Jennifer Beals

Born: December 19 1963
Where: Chicago, Illinois, USA

Although she made her big screen breakthrough while still a student in Flashdance, Beals has showed staying power.

Her improbable welder-turned-dancer sparked a fashion trend that was only slightly tarnished when it was revealed stand-ins performed the dance sequences.

Not one to court the mainstream, she has yet to match that initial success, but her exotic looks, have afforded her a diversity of roles.

She was cast as an 18th Century woman brought back to life by Sting in The Bride and she laid a Vampire's Kiss on Nicolas Cage.

She also traveled abroad to work with European directors like Carlo Vanzini (La Partita)Claude Chabrol (Docteur M) and Alexandre Arcady (Le Grande Pardon II).

She even uncharacteristically fought for the femme fatale role of The Devil in a Blue Dress, her biggest role in a major movie since Flashdance.

In addition to her foreign oeuvre, Beals has appeared in independent features, notably several for her former husband, director Alexandre Rockwell.

In Alan Rudolph's take on the infamous wits of the Algonquin Round Table of the 1920s, Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle, Beals gave a convincing portrayal of the neglected wife of humorist Robert Benchley (Campbell Scott).

She would reteam with Scott for Eleanor Bergstein's directing debut Let It Be Me and Dylan Kidd's debut feature Roger Dodger in 2003.

After a spate of TV work, she returned to the big screen again in 2002 as part of the all-star ensemble of Jennifer Jason Leigh and Alan Cumming's directorial collaboration The Anniversary Party.

She also starred in an adaptation of Earnest Hemmingway's After the Storm playing Mrs. Gravotte before being cast in Roger Dodger.

She appeared in the high-profile Runaway Jury with John Cusack and Gene Hackman and the action adventure Mission Without Permission.