<Tr> <Th> Box office </Th> <Td> $201.5 million </Td> </Tr> <P> Flashdance is a 1983 American romantic drama film directed by Adrian Lyne . It was the first collaboration of producers Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer, and the presentation of some sequences in the style of music videos was an influence on other 1980s films including Top Gun (1986), Simpson and Bruckheimer's most famous production . Flashdance opened to negative reviews by professional critics, but was a surprise box office success, becoming the third highest - grossing film of 1983 in the United States . It had a worldwide box - office gross of more than $100 million . Its soundtrack spawned several hit songs, including "Maniac" (performed by Michael Sembello), and the Academy Award--winning "Flashdance...What a Feeling" (performed by Irene Cara), which was written for the film . </P> <P> Alexandra "Alex" Owens (Jennifer Beals) is an eighteen - year - old welder at a steel mill in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, who lives with her dog Grunt in a converted warehouse . Although she aspires to become a professional dancer, she has no formal dance training, and works as a exotic dancer by night at Mawby's, a neighborhood bar and grill which hosts a nightly cabaret . </P> <P> Lacking family, Alex forms bonds with her coworkers at Mawby's, some of whom also aspire to greater artistic achievements . Jeanie (Sunny Johnson), a waitress, is training to be a figure skater, while her boyfriend, short - order cook Richie (Kyle T. Heffner), wishes to become a stand up comic . </P>

Who played the female welder who was a dancer by night in the 1983 movie flashdance