Judith Eva Barsi was the only child of Jozsef Barsi and Maria Benko. Born in 1978, she was discovered at a San Fernando Valley skating rink at the age of 5 1/2 in 1983, mistaken for a three-year-old. Her first commercial was for Donald Duck Orange Juice, and she went on to appear in numerous commercials, television series, and major motion pictures.
Her mother, Maria, played a significant role in her career, taking great pains to provide Judith with a normal and happy childhood. She would often bring Hungarian meals, such as duck for school lunch, and encouraged Judith's career as a Hollywood starlet. However, Judith's happy childhood was short-lived.
Beginning in 1985, Jozsef would often return home drunk instead of working as a plumber, and he refused to let Maria work. As a result, the family briefly relied on welfare until Judith's career took off in 1986 and 1987. By the time she entered fourth grade, she was earning an estimated $100,000 a year, which enabled her family to move into a four-bedroom house in West Hills.
As Judith's career soared, her father became increasingly abusive, constantly threatening to kill his wife and daughter. Judith would often cope with stress by biting her nails, plucking out her eyebrows and eyelashes, and even her cats' whiskers. Child Protective Services was called numerous times, but as Maria was reluctant to press charges and many of the reports were emotional rather than physical abuse, the case was not pursued.
Tragically, Judith's life was cut short when she was just 10 years old. On July 27th, 1988, her next-door neighbor, Eunice Daly, heard a loud bang while watering her plants. The house had been set on fire, and later the Barsis' bodies were discovered shot dead. Judith's toys that were not destroyed by the fire were given to the local Goodwill, and her best friend continued to feed her cats for months afterward.
