Born: 19-12-1963
Birthplace: Chicago (Illinois)
Country: USA
Profesion: Actress
Height: 5' 8" (1,73 m)

American actress Jennifer grew up in Chicago with her brothers Bobby and Gregory. She's the daughter of African-American grocery store owner Alfred Beals and Irish/American elementary school teacher Jeanne (Girlsname: Anderson). Her father died when she was ten years old and her mother married for the second time with Edward Cohen in 1981.

She started an relation with actress Jodie Foster in 1983, after their meeting at Yale and their relation lasts until 1986. She had an short-term relation with English actor Rupert Everett in 1984 due a publicity stunt to conceal each other's queerness. She started an relation with American director/producer Alexandre Rockwell in 1985. The couple marries in 1986 and the marriage lasts until their divorce in 1996. She started an relation with Canadian entrepreneur Ken Dixon in 1997. The couple married in 1998 and their marriage lasts until now. Their daughter Ella was born on october 18, 2005.

She graduated at the progressive Francis W. Parker School and graduated with an bachelor of arts in American literature at the Yale University. She was classmate of David Duchovny at Yale who has suggested her to play a role in ''The X Files'' (1993). She rejected his offer and the role went to Gillian Anderson. She was also chosen to attend at the elite Goodman Theatre Young People's Drama Workshop.

She got her first job at an ice cream store, when she convinced her boss that she was 16 using her height at the time when she was thirteen. She worked also as babysitter for her neighbor Steve Edwards as teenager. She served as the Grand Marshal of the McDonald's Thanksgiving Parade in Chicago in 2010. She spent also time in charities as Matthew Shepard Foundation and The Pablove Foundation, which are important to her.

She practices salsa dancing, ballet, belly dancing and is also triathlete. She's trained in kung fu san-soo and kickboxing in order to keep her body in shape.

There are covershoots and articles about her in magazines as US Weekly, FHM, Starlog, Playboy, More, Michigan Avenue, Viva, TV Book, Vogue, Harper's Bazaar and many more.

She was inspired to become 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.

Awards

• She won a Image Award for ''Outstanding Lead Actress in a Motion Picture'' at the Image Awards (1984).
• She won a Golden Satellite Award for ''Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television'' at the Satellite Awards (1998).
• She won a Maverick Tribute Award at the Cinequest San Jose Film Festival (1999).
• She won a Golden Gate Award at the GLAAD Media Awards (2005).

Action Movie Career

She made her her action movie debut as Barbara Uribe in this story where a boxer is killed in a battle in ''Split Decisions'' (1988). His brother Eddie McGuinn (played by Craig Sheffer) goes on journey in order to avenge him.

She plays Patty Meredith in this story about the exposition of two news photographers who covering the People's Revolution in the Philippines in ''Tinikling ou 'La madonne et le dragon'' (1990).

She plays female cat burglar Xinia Kelly who convinces Det. Bram Hatcher (played by Powers Boothe) to join her in crime in ''The Spree'' (1998).

She plays Jessica in this story where an airplane engineer tries to deactivate a chemical weapons bomb in a hijacked airliner in ''Turbulence 2: Fear of Flying'' (1999). The hijackers have killed the pilots and threaten to kill all the passengers in the plane. Jessica is forced to bring the plane safely to the ground, after the hijackers are defeated.

She plays Julie Sanders in this story where ATF agent Ethan Carter (played by Dean Cain) undercover goes to retrieve stolen anthrax missiles in ''Militia'' (2000).

She plays Mrs. Gavotte in this story where a luxury yacht goes down in a violent storm in ''After the Storm'' (2001). Two repo men race to collect the bounty while one man commits the ultimate betrayal.

She plays Parole Officer Jenny Capitanas who is admired by her employers and colleagues in ''Out of Line'' (2001). She gets assigned to "client" Henri Brulé (played by Holt McCallany) when they fall in love, but it will be a horrible situation for Jenny to realize who the important people in her life really are.

She plays Claudia in this post-apocalyptic story about a lone man who fights his way across America in order to protect a sacred book that holds the secrets of saving humankind in ''The Book of Eli'' (2010).

She played Teresa Colvin in 13 episodes of the action TV Series ''The Chicago Code'' (2011) and played Dr. Sid Jennings in one episode of the action TV Series ''The Night Shift'' (2014). She played Christina Hart in one episodes of the action TV Series ''Taken'' (2016).

Action Filmography

• Taken (2016) ''TV Series''
• The Night Shift (2014) ''TV Series''
• The Chicago Code (2011) ''TV Series''
• The Book of Eli (2010)
• Out of Line (2001)
• After the Storm (2001)
• Militia (2000)
• Turbulence 2: Fear of Flying (1999)
• The Spree (1998)
• Tinikling ou 'La madonne et le dragon' (1990)
• Split Decisions (1988)