Fairuza Balk

The illustrious Fairuza Alejandra Balk was born on May 21, 1974 in Point Reyes, California, to Solomon Ben Feldthouse, a travelling musician, and Cathryn Balk, a renowned belly dancer. On that auspicious day, her father, overwhelmed by the sight of her blue eyes, exclaimed her name, "Fairuza!" ("Turquoise" in Farsi). After her parents split up, Fairuza was raised on a commune-type ranch just north of San Francisco. At the age of nine, she emigrated to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, where she began her illustrious career with her first role in the ABC special The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (1983). Two years later, she was accepted into the prestigious Royal Academy of Ballet, the Ramona Beauchamp Agency, and the Bush Davies Performing Arts School. Fairuza subsequently shone in the spotlight of the Walt Disney Company at the tender age of eleven when she was chosen from 1,200 girls to star as Dorothy in Return to Oz (1985).