Fairuza Balk

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Fairuza Balk
Fairuza Balk.jpg
Fairuza Balk, January 2006
Born Fairuza Alejandra Feldthouse
(1974-05-21) May 21, 1974 (age 39)
Point Reyes, California,
United States
Occupation Actress
Years active 1983–present
Website
Fairuza.com

Fairuza 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. Balk also made notable appearances in Valmont, The Craft, The Island of Dr. Moreau, American History X, The Waterboy, and Personal Velocity: Three Portraits.

Contents

Early life [edit]

Balk was born as Fairuza Alejandra Feldthouse in Point Reyes, California.[1] Her first name is Persian for "turquoise". Until age two, Balk lived in Cloverdale, California with her mother. They then moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, where she began acting at age six. They moved from London to Paris for another role. They remained there for six months before returning to Vancouver. Balk moved to Los Angeles as a young woman upon signing to act in The Craft.

Fairuza's mother, Cathryn Balk, has studied, performed, and taught the ethnic and traditional dance forms of many countries such as Egypt, Turkey, Morocco and Spain.[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] Balk claims Romani and Cherokee ancestry through her father.[5]

Career [edit]

While in London, Balk was cast by Walt Disney Productions to star as Dorothy Gale in Return to Oz, the unofficial sequel to MGM's 1939 musical The Wizard of Oz.[6] It was not her debut role; that role had been in a television movie titled The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, produced in 1983. However, it was the one that brought her attention as an actress. The role led to other, minor roles, including that of Mildred Hubble in The Worst Witch, and in 1988 she moved to Paris to work on Valmont with Miloš Forman. 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 formed a teenage coven with characters portrayed by Neve Campbell, Rachel True and Robin Tunney.

Since The Craft, Balk has continued to find roles, primarily dark ones. In 1996 she co-starred in The Island of Dr Moreau with Marlon Brando, Val Kilmer and David Thewlis. In 1998 she gave an intense performance as a neo-Nazi goth-punk opposite Edward Norton in his Academy Award-nominated performance in American History X, and was featured in The Waterboy, alongside 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 Justice League and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. The 2007 documentary Return To Oz: The Joy That Got Away was dedicated to her.

In 2010, Balk released the single "Stormwinds" under the artist title Armed Love Militia.

Personal life [edit]

 This section of a biography of a living person does not include any references or sources. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living people that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately. (November 2012)

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. She also creates and sells candles, including a line produced with wax from Neil Gaiman's bees. 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 in 1996 and in American Perfekt in 1997, as well as C. M. Talkington, the director and writer of the cult classic Love and a .45.[citation needed]

Religion [edit]

At the time of filming The Craft, she was a practicing Pagan. Her current spirituality is unknown.

Filmography [edit]

Film
Year Title Role Notes
1985 Return to Oz Dorothy Gale
1986 The Worst Witch Mildred Hubble
1986 Discovery Molly
1988 Outside Chance of Maximilian Glick, TheThe Outside Chance of Maximilian Glick Celia Brzjinski
1989 Valmont Cecile
1992 Gas Food Lodging Shade
1994 Imaginary Crimes Sonya Weiler
1994 Tollbooth Doris
1995 Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead Lucinda
1996 Craft, TheThe Craft Nancy Downs
1996 Island of Dr. Moreau, TheThe Island of Dr. Moreau Aissa
1997 American Perfekt Alice Thomas
1997 Maker, TheThe Maker Bella Sotto
1998 Life in the Fast Lane Mona
1998 American History X Stacey
1998 Waterboy, TheThe Waterboy Vicki Vallencourt
2000 Red Letters Gretchen Van Buren
2000 Almost Famous Sapphire
2002 Personal Velocity: Three Portraits Paula
2002 Deuces Wild Annie
2005 What It Is? Screaming Snail / Insect / Monkey Girl (voice)
2005 Don't Come Knocking Amber
2005 Year and a Day, AA Year and a Day Lola
2006 Wild Tigers I Have Known Logan's Mom
2008 Humboldt County Bogart
2008 Grindstone Road Hannah
2009 Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, TheThe Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans Heidi
2010 Shit Year Message Voice
2012 Dose of Reality Rose Completed
2012 Thicker Lonely Pre-production
Television
Year Title Role Notes
1983 Best Christmas Pageant Ever, TheThe Best Christmas Pageant Ever Beth Bradley TV movie
1985 Deceptions Penny Roberts TV movie
1986 Worst Witch, TheThe Worst Witch Mildred Hubble TV movie
1987 Poor Little Rich Girl: The Barbara Hutton Story Barbara - Age 12 TV movie
1991 Deadly Intentions... Again? Stacey TV movie
1992 Shame Lizzie Curtis TV movie
1992 Danger of Love: The Carolyn Warmus Story, TheThe Danger of Love: The Carolyn Warmus Story Lisa TV movie
1993 Murder in the Heartland Caril Ann Fugate TV movie
1994 ZZ Top: Breakaway Vampire Girl TV movie
1995 Shadow of a Doubt Angel Harwell TV movie
1999 Family Guy Connie D'Amico (voice) Episode: "Peter, Peter, Caviar Eater"
2000 Family Guy Connie D'Amico (voice) Episode: "Let's Go to the Hop"
2002 Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Mercedes Cortez (voice) Video game
2003 Justice League Penny Dee (voice) Episode: "Only a Dream"
2003 Lords of EverQuest Lady T'Lak (voice) Video game
2006 Orpheus Karen TV movie
2006 Masters of Horror Stacia Episode: "Pick Me Up"

References [edit]

  1. ^ California Birth Index 1905–1995.
  2. ^ "Fairuza Balk Biography (1974-)". FilmReference.com. 2010 [last update]. Retrieved 2010-08-12. 
  3. ^ "Fairuza Balk Photos, Gossip, Bio & Reviews". AskMen.com. IGN Entertainment, Inc. 2010 [last update]. Retrieved 2010-08-12. 
  4. ^ "The Rise and Fall of the Neoprene Lizards — the Kaleidoscope Story, p. 1". PulsatingDream.com. 2006 [last update]. Retrieved 2010-08-12. 
  5. ^ Balk, Fairuza (2010-09-10). "Persecution of the Roma". Fairuza.com. Retrieved 2010-09-20. 
  6. ^ "The Wizard of Oz Production Timeline". "The Walt Disney releases an unofficial sequel to the 1939 film titled Return to Oz and starring Fairuza Balk. The film is not a musical, and is much darker in tone than the 1939 film." 

External links [edit]

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