Real Name : Fairuza Alejandra Feldthouse
Nick Name : Ru
Birth : 21 May 1974, Point Reyes, California, USA
Height : 5' 3"
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"Fairuza!" ("Turquoise" in Farsi) her father exclaimed as he saw her blue eyes: Fairuza Alejandra Balk had just been born, May 21, 1974. Her father, Solomon Feldthouse, was a traveling musician, and her mother Cathryn Balk was a belly dancer. Her parents split up soon after. Fairuza grew up just north of San Francisco, California, on a commune-type ranch. Her mother later found some work in Vancouver, British Columbia. it was there that Fairuza got her first acting job in a TV movie, at the age of nine. Two years later it was off to the UK where she attended the Royal Academy of Ballet, the Ramona Beauchamp Agency and the Bush Davies Performing Arts School. Fairuza worked for The Walt Disney Company for a while - at age 11 she was chosen from out of 1,200 girls to play the part of Dorothy, starring in _Return to Oz (1985)_ (qv). A year later she starred as, prophetically enough, _The Worst Witch (1986) (TV)_ (qv), a harbinger of her breakout role in _The Craft (1996)_ (qv) ten years later. Fairuza and her mother remained in London until 1988, then headed to Paris where the 15-year-old starred in _Valmont (1989)_ (qv). The next year they returned to Vancouver, where Fairuza enrolled in high school, but despite being a movie star, she was shy in class - she ended up doing correspondence courses. Back in Hollywood Fairuza starred in a string of movies, including _Gas, Food Lodging (1992)_ (qv), for which she received an Independent Spirit Award for Best Actress. Following further TV and film work, she achieved cult status with her starring role as a teenage witch in _The Craft (1996)_ (qv), her breakout film. The same year she appeared in _The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996)_ (qv), in which she did some belly dancing and attracted the attention of Lancashire, England-born co-star 'David Thewlis' (qv). They did another movie together, _American Perfekt (1997)_ (qv). Fairuza was also the love interest in the wildly popular _The Waterboy (1998)_ (qv) and had a major role in _American History X (1998)_ (qv). With a half-dozen movies for 2000, Fairuza is much in demand. Her interests are writing poetry and stories, playing the guitar, singing (her main enjoyment) and dancing. She lives in Venice, California, and has an apartment in New York City. Fairuza Balk began her career as a child on the ABC special _The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (1983) (TV)_ (qv) and the Disney movie _Return to Oz (1985)_ (qv). She attended the Bush Davies Performing Arts School in the UK for two and a half years, where she landed a series of jobs. She won a CableAce award as Best Actress for her role in the TV movie _Shame (1988/I)_ (qv) and won the Independent Spirit Award for Best actress for _Gas, Food Lodging (1992)_ (qv). She also starred in _The Waterboy (1998)_ (qv) and _American History X (1998)_ (qv).
Biography written by: Matt Dicker
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- 2000 Blockbuster Entertainment Awards (2000) (TV) [Herself]
- A Year and a Day (2005) [Lola]
- Almost Famous (2000) [Sapphire] <9>
- American History X (1998) [Stacey] <8>
- American Perfekt (1997) [Alice Thomas] <4>
- Blood Into Wine (2010) [Herself]
- Conjuring 'The Craft' (2000) (V) [Herself]
- Deadly Intentions... Again? (1991) (TV) [Stacey] <5>
- Deceptions (1985) (TV) [Penny Roberts] <9>
- Deuces Wild (2002) [Annie] <3>
- Discovery (1986) [Molly]
- Don't Come Knocking (2005) [Amber] <13>
- Fairuza Returns to Oz (1999) (V) [Herself (interview)]
- Film Trix 2002 (2002) [Herself]
- Gas, Food Lodging (1992) [Shade] <3>
- Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (2002) (VG) (voice) [Mercedes Cortez] <12>
- Grindstone Road (2008) [Hannah] <1>
- Humboldt County (2008) [Bogart] <1>
- Imaginary Crimes (1994) [Sonya Weiler] <2>
- Lords of Everquest (2003) (VG) (voice) [Lady T'Lak]
- Moby: Play - The DVD (2001) (V) (archive footage) (uncredited) [Moby's Love]
- Murder in the Heartland (1993) (TV) [Caril Ann Fugate] <2>
- Orpheus (2006) (TV) [Karen]
- Personal Velocity: Creating 'Personal Velocity' (2003) (V) [Herself] <2>
- Personal Velocity: In Conversation Rebecca, Parker, Fairuza, and Kyra (2003) (V) [Herself] <3>
- Personal Velocity: Three Portraits (2002) [Paula] <3>
- Poor Little Rich Girl: The Barbara Hutton Story (1987) (TV) [Barbara - age 12] <25>
- Promise (2009/II) [Sarah Lohan] <3>
- Red Letters (2000) [Gretchen Van Buren] <3>
- Return to Oz (1985) [Dorothy] <1>
- Shadow of a Doubt (1995) (TV) [Angel Harwell] <3>
- Shame (1992) (TV) [Lizzie Curtis] <6>
