Judith Barsi (1978-1988)...very sad....

She was an actor. She played in a few movies in the mid to late 80's and did voices for the movies The Land Before Time (ducky) and All Dogs Go to Heaven (Anne Marie). Her mother, Maria, came from Hungary fleeting the 1956 Soviet Occupation to Los Angeles, CA where she worked as a waitress. Maria wanted to settle down and desperately wanted a baby. She met Jozef Barsi there when he came to one of her tables laying down 100-dollar bills. She was attracted to his he-man attitude.

Judith was born on the 6th of June in 1978. Maria, herself, aspired to be an actress but never made it. The odds that Judith would become an actress were 10,000 to 1 but she beat those odds when she was discovered at age 5 at a San Fernando Valley Skating Rink. She was mistaken for a three-year-old child. One of Ruth’s clients was doing a commercial and brought her in. Judith was cute, precocious, intelligent and a lot of fun to work with. They signed her on immediately. She would appear in 70 commercials, four made for television movies, and three big screen movies. Denise Galik-Furey, a co-star from Eye of the Tiger, said of Judith:

“She seemed like such a sweet, down-to-earth kid. She was a happy, happy little girl that I could see with her mom.”

But, in 1986, Judith’s 9-year-old life became a sheer nightmare. Her $100,000 income bought them a four-bedroom house on West Hill on a quiet street. The first thing Jozef did was have a fence with iron spikes built all the way around the house. A neighbor said of him that he would always keep the conversation to a minimum and was very secretive. To deal with the daily frustrations of his daughter’s career and income, he would reach for the bottle; he often became frustrated. Whenever he was drunk, he was violent and abusive. He would threaten to kill his wife and then beat her.

One night while having a party at their house, Jozef was enraged by all the attention his daughter was getting from their guests. She had gone into the kitchen and her father followed her. Calling her a “d*mn little brat”, he seized her ponytail and thrust her onto the floor. Judith told no one about this incident with the exception of an elementary school friend.

Soon after, landed a major role in Jaws: the Revenge, filmed in the Bahamas. The night before she left for shooting Jozef grabbed a large kitchen knife and pulled her head back, placing the blade right on her throat.

“If you don’t come back,” he hissed, “I will find you and kill you!”

Judith was hysterical and told her mother. Everyday, it was getting worse. Judith did the only thing she knew to do: she went to adults around for help. But it couldn’t be stopped. One day, Ruth noticed that Judith had plucked her eyebrows out, had no eyelashes, and had plucked out all her cats’ whiskers in a mood of stress.

“When I asked why, [she did that] she said it was because of all the problems at home,” Ruth said.

Ruth referred Judith to a child psychologist. The psychologist said the verbal, mental, emotional and physical abuse was so bad that they must file a report as soon as possible. The psychologist explained to Maria she also must fill out a report and turn it in. She did, but no one followed up on it. Maria later had the case be dropped because Jozef had convinced her he would grant her a divorce and move out.

Tuesday, July 27, 1988: Judith Barsi was found in her bed on her left side, panties and nightgown on, apparently still asleep. Elbow up—she had been shot clean through her head. She died instantly. She was 10 years old.

When Maria heard the shot, she came running toward Judith’s room. Jozef met her in the hall. She was found there, face down, nightgown also still on. She was 48 years old.

Jozef then proceeded to drench their bodies in gasoline and set them on fire. He then went into the garage, put the gun to his own temple, and pulled the trigger. He was 53 years old. The bullet passed through the garage door.

I was just watching All Dogs Go to Heaven today and I wanted to see what she looked like now and what movies she was in. I had no idea she died so young. Makes me really upset...

Show all stories by   Author:  26049 ( Click here )