JENNIFER BEALS ~ The Brainy Beauty
When Flashdance came out, I was madly in love with her..crazy! I watched Flashdance like, 25 times!! I still do have the movie in DVD. Her beauty is gracious,a sense of intelligence and strength. Her acting, moving,classy & believable. Simply love her!
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 for having 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 impressive, though less prolific, film career over the next 20 years. Her touching portrayal of lesbian workaholic Bette Porter on Showtime’s provocative drama “The L Word” (2004- ), instantly revitalized Beal’s career. Back in the spotlight 20 odd years after her early 1980s mega-stardom, Beals proved that she had staying power and the talent to stick around and do good, solid work.
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 done 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. A still somewhat shell-shocked by 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 reteamed once again with husband Rockwell in his segment of the independent collaboration “Four Rooms” (1995); off-screen 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 bi-racial 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, bi-racial art curator, Beals found herself back in the spotlight – 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 bi-racial – 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).
Born: December 19, 1963 in Chicago, IllinoisJob Titles: Actor, ModelSignificant Others
Husband: Ken L. Dixon. married in 1999
Education
Yale College, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, American literature, 1987
The Goodman School of Drama at DePaul University, Chicago, Illinois
Professional Workshop, New York, New York
Milestones
1980 Uncredited film debut (bit part) in "My Bodyguard"
1983 Made film acting debut in the leading role of the hit musical drama "Flashdance"
1985 Co-starred with Sting in Franc Roddam's revisionist remake "The Bride"
1985 Played title role in "Cinderella" for Showtime's "Faerie Tale Theatre"
1988 First foreign film, 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 a shortlived, "2000 Malibu Road" (CBS)
1992 Reteamed with Rockwell for "In the Soup", which won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival
1992 TV-movie debut, Clive Donner's "Terror Stalks the Class Reunion" (syndicated)
1994 Played herself being approached by a rabid fan in Nanni Moretti's "Caro Diario"; Rockwell also appeared as himself
1994 Portrayed Gertrude Benchley in Alan Rudolph's "Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle"
1995 Acted in Rockwell's The Wrong Man episode of "Four Rooms", as well as in Quentin Tarrantino's The Man from Hollywood segment
1995 Had plum movie role as the femme fatale titular "The Devil in a Blue Dress"
1997 Portrayed 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 Appeared briefly in Whit Stillman's "The Last Days of Disco"
1998 Had recurring role on the ABC drama "Nothing Sacred"; episodes never aired
1998 Returned to dancing (ballroom this time) for "Let It Be Me" (Starz!); lensed in 1994 but never released when Savoy Pictures went bankrupt
1999 Starred 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 fact-based drama "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"
2002 Co-starred in the TV miniseries "Anne Rice's The Feast of All Saints"
2003 Cast opposite John Cusack in "Runaway Jury," based on John Grisham's novel
2004 Played Bette in the lesbian themed Showtime drama "The L Word"
2006 Co-starred in "The Grudge 2" a sequel to the 2004 remake directed by Takashi Shimizu
