Jennifer Beals
About
Biography
Filmography
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Biography
Intelligent and beautiful with a disarming smile, Jennifer Beals managed to exude both strength and tenderness in her work, making her one of the most relatable and talented actresses of her time. A pop culture icon after her star-making debut as Alex Owens in "Flashdance" (1983), Beals weathered the backlash storm after it was revealed she had a dance double in the hit film. After disappearing off the radar for some time - perhaps spooked by her overnight "Flashdance" fame - Beals would eventually come back to the Hollywood fold and build an less flashy but impressive film and television career over the next 20 years. Her touching portrayal of lesbian workaholic Bette Porter on the provocative drama "The L Word" (Showtime, 2004-09), instantly revitalized Beal's career. She returned to headline the cast of "The Chicago Code" (Fox, 2010-11), a critically acclaimed police drama, sadly canceled in its first season. Further projects were in the offing, however, and several decades after her early 1980s mega-stardom, Beals proved that her talent and timeless beauty would keep her working steadily for years to come.
Born Dec. 19, 1963 in Chicago, IL to Alfred Beals, an African-American grocery store owner, and Jeanne Cohen, a school teacher of Irish descent, Beals grew up in Chicago where she attended the Francis W. Parker School as a child. Suffering a tragedy at a young age, Beal's father passed away when she was only 10. Pushing forward, Beals began to model and pursue film work as a teenager. At the age of 17, she caught the eye of producers on the film "My Bodyguard" (1980), who cast her in a small part; though it marked Beals' film debut, her role went uncredited. Remaining focused on her studies, Beals enrolled at the prestigious Yale University where she studied English. She continued to audition for film roles while in college - and it was during a trip through Europe that she was first asked to go to New York to audition for this odd musical film directed by someone named Adrian Lyne, which sounded more like an extended MTV video than anything else.
Landing the lead role of Alex Owens, a welder who moonlights as an exotic dancer at night, Beals was catapulted instantly into stardom with the unbelievable success of "Flashdance." Though reviews for the film were mixed, it made Beals not only a pop culture icon, but a fashion trendsetter, as well - with her character's off-the-shoulder chopped sweatshirts becoming the "It" style of the early 1980s. Controversy hit soon after the film's release, however, when it was revealed that Beals had not performed her own dance sequences in the film. Indeed, French actress Marine Jahan had doubled for many of the dance sequences in the film - even a young male break-dancer in a wig had performed the last back spin during the famed audition scene. Upon closer inspection, fans noticed that a variety of ways were used to disguise Jahan from Beals - including strobe flashing, Kabuki white face paint, dark shadows and a bucket of water. Fans were angry and disappointed, but the film made boatloads of cash for Paramount and that was all that mattered. Still somewhat shell-shocked by overnight fame, Beals went on to star next in Franc Roddam's Frankenstein re-working, "The Bride" (1985) opposite Sting. Unfortunately for Beals, the film did nothing to redeem her newly found stardom and the actress returned to Yale where she earned a BA in American Literature in 1987. She so firmly disappeared off the radar, it was as if a major star had never been born.
After returning to the screen in the 1988 film "Split Decisions," Beals began sticking her toe back in the Hollywood pond, with supporting roles in "Vampire's Kiss" (1989) opposite Nicholas Cage, and a role in new husband Alexandre Rockwell's "Sons" (1989). Beals next portrayed the Dominican-American love interest of an aspiring director (Steve Buscemi) in Rockwell's Sundance Grand Jury Prize Winner, "In the Soup" (1992) and went on to make her primetime television debut in 1992 on Aaron Spelling's short-lived soap, "2000 Malibu Road" (CBS). Beals was next recommended by former Yale classmate David Duchovny for the female lead in the Fox sci-fi series, "The X-Files" (1993-2002), but producer Chris Carter decided to cast then unknown actress Gillian Anderson instead. Undeterred, Beals next appeared opposite Jennifer Jason Leigh in Alan Rudolph's critically acclaimed take on the infamous wits of the Algonquin Round Table in "Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle" (1994) in which Beals gave a convincing portrayal of the neglected wife of humorist Robert Benchley (Campbell Scott). She next appeared as the woman caught up in a political scandal opposite Denzel Washington in the detective mystery "Devil in a Blue Dress" (1995). Beals re-teamed once again with husband Rockwell in his segment of the independent collaboration "Four Rooms" (1995), offscreen however, the pair amicably ended their 10-year marriage.