- The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call - New Orleans (2009) [Heidi] <4>
- The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (1983) (TV) [Beth Bradley] <5>
- The Craft (1996) [Nancy Downs] <2>
- The Danger of Love: The Carolyn Warmus Story (1992) (TV) [Lisa] <7>
- The Heart Is a Drum Machine (2009) [Herself]
- The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996) [Aissa] <2>
- The Maker (1997) [Bella Sotto] <4>
- The Outside Chance of Maximilian Glick (1988) [Celia Brzjinski] <17>
- The Walt Disney Comedy and Magic Revue (1985) (V) (archive footage) [Dorothy] <1>
- The Waterboy (1998) [Vicki Vallencourt] <3>
- The Whimsical World of Oz (1985) (TV) [Herself]
- The Witching Hour (1996) (TV) [Herself] <2>
- The Worst Witch (1986) (TV) [Mildred Hubble] <4>
- There's No Fish Food in Heaven (1998) [Mona] <1>
- Thicker (2010) [Lonely]
- Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead (1995) [Lucinda] <8>
- Tollbooth (1994) [Doris] <1>
- Valmont (1989) [Cecile] <4>
- What Is It? (2005) (voice) [Screaming Snail/Insect/Monkey Girl] <17>
- Wild Tigers I Have Known (2006) [Logan's Mom] <4>
- ZZ Top: Breakaway (1994) (TV) [Vampire Girl]
- "Family Guy" (1999) {And the Wiener Is... (#3.5)} (voice) (uncredited) [Connie D'Amico]
- "Family Guy" (1999) {Let's Go to the Hop (#2.14)} (voice) [Connie D'Amico] <7>
- "Family Guy" (1999) {Peter, Peter, Caviar Eater (#2.1)} (voice) [Connie D'Amico] <5>
- "Justice League" (2001) {Only a Dream: Part 1 (#2.5)} (voice) [Penny]
- "Masters of Horror" (2005) {Pick Me Up (#1.11)} [Stacia] <1>
- "The Sopranos" (1999) {Army of One (#3.13)} (scenes deleted) [Agent Deborah Ciccerone/Danielle Ciccolella]
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- "Playboy" (USA), November 2001, Vol. 48, Iss. 11, pg. 32, by: Leonard Maltin, "Scene Stealer: Fairuza Balk"
- "Bikini" (USA), September 1996, pg. 50-55, by: Jonathan Craven, "The Island of Fairuza"
- "Bikini" (USA), November 1994, pg. 60-63, by: Dennis Hensley, "Balk at the Wild Side"
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- "US Weekly" (USA), 25 September 2000, iss. 293, pg. 78+79, by: Jenny Comita, "Almost Fairuza"
- "Movieline" (USA), November 1998, Vol. 10, Iss. 3, pg. 13, by: Kim McCann, "Spelling It Out"
- "Vox" (Hungary), May 1997, Iss. 1, pg. 5
- "Barely Legal" (USA), October 1996, Vol. 4, Iss. 2, pg. 14-15, by: Naomi Lippert, "Idol Worship: Fairuza Balk"
- "Playboy" (USA), November 1991, Vol. 48, Iss. 11, pg. 32, by: Leonard Maltin, "Scene Stealer"
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- "Celebrity Skin" (USA), October 2002, Vol. 24, Iss. 109, pg. 45, by: staff, "Bewitching Beauties"
- "Celebrity Sleuth" (USA), 1997, Vol. 10, Iss. 7, pg. 18-19, by: staff, "Just Arrived: The Craft"
- "Celebrity Sleuth" (USA), 1994, Vol. 7, Iss. 7, pg. 62-63, by: staff, "Baby Look At You Now! - Fairuza Balk"
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- "Shivers" (UK), November 1996, Iss. 35
- "Bikini" (USA), September 1996
- "Fangoria" (USA), June 1996, Iss. 153
- "Starlog" (USA), July 1985, Vol. 9, Iss. 96
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- Music video: 'Breakaway' by ZZ Top - female vampire. c.1994
- Music video: 'Funky Ajoyah' by Soul Defense Network
- Appeared in techno-superstar 'Moby (I)' (qv)'s music video for "Natural Blues" which began airing in early 2000, along with 'Christina Ricci' (qv).
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- When she was born, her father took one look at her eyes and exclaimed "Firuze!" which is Farsi for "turquoise."
- Once appeared as a vampire in a 'ZZ Top' (qv) video.
- Born at 3:00am-PDT
- She once fully owned her own Occult Craft shop in California called Panpipes. In 2001, she sold 50% of the business to a co-owner. Later, she sold her remaining share of the store to the current owners.
- Has nine tattoos and a nose ring.
- Has a triangle-shaped tattoo on her shoulder because the soldiers of the Nazi regime branded the symbol on the Romany in concentration camps. This is her way of paying respect to her culture and remembering the suffering her ancestors endured.
- Is of Persian, Romany, & Irish heritage/ancestry.
- A 2002 Internet poll confirmed that fans' favorite movie she did was _The Craft (1996)_ (qv)
- She is dyslexic.
- Enjoys listening to punk rock
- Plays guitar and piano
- Loves to read, and her favorite authors are 'William S. Burroughs' (qv), 'James Joyce (I)' (qv), 'Oscar Wilde' (qv), Carl Jung, 'Isabel Allende' (qv), 'Mikhail A. Bulgakov' (qv), 'Ernest Hemingway' (qv), and 'Honoré de Balzac' (qv).
- Ranked #88 in Stuff magazine's "102 Sexiest Women In The World" (2002)
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