Maria Virovacz Barsi is the mother of child actor Judith Barsi. Maria Virovacz Barsi’s daughter was a rising star in the 1980s. She is the voice actor for Ducky in The Land Before Time and Anne-Marie in All Dogs Go to Heaven. She is also known for her appearance in the 1987 film Jaws: The Revenge and other television series. What happened to Judith Barsi’s mother?

Maria Virovacz Barsi: Bio Summary

Maria Virovacz Barsi was born on 14 February 1940 in Hungary. She was 48 years old at the time of her unfortunate death. She was the second wife of József Istvan Barsi who was previously married Klara Barsi and they had two children:  Barna Barsi and Ági Barsi. Judith Barsi was the only child of Maria and her husband Jozsef. Both Maria and Jozsef were immigrants to the U.S. who fled the Hungarian People’s Republic following the 1956 uprising. The two immigrated at different times and met at a restaurant in California, where Maria worked as a waitress. 

Judith Barsi’s mother Maria who was determined to guide her daughter toward a career in acting taught Judith about posture, poise, and how to speak. “I said I wouldn’t waste my time,” Maria Barsi’s brother, Joseph Weldon tried to discourage his sister, recalled. “I told her the chances are one in 10,000 that she would succeed.”

ALSO, READ; Ági Barsi: What happened to Judith Barsi’s sister?

Nothing was able to stop the determination of the mother who wanted to see her daughter succeed. The little girl was spotted by a film crew at an ice rink. The crew developed an interest in the petite blonde girl who effortlessly glided on the ice and invited her to join their commercial. That was how the story of the child actor started.

Judith Barsi and her mother were abused by her father

While Maria Virovacz Barsi help her daughter build her career and she was earning an estimated $100,000 per year (equivalent to $229,000 in 2021), which helped her family buy a three-bedroom house in West Hills, Los Angeles, her father József Barsi was terrorizing her and her mother behind the scenes.

Maria Virovacz Barsi’s husband Joszsef had a drinking problem which led to led to three arrests for drunk driving. Aside from his drinking, he was quick to anger. He threatened to kill Maria or even kill Judith so that Maria would suffer. A friend of his named Peter Kivlen recalled that József told him hundreds of times that he wanted to kill his wife.

“I’d try to calm him down. I’d tell him, ‘If you kill her, what will happen to your little one?‘” Kivlen said, trying to discourage the friend from carrying out anything he is planning. However, József’s response according to Kivlen was: “I gotta kill her too.” As Judith prepared to fly to the Bahamas to film Jaws: The Revenge, József threatened her with a knife. “If you decide not to come back, I will cut your throat,”  Peter Kivlen said.

The young actress also broke down and told her friends she was afraid to go home, the reason being, “My daddy is drunk every day, and I know he wants to kill my mother.” She also told her friend that her father threw pots and pans at her, resulting in a nosebleed. As a result of her abuse, Maria’s daughter began gaining weight and developed compulsive behaviors, such as plucking out her eyelashes and pulling out her cat’s whiskers.

ALSO, READ; Barna Barsi: How did Judith Barsi’s brother die?

Two months before the mother and daughter were murdered, Judith broke down in front of her agent which resulted in Maria Virovacz Barsi taking her daughter to a child psychologist, who identified severe physical and emotional abuse and reported her findings to child protective services.

Maria assured the case worker to drop the investigation as she intended to begin divorce proceedings against her husband József. She also revealed she and Judith were going to move into a Panorama City apartment she rented. However, reluctant to abandon the life she’d built. “I can’t, because he’ll come after us and kill us, and he’s threatened to burn the house down,” Maria Virovacz Barsi told a neighbor.

Maria Virovacz Barsi Cause of Death

  Maria Virovacz Barsi was Murdered by her husband while trying to protect her daughter Judith from her father’s rage. At around 8:30 a.m. on July 27, 1988, one of the Barsis’ neighbors heard an explosion next door and smoke coming from the house and she made a 911 call. “My first thought, as I ran in to call 911, was, ‘He’s done it. He’s killed them and set a fire in the house, just like he said he would,‘” the neighbor told the Los Angeles Times.

ALSO, READ; How József Barsi Killed his Daughter Judith Barsi and Wife- Full Story

Police led by Police Lt. Warren Knowles found Judith Barsi in her bed; Maria Virovacz Barsi was in the hallway. Both had been shot and doused with gasoline, which József ignited before going to the garage and shooting himself in the head with a .32-caliber pistol, investigators revealed.

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