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. Description above from the Wikipedia article Jennifer Beals, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Known For

Law & Order

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen

The Daily Show

Castle

The Kelly Clarkson Show

Frasier

The View

All Movies (68)

• Hello Out There2025 · as Judith
• Luckiest Girl Alive2022 · as Lolo Vincent
• After2019 · as Karen Gibson
• Hollywood: No Sex, Please!2018
• The White Orchid2018 · as Vivian
• Before I Fall2017 · as Mrs. Kingston
• Manhattan Night2016 · as Lisa Wren
• Full Out2015 · as Coach Valorie Kondos-Field
• A Wife's Nightmare2014 · as Liz
• Cinemanovels2013 · as Clementine
• A Fuller Life2013 · as Self - Reader (segment "Crime Reporter")
• The Night Before the Night Before Christmas2010 · as Angela Fox
• A Night for Dying Tigers2010 · as Melanie
• The Book of Eli2010 · as Claudia
• Queen to Play2009 · as L’Américaine
• Starz Inside: Fashion in Film2008 · as Self
• My Name Is Sarah2007 · as Sarah Winston
• Troubled Waters2006 · as FBI Agent Beck
• The Grudge 22006 · as Trish Kimble
• Desolation Sound2005 · as Elizabeth Storey
• Break a Leg2005 · as Juliet
• Catch That Kid2004 · as Molly Phillips
• Runaway Jury2003 · as Vanessa Lembeck
• They Shoot Divas, Don't They?2002 · as Sloan McBride
• 13 Moons2002 · as Suzi
• Roger Dodger2002 · as Sophie
• Out of Line2001 · as Officer Jenny Capitanas
• Feast of All Saints2001 · as Dolly Rose
• The Anniversary Party2001 · as Gina Taylor
• Something More2000 · as Lisa
• Militia2000 · as Julie Sanders
• Body and Soul2000 · as Gina
• A House Divided2000 · as Amanda Dickson
• Without Malice2000 · as Samantha Wilkes
• Turbulence 2: Fear of Flying1999 · as Jessica
• Wishful Thinking1999 · as Elizabeth
• The Last Days of Disco1998 · as Nina
• The Spree1998 · as Xinia Kelly
• The Prophecy II1998 · as Valerie Rosales
• The Twilight of the Golds1996 · as Suzanne Stein
• Four Rooms1995 · as Angela
• Let It Be Me1995 · as Emily Taylor
• Devil in a Blue Dress1995 · as Daphne Monet
• The Search for One-eye Jimmy1994 · as Ellen
• Dead on Sight1994 · as Rebecca Darcy
• Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle1994 · as Gertrude Benchley
• Caro diario1993 · as Jennifer Beals
• The Thief and the Cobbler1993 · as Princess YumYum (voice)
• Night Owl1993 · as Julia
• The Big Pardon 21992 · as Joyce Ferranti
• In the Soup1992 · as Angelica Pena
• Indecency1992 · as Ellie Shaw
• Terror Stalks the Class Reunion1992 · as Virginia
• Blood and Concrete1991 · as Mona
• The Madonna and the Dragon1990 · as Patty Meredith
• Dr. M1990 · as Sonja Vogler
• Sons1990 · as Transvestite
• Vampire's Kiss1989 · as Rachel
• The Gamble1988 · as Lady Olivia Candioni
• Split Decisions1988 · as Barbara Uribe
• Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute1988 · as Self
• The Bride1985 · as Eva
• Cinderella1985 · as Cinderella
• That's Dancing!1985
• That's Dancing!1985 · as Self (archive footage)
• Flashdance1983 · as Alex Owens
• My Bodyguard1980 · as Clifford's Friend (uncredited)
• Joy Will Prevail— · as Esther Kahn

All TV Shows (33)

• The Book of Boba Fett2021 · as Garsa Fwip
• Law & Order: Organized Crime2021 · as Cassandra Webb
• The L Word: Generation Q2019 · as Bette Porter
• The Kelly Clarkson Show2019 · as Self
• Swamp Thing2019 · as Lucilia Cable
• Taken2017 · as Christina Hart
• Proof2015 · as Dr. Carolyn Tyler
• The Night Shift2014 · as Dr. Syd Jennings
• The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon2014 · as Self - Guest
• Off Camera with Sam Jones2014 · as Self
• Motive2013 · as Sophia Balfour
• The Chicago Code2011 · as Teresa Colvin
• Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen2009 · as Self - Guest
• Castle2009 · as Sophia Turner
• Lie to Me2009 · as Zoe Landau
• The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson2005 · as Self
• Best Week Ever2004
• The L Word2004 · as Bette Porter
• Jimmy Kimmel Live!2003 · as Self - Guest
• Where Are They Now?1999 · as Self
• Nothing Sacred1997 · as Justine Madsen Judd
• The View1997 · as Self
• The Hunger1997 · as Jane
• E! True Hollywood Story1996
• The Daily Show1996 · as Self
• The Outer Limits1995 · as Robin Dysart
• Frasier1993 · as Dr. Anne Ranberg
• 2000 Malibu Road1992 · as Perry Quinn
• Law & Order1990 · as Sofia Archer
• Seitenblicke1987 · as self
• Faerie Tale Theatre1982 · as Cinderella
• Golden Globe Awards1944 · as Self
• Golden Globe Awards1944 · as Self - Nominee