Celebrity Nooz: Fairuza Balk

Fairuza Balk (Actress) - The Craft

Updated: 3/15/22

Name: Fairuza Balk

Birth Name: Fairuza Alejandra Feldthouse

Born: May 21, 1974 in Point Reyes, California, USA

Claim To Fame: Fairuza Balk is an American actress, musician and artist best known for her role in the horror film The Craft (1996), which earned her a nomination for the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Family Life: Balk has never married and has no children.

Info: Born to Solomon Feldthouse, a musician, and Catherine Balk, a belly dancer.

Feldthouse was one of the founding members of the 1960s psychedelic rock group Kaleidoscope.

Her father gave her the name "Fairuza" because of the color of her eyes. Fairuza is of Persian origin meaning "turquoise".

Balk is known for her portrayals of distinctive "goth-girl" characters, often with a dark edge.

Trivia: Balk took her first acting course around the summer of 1983.

Her first acting job was in a British Columbia tourism commercial, for which she earned $100.

While in London, Balk was cast by Walt Disney Productions to star as Dorothy Gale in Return to Oz, the unofficial sequel to MGM's 1939 musical The Wizard of Oz, for which she was nominated for the Young Artist Award for Best Starring Performance By a Young Actress - Motion Picture.

In 1988, at age 14, she moved to Paris to work on Valmont with director Milos Forman.

In 1992, she was awarded an Independent Spirit Award as best actress for her performance in the Allison Anders film Gas Food Lodging.

In a March 2001 interview with "Shout" magazine, she stated that out of all her films, Gas Food Lodging (1992) was her favorite. She indicated that "this film is very close to my heart. As a girl, I was very much like my character Shade. I was shy. I was a loner."

In 1996, she appeared in a lead role in The Craft, in which her character formed a teenage coven with characters portrayed by Neve Campbell, Rachel True and Robin Tunney. The role earned her a nomination for the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress, and a cult following.

Balk owned an occult shop in Los Angeles upon signing to act in the 1996 film The Craft.

She has appeared in numerous independent films and blockbuster features, typically in both leading and supporting roles, which include The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996), American History X (1998), The Waterboy (1998), Almost Famous (2000), and Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009).

In 2010, Armed Love Militia, Balk's musical outlet, released the single "Stormwinds". The track was written and sung by Balk. Armed Love Militia continued, with Balk collaborating on an EP with singer and songwriter Mel Sanson.

Where Are They Now: Whether it's movies, television, on stage, or with music, Fairuza Balk is always entertaining her fans. Currently she stars as Lizzie Thomas on the Amazon Prime series Paradise City (2021).

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