Jennifer Beals
Acting • Born 1963-12-19
Biography
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.
Filmography
101 credits
Four Rooms
Movie • 1995
Angela
Flashdance
Movie • 1983
Alex Owens
The Grudge 2
Movie • 2006
Trish Kimble
Catch That Kid
Movie • 2004
Molly Phillips
The Book of Eli
Movie • 2010
Claudia
Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle
Movie • 1994
Gertrude Benchley
Militia
Movie • 2000
Julie Sanders
Vampire's Kiss
Movie • 1989
Rachel
Devil in a Blue Dress
Movie • 1995
Daphne Monet
Dear Diary
Movie • 1993
Self
The Prophecy II
Movie • 1998
Valerie Rosales
The Anniversary Party
Movie • 2001
Gina Taylor
The Thief and the Cobbler
Movie • 1993
Princess YumYum (voice)
Roger Dodger
Movie • 2002
Sophie
The Big Pardon 2
Movie • 1992
Joyce Ferranti
Dr. M
Movie • 1990
Sonja Vogler
The Bride
Movie • 1985
Eva
Troubled Waters
Movie • 2006
FBI Agent Beck
Queen to Play
Movie • 2009
L’Américaine
13 Moons
Movie • 2002
Suzi
Desolation Sound
Movie • 2005
Elizabeth Storey
The Last Days of Disco
Movie • 1998
Nina
In the Soup
Movie • 1992
Angelica Pena
Feast of All Saints
Movie • 2001
Dolly Rose
The Night Before the Night Before Christmas
Movie • 2010
Angela Fox
Turbulence 2: Fear of Flying
Movie • 1999
Jessica
Split Decisions
Movie • 1988
Barbara Uribe
Blood and Concrete
Movie • 1991
Mona
Wishful Thinking
Movie • 1999
Elizabeth
A Night for Dying Tigers
Movie • 2010
Melanie
The Spree
Movie • 1998
Xinia Kelly
Body and Soul
Movie • 2000
Gina
Dead on Sight
Movie • 1994
Rebecca Darcy
Terror Stalks the Class Reunion
Movie • 1992
Virginia
My Name Is Sarah
Movie • 2007
Sarah Winston
Cinemanovels
Movie • 2013
Clementine
Break a Leg
Movie • 2005
Juliet
Indecency
Movie • 1992
Ellie Shaw
The Madonna and the Dragon
Movie • 1990
Patty Meredith
Runaway Jury
Movie • 2003
Vanessa Lembeck
The Gamble
Movie • 1988
Lady Olivia Candioni
The Twilight of the Golds
Movie • 1996
Suzanne Stein
Manhattan Night
Movie • 2016
Lisa Wren
Full Out
Movie • 2015
Coach Valorie Kondos-Field
A Wife's Nightmare
Movie • 2014
Liz
Out of Line
Movie • 2001
Officer Jenny Capitanas
Let It Be Me
Movie • 1995
Emily Taylor
Night Owl
Movie • 1993
Julia
They Shoot Divas, Don't They?
Movie • 2002
Sloan McBride
A House Divided
Movie • 2000
Amanda Dickson
Before I Fall
Movie • 2017
Mrs. Kingston
A Fuller Life
Movie • 2013
Self - Reader (segment "Crime Reporter")
Cinderella
Movie • 1985
Cinderella
Without Malice
Movie • 2000
Samantha Wilkes
The White Orchid
Movie • 2018
Vivian
After
Movie • 2019
Karen Gibson
Sons
Movie • 1990
Transvestite
Something More
Movie • 2000
Lisa
The Search for One-eye Jimmy
Movie • 1994
Ellen
That's Dancing!
Movie • 1985
Luckiest Girl Alive
Movie • 2022
Lolo Vincent
My Bodyguard
Movie • 1980
Clifford's Friend (uncredited)
Hello Out There
Movie • 2025
Judith
Faerie Tale Theatre: Cinderella
Movie • 1985
Cinderella
Starz Inside: Fashion in Film
Movie • 2008
Self
Joy Will Prevail
Movie
Esther Kahn
That's Dancing!
Movie • 1985
Self (archive footage)
Hollywood: No Sex, Please!
Movie • 2018
Law & Order
TV • 1990
Sofia Archer
Castle
TV • 2009
Sophia Turner
Best Week Ever
TV • 2004
The Daily Show
TV • 1996
Self
The View
TV • 1997
Self
E! True Hollywood Story
TV • 1996
The L Word
TV • 2004
Bette Porter
Faerie Tale Theatre
TV • 1982
Cinderella
Lie to Me
TV • 2009
Zoe Landau
2000 Malibu Road
TV • 1992
Perry Quinn
Where Are They Now?
TV • 1999
Self
The Outer Limits
TV • 1995
Robin Dysart
The Chicago Code
TV • 2011
Teresa Colvin
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
TV • 2005
Self
Motive
TV • 2013
Sophia Balfour
Proof
TV • 2015
Dr. Carolyn Tyler
The Book of Boba Fett
TV • 2021
Garsa Fwip
Taken
TV • 2017
Christina Hart
Frasier
TV • 1993
Dr. Anne Ranberg
The Hunger
TV • 1997
Jane
Law & Order: Organized Crime
TV • 2021
Cassandra Webb
Nothing Sacred
TV • 1997
Justine Madsen Judd
Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen
TV • 2009
Self - Guest
The Night Shift
TV • 2014
Dr. Syd Jennings
The L Word: Generation Q
TV • 2019
Bette Porter
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
TV • 2014
Self - Guest
Swamp Thing
TV • 2019
Lucilia Cable
Off Camera with Sam Jones
TV • 2014
Self
Seitenblicke
TV • 1987
self
Golden Globe Awards
TV • 1944
Self
Golden Globe Awards
TV • 1944
Self - Nominee
The Kelly Clarkson Show
TV • 2019
Self
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
TV • 2003
Self - Guest