Fairuza Balk

Fairuza Balk
Fairuza Balk at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2006
Born	Fairuza Alejandra Feldthouse (1974-05-21) May 21, 1974 (age 42) Point Reyes, California, United States
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1983–present

Fairuza Balk (born May 21, 1974) is an American film actress. She made her theatrical film debut as Dorothy Gale in Disney's 1985 film Return to Oz. Balk also made appearances in Valmont, The Craft, The Island of Dr. Moreau, American History X, The Waterboy, Almost Famous, and Personal Velocity: Three Portraits.

Balk was born as Fairuza Alejandra Feldthouse in Point Reyes, California. Until age two, Balk lived in Cloverdale, California with her mother. They then moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, where she began acting at age six. They moved from London to Paris for another role. They remained there for six months before returning to Vancouver. Balk moved to Los Angeles as a young woman upon signing to act in The Craft.

Fairuza's mother, Cathryn Balk, has studied, performed, and taught the ethnic and traditional dance forms of many countries such as Egypt, Turkey, Morocco and Spain. Her father, Solomon Feldthouse, was one of the founding members of the 1960s psychedelic rock group Kaleidoscope, and is also a traveling folk musician. He was born in Pingree, Idaho and between the ages of 6 and 10, he lived in Turkey where he learned Greek, Turkish and Iraqui/Iranian music. Balk has stated that her father is of Romani and Cherokee ancestry, and that her mother is of Irish and French descent.