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 and The Waterboy.
"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). A year later she starred as, prophetically enough, The Worst Witch (1986) (TV), a harbinger of her breakout role in The Craft (1996) 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). 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), 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), her breakout film. The same year she appeared in The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996), in which she did some belly dancing and attracted the attention of Lancashire, England-born co-star David Thewlis. They did another movie together, American Perfekt (1997).
Fairuza was also the love interest in the wildly popular The Waterboy (1998) and had a major role in American History X (1998). 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.
Trivia
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 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 and Romany heritage.
A 2002 Internet poll confirmed that fans' favorite movie she did was The Craft (1996)
She is dyslexic.
Enjoys listening to punk rock
Plays guitar and piano
Loves to read, and her favorite authors are William S. Burroughs, James Joyce, Oscar Wilde, Carl Jung, Isabel Allende, Mikhail A. Bulgakov, Ernest Hemingway, and Honoré de Balzac.
Ranked #88 in Stuff magazine's "102 Sexiest Women In The World" (2002)
Has Irish ancestry
Filmography
1.Thicker (2009).... Lonely
2.Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009)
3.Grindstone Road (2008) .... Hannah
4.Humboldt County (2008) .... Bogart
5."Masters of Horror" .... Stacia (1 episode, 2006)
6.Wild Tigers I Have Known (2006) .... Logan's Mom
7.Orpheus (2006) (TV) .... Karen
8.A Year and a Day (2005) .... Lola
9.Don't Come Knocking (2005) .... Amber
10.What Is It? (2005) (voice) .... Snail
11.Lords of Everquest (2003) (VG) (voice) .... Lady T'Lak
12."Justice League" .... Penny
13.Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (2002) (VG) (voice) .... Mercedes Cortez
14.Deuces Wild (2002) .... Annie
15.Personal Velocity: Three Portraits (2002) .... Paula
16."Family Guy" .... Connie
17."The Sopranos" .... Agent Deborah Ciccerone
18.Almost Famous (2000) .... Sapphire
19.Red Letters (2000) .... Gretchen Van Buren
20.The Waterboy (1998) .... Vicki Vallencourt
21.American History X (1998) .... Stacey
22.There's No Fish Food in Heaven (1998) .... Mona
23.The Maker (1997) .... Bella Sotto
24.American Perfekt (1997) .... Alice Thomas
25.The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996) .... Aissa
26.The Craft (1996) .... Nancy Downs
27.Shadow of a Doubt (1995) (TV) .... Angel Harwell
28.Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead (1995) .... Lucinda
29.Imaginary Crimes (1994) .... Sonya Weiler
30.Tollbooth (1994) .... Doris
31.ZZ Top: Breakaway (1994) (TV) .... Vampire Girl
32.Murder in the Heartland (1993) (TV) .... Caril Ann Fugate
33.The Danger of Love: The Carolyn Warmus Story (1992) (TV) .... Lisa
34.Shame (1992) (TV) .... Lizzie Curtis
35.Gas, Food Lodging (1992) .... Shade
36.Deadly Intentions... Again? (1991) (TV) .... Stacey
37.Valmont (1989) .... Cecile
38.The Outside Chance of Maximilian Glick (1988) .... Celia Brzjinski
39.Poor Little Rich Girl: The Barbara Hutton Story (1987) (TV) .... Barbara at Age 12
40.The Worst Witch (1986) (TV) .... Mildred Hubble
41.Discovery (1986) .... Molly
42.Return to Oz (1985) .... Dorothy
43.Deceptions (1985) (TV) .... Penny Roberts
44.The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (1983) (TV) .... Beth Bradley
IMdB