Beals was born on December 19, 1963 in Chicago, Illinois (south side), the daughter of Jeanne (née Anderson), an elementary school teacher, and Alfred Beals, who owned grocery stores. Beals\' father was black and her mother is Irish-American. She has two brothers, Bobby and Gregory. Her father died when Beals was 10 years old, and her mother married Edward Cohen in 1981. Beals has said her biracial heritage had some effect on her, as she "always lived sort of on the outside", with an idea "of being the other in society". She got her first job at age 13 at an ice cream store, using her height at the time (she is now 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)) to convince her boss she was 16.\n', '

Beals was inspired to become an actress by two events: working on a high school production of Fiddler on the Roof and seeing Balm in Gilead with Joan Allen while volunteer-ushering at the Steppenwolf Theatre.\n', '

Beals graduated from the progressive Francis W. Parker School. She also was chosen to attend the elite Goodman Theatre Young People\'s Drama Workshop. Beals attended Yale University, receiving a B.A. in American Literature in 1987; she deferred a term so she could film Flashdance. While at Yale, Beals was a resident of Morse College.\n', '

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