Fairuza Balk is an American veteran actress who began showcasing her acting talents as a child in the early 1980’s. Known for playing supernatural and somber characters, some of her most known films include Gas Food Lodging (1992), The Craft (1996), and Almost Famous (2000). Read on to discover more facts about the petite, pale-skinned and husky-voiced actress.
Fairuza Balk Dead?
Balk isn’t one of those tabloid fodder celebrities so when it became disturbingly quiet from her in 2013, many began to wonder of the actress’s whereabouts. Some even went as far as concluding that the actress had died, but it turned out to be one of those celebrity death hoaxes.
Ru herself took to her Facebook page to announce her existence on planet earth.
NEWSFLASH: Balk is alive and well and thankfully back to acting. Some of her most recent efforts include a guest role in Ray Donovan. She is currently filming Hell Is Where the Home Is slated for release in 2018.
Fairuza Balk Bio
Fairuza Alejandra Feldthouse was born on May 21, 1974, in Point Reyes, California. Born to a belly dancer mother and a folk musician father, Balk grew to love the show business. However, her parents split shortly after her birth. For the first two years of her life, Balk was raised by her mother, Cathryn Falk in Cloverdale, California. Her mom then relocated to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada where Balk began acting at the age of 6. In 1983, she landed her first professional role in ABC TV film, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.
Incredibly supportive of her acting career, Balk’s mom traveled with her around Europe in a bid to advance her career. They relocated to London in 1985 where Balk attended the Ramona Beauchamp Agency, the Bush Davies Performing Arts School and the Royal Academy of Ballet.
In London, Balk beat 1,200 girls to the role of Dorothy Gale in the Walt Disney film Return to Oz which became her theatrical debut. She then landed a role in The Worst Witch (1986), Deceptions (1985) and Discovery (1986).
The next stop for Balk and her mom was Paris where she appeared in The Outside Chance of Maximilian Glick (1988), and Valmont (1989). After 6 months in Paris, Balk and her mom returned to Vancouver, British Columbia, where Balk enrolled in High School.
However, Balk didn’t last long in schol as she opted for correspondence courses and relocated to Hollywood to continue her career. Her popularity surged with her performance on 1992 film Gas Food Lodging which she revealed in a 2001 interview with Shout Magazine as her best performance ever because she could relate to her lonely and shy character. Her role as Shade earned her an Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead.
Four years later Balk landed the role of Nancy Downs, the evil leader of her teenage coven in the film The Craft. An instant hit, the film became Balk’s breakout. The movie earned her an MTV Movie Award for Best Fight (with Robin Tunney) as well as a Saturn Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.
Balk continued to impress with roles in The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996) where she belly danced, American Perfekt (1997), American History X (1998) where she played a neo-nazi. She ended the millennium with The Waterboy.
Since the new millennium, Balk has continued to show her talents in a lot of films and also frequently checks into the small screen.
Fairuza Balk Facts
Her name Fairuza was given to her unplanned by her father. Upon looking into her eyes on the day of her birth, he exclaimed “Firuze!” referring to her blue eyes. “Firuze” is Farsi/Persian for “turquoise”. However, despite the Persian origin of her name, Fairuza doesn’t have any Persian lineage. She is of German and English ancestry.
In 2010, Balk started a singing career under the moniker Armed Love Militia.
She has appeared as a vampire in a music video by ZZ Top.
Her father Solomon Feldthouse was a member of the 1960s psychedelic rock group Kaleidoscope. He is from Pingree, Idaho and is of Romani and Cherokee descent.
Her mother studied and taught the traditional dances of different countries, including Egypt, Turkey, Morocco and Spain.
Balk is a cat lover and owns a number of them.
She has at least 9 tattoos.
Fairuza Balk Net Worth
Balk has done quite well for herself with an extensive filmography. Her net worth is estimated to fall somewhere between $3 million and $9 million. However, Balk doesn’t accept roles based on what she’d get paid, instead, she prefers challenging, difficult and as we’ve all observed controversial roles.
In addition to acting, Balk has also made money as a business owner. She once owned an Occultic Craft shop in California named Panpipes which she sold half in 2001 and later sold all to its present owners.
Fairuza Balk Husband/Married
At the peak of her fame in 1996, Balk began a romantic relationship with English actor and screenwriter, David Thewlis. However, the relationship was short-lived lasting for just a year.
In the past, she has also been romantically linked with American actor and screenwriter, Crispin Glover. However, in recent years, Balk has remained privy about her romantic life. Though in her forties, Balk has never been married and has no kids.
Catch up with Balk on Twitter.
