Judith Eva Barsi: June 6th, 1978-July 25th, 1988

Judith Eva Barsi: June 6th, 1978-July 25th, 1988




UPDATED: September 12, 2016
This site will be moving or going offline by the end of the year. (Most likely moving.)

September 1, 2007:
50,000th hit

July 31, 2006:
30,000th hit

April 25, 2006:
25,000th hit

December 2, 2005:
20,000th Hit

June 24, 2005:
15,000th Hit

January 18, 2005:
10,000th Hit

November 14, 2004:
7,500th Hit

August 27, 2004:
5,000th Hit

July 17, 2004:
2,500th Hit

June 27, 2004:
1,000th Hit

June 4, 2004:
Launch


JUDITH'S STORY:






Judith Barsi was a child actress of the 1980s. You may have seen some of her work and not even know it. She was in four TV movies, six big screen films including two animated movies, made several TV guest appearances, and was in 72 television commercials. You can visit her page on the Internet Movie Database to find out more about her work; the link is at the bottom of the page.

As her career grew (she was raking in six figures by 1987), her father, Jozsef, grew more and more jealous of her. To get his mind off things, he would reach for a bottle. This made him abusive toward Judith and her mother, Maria. Jozsef would threaten to kill them and burn the house down, if they didn't come back home.

On one such occasion, right before Judith & Maria left for the Bahamas to film "Jaws IV," Jozsef broke out a huge butcher knife, pulled Judith's head back, placed the blade to her neck, and said that if they chose not to return, he'd find them and kill them. There was another time when there was a party at the Barsi house; Jozsef was upset because Judith was getting "too much attention," so he followed her into the kitchen and hanked her pony tail so hard that Judith wound up on the floor. Another time Jozsef got so angry at Judith, he threw a frying pan at her and bloodied her nose. This guy was a piece of work. I'm sure there are several other instances of abuse that will go untold.

As a daytime refuge, Maria rented an appartment for her and Judith. Maria rarely left Judith alone with Jozsef, because he would abuse Judith both physically & mentally. When she was home alone with Jozsef, Judith tried to spend most of her time outside, either riding bikes with her friends or playing with her dolls out back. In her final months, the abuse was starting to take its toll. In a fit of stress, she yanked out all her eyelashes, and de-whiskered her cat. She also gained a lot of weight.

Fast foward to the morning of July 25, 1988. Judith was going to spend the night at a friend's house, but plans fell through and she was at home. Sometime that early next morning, probably around 1:15, Jozsef snuck into poor Judith's bedroom with a handgun, found her laying in her bed, and shot her in the head. It is unknown if Judith heard him and woke up, but the best guess is yes. Jozsef may have even made Judith roll over on her side. Maria heard the gun go off and she came running down the hall to protect Judith. When Maria met Jozsef in the hall, she fell to her knees and tried to shield her head with her arms; Jozsef then shot her, as well.

Jozsef left the bodies were they were for two days. On July 27th at about 8:30 in the morning, he drenched both bodies in gasoline and set the house on fire. He then went into the garage, placed the gun to his own temple, and shot himself.

Judith and Maria were buried together in an unmarked grave on August 9th, 1988; the wherabouts of Jozsef's remains is a mystery, and to tell you the truth I really don't care what happened to him. Judith's grave was adorned with a headstone, bought by her fans, on Monday August 23, 2004. It took just over 16 years, but Judith's grave got marked. Maria also got her marker on Friday January 28, 2005.

Confusion exists over the exact date Judith and Maria were killed. Even though her death certificate states that she died on July 27th, Judith and Maria were in fact killed on the 25th; they were DISCOVERED on the 27th, and that's why the death certificate states that date.

Judith's story lives on though a growing number of tribute sites and a fan base whose population is exploding. Most stumble upon her by accident, myslef included. They search for "that voice" in "The Land Before Time." Or, in my case, I was on the Internet Movie Database looking up people who made guest appearances on various TV shows to see if they were still active (Judith was on two episodes of "Punky Brewster"). Several more people find about Judith's life every day.

I encourage you to leave flowers for Judith & Maria at FindAGrave.com. Also considder visiting Judith's message board and signing her guestbook.

