Judith Barsi

Judith Eva Barsi (June 6, 1978 – July 25, 1988) was an American child actress of the mid to late 1980s. 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 fatally 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. She, a Hungarian immigrant escaping the Soviet occupation, was born in rural southern Hungary, and suffered psychological and physical abuse from her father. They married, and Judith's birth quickly followed in Los Angeles, California, where she was raised. Career: Maria began grooming Judith to become an actress, and at the age of five, she was discovered at a skating rink. Barsi's first role was in Fatal Vision, playing the toddler Kimberley MacDonald, although Barsi was six at the time of the miniseries' transmission. She went on to appear in more than 70 commercials and guest roles on television. As well as her career in television, she appeared in several films including Jaws: The Revenge as Thea Brody and provided the voice of Ducky in The Land Before Time. By the time she started 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 (she stood 3 ft 8 in (1.12 m) at age 10), she 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 she 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, Maria, and Judith. 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 they found no physical signs of abuse, she eventually decided not to press charges against him. After the incident, József reportedly stopped drinking, but continued to threaten Maria and Judith, 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 him throwing pots and pans at her, resulting in a nosebleed. Due to his abuse, she 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, she 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 him. Friends urged her 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 her in the head while she was sleeping, and then Maria. He spent the next two days wandering around the house, and said during a phone conversation with Judith's agent 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, he went to the garage and shot himself in the head with a .32 caliber pistol. On August 9, 1988, Judith and Maria were interred at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Los Angeles. Aftermath: Judith's final film, All Dogs Go to Heaven, in which she voiced the orphan 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 feature her extensively in his future productions.