Beals next appeared briefly in Whit Stillman's ensemble independent film, "The Last Days of Disco" (1998) and went on to portray a biracial woman who finds out that her mother was a slave in Showtime's Civil War-era "A House Divided" (2000). In 2001, Beals made a cameo in Jennifer Jason Leigh and Alan Cumming's directorial debut, "The Anniversary Party." Portraying a photographer in the film, Beals got the chance to showcase her own photographic eye - a number of her photos from the set of the film were later published in national magazines. She went on to land supporting roles in the critically acclaimed indie film "Roger Dodger" (2002) and opposite John Cusack in "Runaway Jury" (2003). A turning point came for Beals in 2004 when she landed the role of Bette Porter on Showtime's racy lesbian drama, "The L Word." Portraying Bette Porter, a Yale educated, biracial art curator, Beals found herself back in the spotlight, some 20 years after her high profile turn in "Flashdance." The role also allowed Beals to explore a range of important topics - from homosexuality to being biracial - a subject that hit close to home with Beals and earned her a NAACP Image Award nomination. While working on the series, Beals continued to work in film, most notably in Takashi Shimizu's horror sequel, "The Grudge 2" (2006).
Filmography
Cast (Feature Film)
Producer (Feature Film)
Music (Feature Film)
Misc. Crew (Feature Film)
Cast (Special)
Cast (TV Mini-Series)
Life Events
1980
Had a minor role in the film "My Bodyguard"
1983
Played the lead role of Alexandra 'Alex' Owens in her acting debut in "Flashdance"; nominated for a Golden Globe Award
1985
Co-starred with Sting in Franc Roddam's "The Bride," a film loosely based on the "Bride of Frankenstein"
1985
Played the title role in "Cinderella" for Showtime
1988
Appeared in Carlo Vanzini's "La Partita" with Faye Dunaway and Matthew Modine
1989
Initial collaboration with then-husband director Alexandre Rockwell, "Sons"
1992
Made TV series debut in the short-lived CBS show, "2000 Malibu Road"
1992
Re-teamed with Rockwell for "In the Soup"
1994
Portrayed Gertrude Benchley in Alan Rudolph's "Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle"
1994
Played herself being approached by a rabid fan in Nanni Moretti's "Caro Diario"; Rockwell also appeared as himself
1995
Acted in two segments of "Four Rooms"; the Rockwell directed, "The Wrong Man" and the Quentin Tarrantino directed, "The Man from Hollywood"
1995
Played a biracial woman passing for white, opposite Denzel Washington in "The Devil in a Blue Dress"
1997
Played a young mother deciding whether or not to abort a son who might be gay in Jonathan Tolin's "Twilight of the Golds" (Showtime)
1998
Had a small role in Whit Stillman's "The Last Days of Disco"
1999
Cast opposite former boxer Ray 'Boom Boom' Mancini in TMC's "Body and Soul"
2000
Played Amanda Dickinson, the product of a bi-racial coupling in Showtime's "A House Divided"
2001
Appeared as Mrs. Gravotte in film version of Hemmingway's "After the Storm"
2001
Played a photographer in "The Anniversary Party"
2002
Appeared in the independent film "Roger Dodger"
2003
Appeared opposite John Cusack in the film adaptation of "Runaway Jury"
2004
Played Bette Porter, an Ivy League educated lesbian in the Showtime drama, "The L Word"
2006
Co-starred in "The Grudge 2," a sequel to the 2004 remake directed by Takashi Shimizu
2009
Cast as the ex-wife of Tim Roth's fib detector on the FOX series, "Lie to Me"
2010
Played the concubine of Carnegie (Gary Oldman) in "The Book of Eli," the post-apocalyptic drama directed by the Hughes brothers
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