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Jennifer Beals
Chicago, Illinois, USA
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 Be…
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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.
Filmography
Movies and shows, newest first
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2026
NCIS: New York
TV show Robyn Wells
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2025
Hello Out There
Movie Judith
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2022
Luckiest Girl Alive
Movie Lolo Vincent
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2021
The Book of Boba Fett
TV show Garsa Fwip
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2021
Law & Order: Organized Crime
TV show Cassandra Webb
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2020
Sweet Thing
Movie Producer
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2019
The L Word: Generation Q
TV show Bette Porter
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2019
The Kelly Clarkson Show
TV show Self
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2019
Swamp Thing
TV show Lucilia Cable
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2019
After
Movie Karen Gibson
- 2018
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2018
The White Orchid
Movie Vivian
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2017
Before I Fall
Movie Mrs. Kingston
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2017
Taken
TV show Christina Hart
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2016
Manhattan Night
Movie Lisa Wren
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2015
Full Out
Movie Coach Valorie Kondos-Field
More credits
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2015
Proof
TV show Dr. Carolyn Tyler
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2014
A Wife's Nightmare
Movie Liz
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2014
The Night Shift
TV show Dr. Syd Jennings
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2014
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
TV show Self - Guest
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2014
Off Camera with Sam Jones
TV show Self
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2013
Cinemanovels
Movie Clementine
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2013
A Fuller Life
Movie Self - Reader (segment "Crime Reporter")
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2013
Motive
TV show Sophia Balfour
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2011
The Chicago Code
TV show Teresa Colvin
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2010
The Night Before the Night Before Christmas
Movie Angela Fox
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2010
A Night for Dying Tigers
Movie Melanie
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2010
The Book of Eli
Movie Claudia
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2009
Queen to Play
Movie L’Américaine
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2009
Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen
TV show Self - Guest
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2009
Castle
TV show Sophia Turner
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2009
Lie to Me
TV show Zoe Landau
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2008
Starz Inside: Fashion in Film
Movie Self
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2007
My Name Is Sarah
Movie Sarah Winston
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2006
Troubled Waters
Movie FBI Agent Beck
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2006
The Grudge 2
Movie Trish Kimble
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2005
Desolation Sound
Movie Elizabeth Storey
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2005
Break a Leg
Movie Juliet
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2005
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
TV show Self
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2004
Catch That Kid
Movie Molly Phillips
