|
Jennifer Beals Profile |
|
-
Birth Date: December 19, 1963
-
Birth Place: Chicago, Illinois, USA
-
Birth Name: Jennifer Beals
-
Height: 5'9"
|
|
|
Biography |
Jennifer Beals was born on December 19, 1963, in Chicago,
Illinois. She is the product of a biracial union: her
father, who passed away when she was 10, was
African-American, and her mother is Irish. She graduated
from Francis W. Parker School in Chicago, a primary school
and high school that emphasized community and citizenship.
During her teens, Jennifer was a fashion model and baby-sat
Regis Philbin's children.
At age 17, Jennifer's looks got her noticed by the producers
of the movie My Bodyguard (1980). It was her first role in a
movie, but it was uncredited. Afterwards, Beals enrolled at
Yale University to study American literature. While she was
on a trip to Europe, her publicist contacted her and asked
her to come to New York to try out for a movie that was
being billed as a "female Saturday Night Fever."
Jennifer returned and won the lead role in the 1983 movie
Flashdance. It was her breakout performance and provided her
with instant star status. Her character, Alex Owens,
immediately popularized oversized torn sweaters and set the
trend for '80s teen fashion. Shortly after the movie's
release, it was revealed that Jennifer did not do most of
the dance numbers in the film; the news infuriated and
alienated much of her fan base.
Subsequently, Beals returned to Yale to finish her
schooling. During this time, she appeared in the film The
Bride (1985). One of her classmates at Yale was David
Duchovny, star of The X-Files; he lobbied the show's
producers to take Beals as the female lead, but the role
eventually went to Gillian Anderson. In 1986, Beals married
Alexandre Rockwell, an independent filmmaker.
During the time Jennifer was married to him, she appeared in
several of his films, including In The Soup (1992) and Four
Rooms (1995). In 1995, she starred in the film Devil in a
Blue Dress with Denzel Washington; her character in this
movie was a woman of mixed race, mirroring her real-life
heritage. In 1996, she divorced Rockwell and, in 1998, she
won a Golden Satellite Award for her role in the TV
miniseries The Twilight of the Golds.
In 1998, she married Ken Dixon, a Canadian entrepreneur. She
appeared in many TV projects and independent films
throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s, such as The
Prophecy II (1998), Something More (1999), A House Divided
(2000), and Militia (2000). Her career surged again in 2002
when she appeared in the "battle of the sexes" film Roger
Dodger with her real-life friend, Showgirls star Elizabeth
Berkley. Her next big role was in Runaway Jury (2003)
alongside John Cusack, Gene Hackman, Dustin Hoffman, and
Rachel Weisz.
By 2004, Beals had landed another spotlight role, this time
as a biracial lesbian on the raunchy and popular Showtime TV
series The L Word, a role for which she continues to receive
wide acclaim. In May 2005, Beals wrapped up shooting on the
film Desolation Sound, set for release sometime in 2005.
Jennifer is also a close friend of director Quentin
Tarantino's; she gave him refuge in her home while he was
still a struggling director. In her spare time, Beals is an
avid photographer. In March 2005, Jennifer announced that
she is expecting her first child in November. |
|
|
Other
Information |
In Devil in a Blue Dress (1995), she plays a woman passing
for white who is actually the daughter of an interracial
couple. In real life, this is Beals's racial background,
too.
Film debut was in the 1980 film, My Bodyguard (1980), in
which she is uncredited.
Turned down the opportunity to play herself in "It's Like,
You Know..." (1999).
She put her career on hold to graduate from Yale.
While at Yale, she was classmates with David Duchovny, who
suggested her for a part on "The X Files" (1993) (which went
to Gillian Anderson).
In the film The Anniversary Party (2001), Beals plays a
character who takes photographs of performers which she then
gives away, usually to the subjects of the photos. Beals
actually does this.
Has an African-American father and an Irish mother.
In Flashdance (1983), the birth date filled out in the
application form is her actual birth date in real life.
While still a teenager, before she went into show business,
she worked as a babysitter for one of her neighbors - Steve
Edwards.
Good friends with Elizabeth Berkley. The each appeared in a
Joe Eszterhas-written film (Berkley: Showgirls (1995);
Beals: Flashdance (1983)), and they appeared together in
Roger Dodger (2002).
Stepmother to her husband, Ken Dixon's, two children.
Gave birth to her first child, a girl, in October, 2005. |
|
|
|
