Jennifer Beals
Jennifer Beals
Biography
Jennifer Beals (born December 19, 1963, height 5' 8½" (1,74 m)) 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
Actor
as Judith
as Bette Porter
as Lolo Vincent
as Garsa Fwip
as Cassandra Webb
as Karen Gibson
as Bette Porter
as Lucilia Cable
as Vivian
as Mrs. Kingston
as Christina Hart
as Lisa Wren
as Valorie Kondos-Field
as Dr. Carolyn Tyler
as Liz
as Dr. Syd Jennings
as Self - Guest
as Self
as Clementine
as Self - Reader (segment "Crime Reporter")
as Sophia Balfour
as Teresa Colvin
as Angela Fox
as Melanie
as Claudia
as L’Américaine
as Self - Guest
as Sophia Turner
as Zoe Landau
as Sarah Winston
as FBI Agent Beck
as Trish Kimble
as Elizabeth Storey
as Juliet
as Molly Phillips
as Bette Porter
as Vanessa Lembeck
as Sloan McBride
as Suzi
as Sophie
as Officer Jenny Capitanas
as Dolly Rose
as Gina Taylor
as Lisa
as Julie Sanders
as Gina
as Amanda Dickson
as Samantha Wilkes
as Jessica
as Elizabeth
as Self
as Nina
as Xinia Kelly
as Valerie Rosales
as Justine Madsen Judd
as Self
as Jane
as Suzanne Stein
as Self
as Angela
as Emily Taylor
as Daphne Monet
as Robin Dysart
as Ellen
as Rebecca Darcy
as Gertrude Benchley
as Self
as Princess YumYum (voice)
as Julia
as Dr. Anne Ranberg
as Joyce Ferranti
as Angelica Pena
as Ellie Shaw
as Virginia
as Perry Quinn
as Mona
as Patty Meredith
as Sonja Vogler
as Transvestite
as Sofia Archer
as Lady Olivia Candioni
as Rachel
as Barbara Uribe
as self
as Eva
as Cinderella
as Alex Owens
as Cinderella
as Clifford's Friend (uncredited)
as Self
as Self - Nominee
Producer
as Producer
as Executive Producer
as Co-Producer
Crew
as Thanks