
Jennifer Beals
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.
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Acting (64 movies)

Four Rooms
1995

Flashdance
1983

The Grudge 2
2006

Catch That Kid
2004

The Book of Eli
2010

Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle
1994

Militia
2000

Vampire's Kiss
1989

Devil in a Blue Dress
1995

Dear Diary
1993

The Prophecy II
1998

The Anniversary Party
2001

The Thief and the Cobbler
1993

Roger Dodger
2002

The Big Pardon 2
1992

Dr. M
1990

The Bride
1985

Troubled Waters
2006

Queen to Play
2009

13 Moons
2002

Desolation Sound
2005

The Last Days of Disco
1998

In the Soup
1992

Feast of All Saints
2001

The Night Before the Night Before Christmas
2010

Turbulence 2: Fear of Flying
1999

Split Decisions
1988

Blood and Concrete
1991

Wishful Thinking
1999

A Night for Dying Tigers
2010

The Spree
1998

Body and Soul
2000

Dead on Sight
1994

Terror Stalks the Class Reunion
1992

My Name Is Sarah
2007

Cinemanovels
2013

Break a Leg
2005

Indecency
1992

The Madonna and the Dragon
1990

Runaway Jury
2003

The Gamble
1988

The Twilight of the Golds
1996

Manhattan Night
2016

Full Out
2015

A Wife's Nightmare
2014

Out of Line
2001

Let It Be Me
1995

Night Owl
1993

They Shoot Divas, Don't They?
2002

A House Divided
2000

Before I Fall
2017

A Fuller Life
2013

Cinderella
1985

Without Malice
2000

The White Orchid
2018

After
2019

Sons
1990

Something More
2000

The Search for One-eye Jimmy
1994

That's Dancing!
1985

Luckiest Girl Alive
2022

My Bodyguard
1980

Hello Out There
2025

Faerie Tale Theatre: Cinderella
1985
| Title | Year | Job |
|---|---|---|
| Sweet Thing | 2020 | Producer |