Judith Eva Barsi was taken from us almost two decades ago, but to people who are just finding out about her, it doesn't seem like that long.


Judith's marker was placed Monday August 23, 2004 and Maria's marker was placed Friday January 28, 2005. To everyone who donated, I give you my sincerest thank you and God bless you all. This could not have been possible with out everyone's contributions.

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More features coming soon!


JUDITH MISCELLANIA:

-Judith was discovered in a San Fernando Valley ice skating rink when she was 5 1/2 years old; she was mistaken for a three year old.

-She was extremely tiny. Until she was about nine, she looked like she was five. The picture at the top of the page is from early 1986, when she was 7 1/2. Looks younger, huh? She only stood 3'8" on her 10th birthday.

-Both of Judith's parents are Hungarian immigrants; the Barsis have no family here. Maria Agnes Benko was born on February 14, 1940 & Jozsef Istvan Barsi was born on November 26, 1932.

-Judith spoke fluent Hungarian. When she was with her mother in public, they would speak Hungarian to each other so nobody else would catch on to what they were talking about.

-Judith's final three movies were all released after her death. She played Billie in the TV movie "A Family Again," which aired on October 15, 1988; did the voice of Ducky in "The Land Before Time," released November 18, 1988; and was the voice of Anne-Marie in "All Dogs Go to Heaven," released November 17, 1989 (That's not a typo, 1989 is correct). "A Family Again" gave an "In Memory of" credit to Judith.

-Appeared in 72 commercials including Campbells Soup, Top Ramen, Jif Peanut Butter, and several toy commercials. Her professional debut was a Roman Meal commercial.

-One of the commercials Judith did was for Campbell's Tomato Soup. They had to do so many takes, she never ate tomato soup again!

-Whenever one of Judith's television appearances was about to air, Maria and her would make popcorn just before her show came on and sit together on the couch and watch it, if Jozsef wasn't home. If he was, they would watch the program in Judith's room. Judith didn't get too excited over it though; she was more interested in kid stuff.

-She liked to play with her dolls and ride her bicycle to her friends' houses.

-Judith's toys that were not destroyed by the fire were donated to Good Will.

-She didn't listen to a whole lot of music, but she loved the Smurfs & the Care Bears. She also watched "Alf," "Growing Pains," "Who's the Boss," & "Win Lose or Draw."

-Her friends were very much afraid of her father, Jozsef. Whenever they would come by the house and ask for Judith, he would say: "Oh. THAT little ass?! She's at a photoshoot," or something similar. When they would stay over at Judith's house, they often went home early. According to Nancy Kelly, Jozsef was "The scariest man her friends ever met." Jozsef was a plumber and played banjo & fiddle in a polka band; his name was pronounced "YO-seff."

-Favorite colors were pink and purple. She also loved sunflowers and was learning to knit.

-Maria would bring Judith hot lunch to school almost every day; often times Hungarian dishes -- one of her favorites was duck. Judith also loved macaroni & cheese.

-Maria tried to keep Judith's schooling as normal as possible, even though she had to be away some times. Her favorite subjects were Art & Social Studies; she hated Math & P.E. She attended Nevada Avenue Elementary School of the Los Angeles Unified School District.

-She had a crush on a boy named Kenny.


JUDITH LINKS:

FAN MADE MEMORIAL SITES:
Angel Girl
Love is Like a Ball and Chain
Judith Barsi Message Board
Another Judith Barsi Message Board
The Littlest Angel
Judith Barsi Tribute: Behind the Voice of Ducky

OTHER SITES:
Judith Barsi at FindAGrave.com
Maria Barsi at FindAGrave.com
Judith Barsi at the Internet Movie Database
Judith Barsi at FindADeath.com


CONTACT ME:

Webmaster: D.C. Lundberg


SPECIAL THANKS:

Special thanks to Nancy Kelly for providing most of the miscellaneous facts and pictures, and for answering all my questions about Judith and her short but sweet life. This page would not have been possible without her.

Special thanks to DeadOrAliveInfo.com & FindADeath.com for providing links to this page while we were collecting money for Judith's stone.



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