Fairuza Balk Biography

Fairuza Balk
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Fairuza Balk

Fairuza Balk, January 2006
Born Fairuza Alejandra Feldthouse
May 21, 1974 (1974-05-21) (age 35)
Point Reyes, California, U.S.
Occupation Actress
Years active 1983–present

Fairuza Alejandra Balk (born May 21, 1974) is an American film actress. She made her theatrical film debut as Dorothy Gale in Disney's Return to Oz. She has also appeared in The Craft, American History X and The Waterboy.

Contents

Early life

Balk was born as Fairuza Alejandra Feldthouse in Point Reyes, California.1 Her mother, Cathryn Balk, is of Dutch descent and worked as a belly dancer and teacher of Middle Eastern and Flamenco dancing.2 Her father, Solomon Feldthouse, was one of the founding members of the 1960s psychedelic rock group Kaleidoscope, and is also a traveling folk musician;3 he was born in Pingree, Idaho and moved to Turkey at age 10, where he lived for six years and learned Greek, Turkish and Persian music.4 Her father took her several times to the Oregon Country Fair where she would do Flamenco dancing on stage and her father played his Middle Eastern music. Soon after her parents divorced, Balk and her mother became world travelers. She was raised for the first part of her life in San Francisco on a commune-type ranch. They then moved to Vancouver when she was nine. When she was 11, they moved to London, where she attended various prestigious ballet and acting schools.

Career

It was in London that she was selected by Walt Disney Productions to star in Return to Oz, the loose sequel to MGM's 1939 musical The Wizard of Oz. It was not her first role (that was a television movie called The Best Christmas Pageant Ever made in 1983), but it was the one that brought her attention as an actress. The role led to other minor roles, and in 1988 she moved to Paris to do more work as an actress. By 1989 she was back in Vancouver, where she attended high school. However, she soon decided to take correspondence courses instead and went back to Hollywood, where she gained increasing notice as an actress. In 1992 she was awarded an Independent Spirit Award as best actress for her performance in the Allison Anders film Gas Food Lodging.

In 1996, she appeared in a lead role in The Craft, in which her character forms a teenage coven with characters portrayed by Neve Campbell, Rachel True and Robin Tunney.

Balk has continued to find roles. She co-starred in The Island of Dr Moreau (1996), gave a performance as a neo-Nazi opposite Edward Norton in American History X (1998), and was featured in The Waterboy (1998) opposite Adam Sandler. Since 2000 she has appeared in over half a dozen movies. She has also done voice work for animated films and video games, including Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.

Personal life

Balk lives in Hollywood, California, and has an apartment in New York City. Outside her career, her interests include writing poetry and fiction, playing guitar and violin, singing, and dancing. Over the years she has been romantically involved with a number of well known men including British actor David Thewlis who appeared with her in The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996) and in American Perfekt (1997), as well as C. M. Talkington, the director and writer of the cult classic, Love and a .45.citation needed

She was a well known neopagan even before shooting 1996's The Craft. She provided some witchcraft information on set and helped design many of the sets to match real pagan rituals. From 1995 to 2001, she owned Panpipes Magickal Marketplace, billed as the nation's largest occult store, in Hollywood, California.5

Filmography

Year Film Role Other notes
1983 The Best Christmas Pageant Ever Beth Bradley TV
1985 Return to Oz Dorothy Gale
1986 Deceptions Penny Roberts TV
The Worst Witch Mildred Hubble TV
Discovery Molly
1987 Poor Little Rich Girl: The Barbara Hutton Story Barbara Hutton at 12 TV
1988 The Outside Chance of Maximilian Glick Celia Brzjinski
1989 Valmont Cecile
1991 Deadly Intentions... Again? Stacey TV
1992 Gas Food Lodging Shade Independent Spirit Award for Best Actress
Shame Lizzie Curtis TV
The Danger of Love Lisa TV (concerning the story of Carolyn Warmus)
1993 Murder in the Heartland Caril Ann Fugate TV
1994 Imaginary Crimes Sonya Weiler
Tollbooth Doris
1995 Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead Lucinda
Shadow of a Doubt Angel Harwell TV
1996 The Craft Nancy Downs
The Island of Dr. Moreau Aissa
1997 The Maker Bella Sotto
American Perfekt Alice Thomas
1998 There's no Fish Food in Heaven Mona
American History X Stacey
The Waterboy Vicky Valencourt
2000 Red Letters Gretchen Van Buren
Almost Famous Sapphire
2002 Personal Velocity: Three Portraits Paula
Deuces Wild Annie
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Mercedes Cortez video game; voice
2003 Justice League Penny 1 episode
2005 What Is It? Snail voice
Don't Come Knocking Amber
A Year and a Day Lola
2006 Wild Tigers I Have Known Logan's Mom
Masters of Horror Stacia TV episode "Pick Me Up"
2008 Grindstone Road Hannah Sloan
Humboldt County Bogart
2009 Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans Heidi
Awards and achievements
Independent Spirit Award
Preceded by
Judy Davis
for Impromptu		 Best Leading Actress
1993
for Gas Food Lodging		 Succeeded by
Ashley Judd
for Ruby in Paradise

References

  1. ^ California Birth Index 1905 - 1995.
  2. ^ Fairuza Balk. Film Reference.com.
  3. ^ Actress of the Week: Fairuza Balk. askmen.com.
  4. ^ The Rise and Fall of the Neoprene Lizards - the Kaleidoscope Story. Pulsating Dream.com.
  5. ^ Panpipes Magickal Marketplace History. PanPipes.com.

External links