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
The Book of Eli (2010)
as Claudia
After (2019)
as Karen Gibson
Flashdance (1983)
as Alex Owens
Luckiest Girl Alive (2022)
as Lolo Vincent
My Bodyguard (1980)
as Clifford's Friend (uncredited)
Four Rooms (1995)
as Angela
The Grudge 2 (2006)
as Trish Kimble
Runaway Jury (2003)
as Vanessa Lembeck
Before I Fall (2017)
as Mrs. Kingston
The Bride (1985)
as Eva
Troubled Waters (2006)
as FBI Agent Beck
Vampire's Kiss (1989)
as Rachel
Devil in a Blue Dress (1995)
as Daphne Monet
Dr. M (1990)
as Sonja Vogler
Indecency (1992)
as Ellie Shaw
Feast of All Saints (2001)
as Dolly Rose
Militia (2000)
as Julie Sanders
Queen to Play (2009)
as L’Américaine
Hollywood: No Sex, Please! (2018)
Actor
Manhattan Night (2016)
as Lisa Wren
Cinderella (1985)
as Cinderella
Catch That Kid (2004)
as Molly Phillips
The Prophecy II (1998)
as Valerie Rosales
That's Dancing! (1985)
Actor
The Thief and the Cobbler (1993)
as Princess YumYum (voice)
A Wife's Nightmare (2014)
as Liz
Out of Line (2001)
as Officer Jenny Capitanas
My Name Is Sarah (2007)
as Sarah Winston
Blood and Concrete (1991)
as Mona
The Last Days of Disco (1998)
as Nina
Break a Leg (2005)
as Juliet
Caro diario (1993)
as Jennifer Beals
A Fuller Life (2013)
as Self - Reader (segment "Crime Reporter")
Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle (1994)
as Gertrude Benchley
Joy Will Prevail (2026)
as Esther Kahn
Full Out (2015)
as Coach Valorie Kondos-Field
Turbulence 2: Fear of Flying (1999)
as Jessica
Body and Soul (2000)
as Gina
Roger Dodger (2002)
as Sophie
Murder in Cold Country (—)
as Maya Lewis
The White Orchid (2018)
as Vivian
Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute (1988)
as Self
13 Moons (2002)
as Suzi
The Twilight of the Golds (1996)
as Suzanne Stein
Let It Be Me (1995)
as Emily Taylor
In the Soup (1992)
as Angelica Pena
Split Decisions (1988)
as Barbara Uribe
A Night for Dying Tigers (2010)
as Melanie
Dead on Sight (1994)
as Rebecca Darcy
Hello Out There (2025)
as Judith
The Big Pardon 2 (1992)
as Joyce Ferranti
The Search for One-eye Jimmy (1994)
as Ellen
The Anniversary Party (2001)
as Gina Taylor
They Shoot Divas, Don't They? (2002)
as Sloan McBride
The Night Before the Night Before Christmas (2010)
as Angela Fox
Night Owl (1993)
as Julia
Wishful Thinking (1999)
as Elizabeth
The Gamble (1988)
as Lady Olivia Candioni
Terror Stalks the Class Reunion (1992)
as Virginia
A House Divided (2000)
as Amanda Dickson
The Spree (1998)
as Xinia Kelly
Sons (1990)
as Transvestite
Without Malice (2000)
as Samantha Wilkes
Cinemanovels (2013)
as Clementine
Starz Inside: Fashion in Film (2008)
as Self
The Madonna and the Dragon (1990)
as Patty Meredith
Desolation Sound (2005)
as Elizabeth Storey
Something More (2000)
as Lisa