If you saw Flashdance (1983), then you undoubtedly remember Jennifer Beals, the winsome young woman in a slinky, shoulder-baring sweatshirt who portrayed a welder with dreams of becoming a ballerina. Improbable though the plot was, the film propelled Beals to fame. The promising actress went on to film other successes such as Devil in a Blue Dress (1995), The Last Days of Disco (1998), and the Showtime series The L Word: Generation Q (2019).
Beals doesn’t let the fame go to her head, though, and likes being relatively anonymous in public. Maybe that is why, despite decades of stardom and acclaim, we don’t know a whole lot about the actress’ personal life—including her marriage to her husband, Ken Dixon. There is some information out there, however, so here’s what we know.
Who Is Ken Dixon?
Ken Dixon is a Canadian entrepreneur and film technician. He has two children from a previous relationship.
Beals and Dixon Have Been Married Since 1998
The couple shares one child, a daughter who was born in October 2005. They prefer to keep details about her life as private as possible.
The couple owns homes both on the west coast of Canada and in Los Angeles. They also travel a lot. “I don’t know where I live. … I have a place in L.A. and another on the west coast of Canada, but I’m in New York, Toronto, Albuquerque—I am definitely a nomad,” Beals explained to Architectural Digest. “I love traveling, but I do wish I could be home enough to plant bulbs and have a proper garden.”
When they aren’t traveling, however, Beals said the couple’s private life is “cozy,” and gave some insight into their typical evening routine.
Beals said when she walks in the door after a grueling day, she will “[t]ake off [her] makeup, meditate for a little while, or lie down on the floor with [her] dogs, which immediately lowers [her] blood pressure.” She and her husband alternate cooking dinner from night to night, but enjoy eating together at the table.
She Previously Wed Alexandre Rockwell
Rockwell is a director, producer, screenwriter, and professor. He made a name for himself in New York as an independent filmmaker who showcased actors such as Stanley Tucci and Steve Buscemi. Beals appeared in four of his films: Sons (1989), In The Soup (1992), Four Rooms (1995), and 13 Moons (2002). They were married in 1986 when Beals was a student at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. They divorced 10 years later, but the reason for the split remains unclear.
Jennifer Beals prefers having the spotlight stay on her talent and her work, not on her marriage. A star of films and television series for almost forty years, she has managed to keep a tight lid on her relationship with her husband and shield it from intrusive headlines. The couple’s home life reflects their unpretentious, serene, and informal tastes.
It’s nice to see a celebrity of Beals’ magnitude enjoying a high-profile career as well as mainly out-of-view roles as a wife and mother. It’s not an easy balancing act, but she seems to have it down to a science.