Judith Eva Barsi was an American child actress.
She began her career in television, making appearances in commercials and television
shows, and later appeared in the films Jaws: The Revenge, The Land Before Time, and All
Dogs Go to Heaven, supplying the voice for animated characters in the latter two.
In 1988, after years of physical and mental abuse, her father, József, shot and killed
Judith and her mother, Maria, before shooting himself in a double murder–suicide.
Family history Judith's father, József, fled Communist Hungary
after the 1956 Soviet occupation.
He eventually relocated to New York in 1964, and then to California, where he met Maria
Virovacz.
Maria, herself a Hungarian immigrant escaping the Soviet occupation, was born in rural southern
Hungary, and suffered psychological and physical abuse from her father.
József and Maria married, and Judith's birth quickly followed in Los Angeles, California,
where Judith was raised.
Career Maria began grooming her daughter to become
an actress, and at the age of five, Judith was discovered at a skating rink.
Judith went on to appear in more than 70 commercials and guest roles on television.
As well as her career in television, Judith appeared in several films including Jaws:
The Revenge and provided the voice for the character of Ducky in The Land Before Time.
By the time she entered fourth grade, Judith was earning an estimated $100,000 a year,
which helped her family buy a three-bedroom house in West Hills, Los Angeles.
As she was short for her age at age 10), Judith began receiving hormone injections at UCLA
to encourage her growth.
Her petiteness led casting directors to cast her as children that were younger than her
actual age.
Her agent was quoted in The Los Angeles Times as saying that when Judith was ten, "she was
still playing 7, 8".
Abuse and murder As Judith's career success increased, József
became increasingly abusive, jealous and paranoid, and would routinely threaten to kill himself,
his wife, and daughter.
His alcoholism worsened, and resulted in three separate arrests for drunk driving.
In December 1986, Maria reported his threats and physical violence toward her to the police.
After police found no physical signs of abuse, Maria eventually decided not to press charges
against József.
After the incident, József reportedly stopped drinking, but continued to threaten his wife
and daughter, which included threats of cutting their throats as well as burning down the
house.
He reportedly hid a telegram informing Maria that a relative in Hungary had died, in an
attempt to prevent her and Judith from leaving America.
Physical violence continued, with Judith telling a friend about her father throwing pots and
pans at her, resulting in a nosebleed.
Due to her father's abuse, Judith began putting on weight and exhibited disturbing behavior,
which included plucking out all her eyelashes and pulling out her cat's whiskers.
After breaking down in front of her agent during a singing audition for All Dogs Go
to Heaven, Judith was taken by Maria to a child psychologist, who identified severe
physical and emotional abuse and reported her findings to Child Protective Services.
The investigation was dropped after Maria assured the case worker that she intended
to begin divorce proceedings against József and that she and Judith were going to move
into a Panorama City apartment she had recently rented as a daytime haven from József.
Friends urged Maria to follow through with the plan, but she resisted, reportedly because
she did not want to lose the family home and belongings.
Judith was last seen riding her bike on the morning of July 25, 1988.
That evening, József shot Judith in the head while she was sleeping in her room, then shot
Maria.
József spent the next two days wandering around the house, and said during a phone
call with Judith's agent on the next night that he intended to move out for good, and
just needed time to "say goodbye to my little girl."
He then poured gasoline on the bodies and set them on fire.
After incinerating the bodies, József went into the garage and shot himself in the head
with a .32 caliber pistol.
On August 9, 1988, Judith and her mother were interred at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park
in Los Angeles.
Aftermath Judith's final film, All Dogs Go to Heaven,
in which she voices the orphaned Anne-Marie, was released in 1989.
Don Bluth, the director of The Land Before Time, described her as "absolutely astonishing.
She understood verbal direction, even for the most sophisticated situations," and he
had intended to use her extensively in his future productions.
Filmography References
External links
Judith Barsi at the Internet Movie Database Child Actress Judith Barsi: A Life Cut Tragically
Short, Crime Library Judith Barsi at Find a Grave