Dodger (2002)
as Sophie
Full Out (2015)
as Coach Valorie Kondos-Field
My Name Is Sarah (2007)
as Sarah Winston
In the Soup (1992)
as Angelica Pena
A Fuller Life (2013)
as Self - Reader (segment "Crime Reporter")
Joy Will Prevail (—)
as Esther Kahn
Catch That Kid (2004)
as Molly Phillips
Split Decisions (1988)
as Barbara Uribe
Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle (1994)
as Gertrude Benchley
A House Divided (2000)
as Amanda Dickson
The Twilight of the Golds (1996)
as Suzanne Stein
Cinderella (1985)
as Cinderella
Out of Line (2001)
as Officer Jenny Capitanas
The Spree (1998)
as Xinia Kelly
The Big Pardon 2 (1992)
as Joyce Ferranti
Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute (1988)
as Self
They Shoot Divas, Don't They? (2002)
as Sloan McBride
13 Moons (2002)
as Suzi
Hello Out There (2025)
as Judith
The Night Before the Night Before Christmas (2010)
as Angela Fox
The Gamble (1988)
as Lady Olivia Candioni
Without Malice (2000)
as Samantha Wilkes
Desolation Sound (2005)
as Elizabeth Storey
Dead on Sight (1994)
as Rebecca Darcy
Let It Be Me (1995)
as Emily Taylor
Militia (2000)
as Julie Sanders
Night Owl (1993)
as Julia
Starz Inside: Fashion in Film (2008)
as Self
Terror Stalks the Class Reunion (1992)
as Virginia
Something More (2000)
as Lisa
Cinemanovels (2013)
as Clementine
Sons (1990)
as Transvestite
The Madonna and the Dragon (1990)
as Patty Meredith