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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Filmography (99)
Hello Out There
2025
Luckiest Girl Alive
2022
The Book of Boba Fett
2021
Law & Order: Organized Crime
2021
After
2019
The L Word: Generation Q
2019
Swamp Thing
2019
The Kelly Clarkson Show
2019
The White Orchid
2018
Hollywood: No Sex, Please!
2018
Before I Fall
2017
Taken
2017
Manhattan Night
2016
Full Out
2015
Proof
2015
A Wife's Nightmare
2014
The Night Shift
2014
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
2014
Off Camera with Sam Jones
2014
Cinemanovels
2013
A Fuller Life
2013
Motive
2013
The Chicago Code
2011
The Book of Eli
2010
The Night Before the Night Before Christmas
2010
A Night for Dying Tigers
2010
Queen to Play
2009
Castle
2009
Lie to Me
2009
Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen
2009
Starz Inside: Fashion in Film
2008
My Name Is Sarah
2007
The Grudge 2
2006
Troubled Waters
2006
Desolation Sound
2005
Break a Leg
2005
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
2005
Catch That Kid
2004
Best Week Ever
2004
The L Word
2004
Runaway Jury
2003
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
2003
Roger Dodger
2002
13 Moons
2002
They Shoot Divas, Don't They?
2002
The Anniversary Party
2001
Feast of All Saints
2001
Out of Line
2001
Militia
2000
Body and Soul
2000
A House Divided
2000
Without Malice
2000
Something More
2000
Turbulence 2: Fear of Flying
1999
Wishful Thinking
1999
Where Are They Now?
1999
The Prophecy II
1998
The Last Days of Disco
1998
The Spree
1998
The View
1997
The Hunger
1997
Nothing Sacred
1997
The Twilight of the Golds
1996
The Daily Show
1996
E! True Hollywood Story
1996
Four Rooms
1995
Devil in a Blue Dress
1995
Let It Be Me
1995
The Outer Limits
1995
Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle
1994
Dead on Sight
1994
The Search for One-eye Jimmy
1994
Caro diario
1993
The Thief and the Cobbler
1993
Night Owl
1993
Frasier
1993
The Big Pardon 2
1992
In the Soup
1992
Terror Stalks the Class Reunion
1992
Indecency
1992
2000 Malibu Road
1992
Blood and Concrete
1991
Dr. M
1990
The Madonna and the Dragon
1990
Sons
1990
Law & Order
1990
Vampire's Kiss
1989
Split Decisions
1988
The Gamble
1988
Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute
1988
Seitenblicke
1987
The Bride
1985
Cinderella
1985
That's Dancing!
1985
Flashdance
1983
Faerie Tale Theatre
1982
My Bodyguard
1980
Golden Globe Awards
1944
Joy Will Prevail
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