Fairuza Balk facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Fairuza Balk
Balk in 2019
Born	(1974-05-21) May 21, 1974 (age 51) Point Reyes, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actress musician visual artist
Years active	1983–present

Fairuza Balk (born May 21, 1974) is an American actress, musician, and artist. She is known for playing unique characters in many movies and TV shows.

Fairuza started her acting career in television roles. She made her first big movie appearance as Dorothy Gale in Return to Oz (1985). For this role, she was nominated for a Young Artist Award. She also appeared in films like Valmont (1989) and Gas Food Lodging (1992). The movie Gas Food Lodging even won her an Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead.

Later, Fairuza gained a lot of fans for her role as Nancy Downs in The Craft (1996). This movie earned her an MTV Movie Award. She also appeared in other well-known films such as American History X (1998), The Waterboy (1998) with Adam Sandler, and Almost Famous (2000).

Outside of movies, Fairuza played Mildred Hubble in the 1986 TV movie The Worst Witch. More recently, she had a role in the TV series Ray Donovan in 2015 and Paradise City in 2021. Since 2010, Fairuza Balk has also been releasing music under the name Armed Love Militia. She is also a visual artist.

Early Life and Family

Fairuza Balk was born on May 21, 1974, in Point Reyes, California. Her father, Solomon Feldthouse, was a musician. Her mother, Catherine Balk, was a belly dancer.

The name Fairuza comes from the Persian language. It means "turquoise," and her father gave her this name because of the color of her eyes. Her father was a founding member of a 1960s music group called Kaleidoscope. He was also a traveling folk musician. He learned different types of music from Greece, Iraq, Iran, and Armenia when he lived in Turkey as a child.

Fairuza lived in Jackson, Michigan with her mother until she was two years old. Then, they moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. This is where she started acting at age six. Later, they moved to London and then to Paris for another acting role. They stayed in Paris for six months before returning to Vancouver.

Acting and Art Career

Fairuza Balk took her first acting class in 1983. She learned how to act naturally in front of a camera. Her very first acting job was in a tourism commercial for British Columbia. She earned $100 for this job.

Her first TV role was in a 1983 television film called The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. While in London, Walt Disney Productions chose her to play Dorothy Gale in Return to Oz. This movie was a sequel to the famous 1939 film The Wizard of Oz.

After Return to Oz, she got more roles. These included Mildred Hubble in The Worst Witch. In 1988, when she was 14, she moved to Paris to work on the movie Valmont. She decided to study through correspondence courses. She then moved back to Hollywood and became a more recognized actress. In 1992, she won an Independent Spirit Award for Best Actress for her role in the film Gas Food Lodging.

In 1996, Fairuza played a main role in The Craft. In this movie, her character formed a group of teenage friends with special abilities. Since then, Fairuza has continued to act in many films. In 1996, she also co-starred in The Island of Dr Moreau. In 1998, she appeared in American History X and The Waterboy with Adam Sandler.

Since 2000, she has been in many films. She has also done voice work for animated films, TV shows, and video games. Some of these include Justice League, Family Guy, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, and Lords of EverQuest.

In 2010, Fairuza started releasing music under the name Armed Love Militia. She wrote and sang the song "Stormwinds." She also worked with singer and songwriter Mel Sanson on an EP (Extended Play).

In 2011, Fairuza Balk began to show her art in galleries. She has exhibited her artwork in Los Angeles and New York. In 2012, she was part of a group art show called 'MiXTAPE'. For this show, artists chose a song and created art inspired by it. Fairuza chose the song "Nuages" by Django Reinhardt and made a mixed-media sculpture.

Filmography

See also

In Spanish: Fairuza Balk para niños