Judith Barsi

Judith Barsi
Judith Barsi
Born	Judith Eva Barsi; June 6, 1978; Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Died	July 25, 1988 (aged 10); Canoga Park, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1984–1988

Judith Eva Barsi (June 6, 1978 – July 25, 1988) was an American child actress. She was small in stature and often played characters younger than her actual age. After years of physical and mental abuse, Barsi and her mother were shot and killed by her father, József, in a murder–suicide.

Life and career

Barsi was the daughter of Hungarian immigrants József Barsi and Maria Barsi (née Benkő), who had both fled the 1956 Soviet occupation of Hungary and then immigrated to Los Angeles, California shortly before the birth of their daughter. Maria Barsi had aspired to be an actress herself, but later hoped that her daughter would be one, instead. Judith was discovered at a skating rink when she was five years old, but could still pass for three. She went on to appear in over 70 commercials and soon appeared in films. Later in her life, Barsi had growth hormone injections to encourage her growth.

Parental abuse

As Barsi became more famous, her father József, an alcoholic and unemployed plumber, became increasingly abusive, jealous, and paranoid. He would mentally abuse her and once held a knife to her throat while threatening to kill her, because he was convinced that his wife and daughter would leave for a photo shoot or movie shoot and never come back. Barsi was taken to a child psychologist after breaking down in front of her agent. The psychologist identified severe physical and emotional abuse, and reported her findings to the authorities.

József would often stay home drunk and refused to let Maria work. The family was on welfare for a brief period until Barsi's career started taking off around 1984. By the time she entered fourth grade, she was earning an estimated $100,000 a year which helped her buy the family a three-bedroom house in the West Hills section of Los Angeles.

József suffered from paranoia and had their house surrounded by a high-fence which could only be opened from inside the house. József remained a recluse and threatened to kill his wife and daughter many times. Child Protective Services was called numerous times, but as Maria was reluctant to press any charges, the case was never followed up. Maria rented an apartment for her daughter and herself as a daytime safe haven away from József.

Death

On July 25, 1988, József shot Judith in the head while she was asleep, in her room. Maria, hearing the gunshot, rushed down the hall to check on Judith, where József met her and shot her as well.^[1] After pouring gasoline on the bodies and setting the house on fire, József then went into the garage and shot himself in the head with a .32 caliber pistol.^[2]

Legacy

Barsi and her mother were buried in unmarked graves at the Forest Lawn - Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles. In June 2004, a fund was set up by Barsi's fan club to get headstones for Judith's and her mother's graves. The fund was spearheaded by Nancy Kelly, who had tutored Barsi on the set of one of her movies.

Barsi's marker was placed on August 23, 2004. Future donations will go toward donating Beanie Babies to hospitalized children. Her marker reads "In Memory of the Lovely Judith Eva Barsi *Our Concrete Angel* Yep! Yep! Yep!" in reference to Martina McBride's song about child abuse, and Barsi's character Ducky's catchphrase from The Land Before Time.

Irene Cara and Freddie Jackson reportedly recorded the All Dogs Go to Heaven theme song "Love Survives" for Barsi (the film, in which she voices the orphaned Anne-Marie, was released in 1989, a year and a half after her death).

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1984	Fatal Vision	Kimberly (age 3)	Miniseries
1985	Kids Don't Tell	Jennifer Ryan	Television movie
1985	Do You Remember Love	Kathleen	Television movie
1985	The New Twilight Zone	Bertie	Segment: "A Little Peace and Quiet"
1985	There Were Times, Dear	Molly Reed	Television movie
1985	The Fall Guy	Little Girl	Episode: "Escape Claus"
1986	Remington Steele	Laurie Beth Piper	Episode: "Suburban Steele"
1986	Punky Brewster	Anna	Episodes: "Changes, part 2" "Changes, part 3"
1986	Trapper John, M.D.	Lindsay Christmas	Episode: "Life, Death and Dr. Christmas"
1986	Cheers	Child #1	Episode: "Relief Bartender"
1986	Cagney & Lacey	Shauna Bard	Episode: "Disenfranchised"
1986	The New Gidget	Little Girl	Episode: "It's Only Rock & Roll"
1986	Eye of the Tiger	Jennifer Matthews
1986	The Love Boat	Christmas angel	Episode: "The Christmas Cruise: Part 2"
1987	Destination America	Amy	Television movie
1987	Slam Dance	Bean
1987	Jaws: The Revenge	Thea Brody
1987–1988	The Tracey Ullman Show	Karen	Episodes: Episode #2.3 Episode #2.17
1988	St. Elsewhere	Debbie Oppenheimer	Episode: "The Abby Singer Show"
1988	ABC Afterschool Special	Billie Foster	Episode: "A Family Again"
1988	The Land Before Time	Ducky	Voice
1989	All Dogs Go to Heaven	Anne-Marie	Voice
1988, 1992	Growing Pains	Young Carol	Episodes: "Graduation Day" "The Last Picture Show, part 2" (flashback only)

References

^ Donnelley, Paul (2005-11-01). Fade to Black: A Book of Movie Obituaries (3 ed.). Omnibus Press. p. 122. ISBN 1-844-49430-6.
^ "Child Actress Is Slain, Apparently by Father". The New York Times. 1988-07-30. Retrieved 22 November 2009. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)

External links

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[1] Donnelley, Paul (2005-11-01). Fade to Black: A Book of Movie Obituaries (3 ed.). Omnibus Press. p. 122. ISBN 1-844-49430-6.

[2] "Child Actress Is Slain, Apparently by Father". The New York Times. 1988-07-30. Retrieved 22 November 2009. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)

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