Judith Barsi: Verified Facts, Timeline, and Key Sources
Few childhood acting careers ended as abruptly and tragically as Judith Barsi’s; at just 10 years old, the voice of Ducky in The Land Before Time was killed alongside her mother in a murder-suicide by her father on July 25, 1988. This article separates verified records from persistent speculation, relying on official news archives and secondary sources to give you a clear, fact-based account.
Birth date: June 6, 1978 ·
Death date: July 25, 1988 ·
Age at death: 10 ·
Notable films: The Land Before Time, Jaws: The Revenge, All Dogs Go to Heaven ·
Cause of death: Murder-suicide by father
Quick snapshot
- Born June 6, 1978, in Los Angeles (Wikipedia entry)
- Father’s exact motive not recorded in official reports (Los Angeles Times)
- LA Times published report on July 28, 1988 (Los Angeles Times)
- No new official information since 1988; speculation persists online (People retrospective)
Five key verified facts — one pattern: official sources agree on the core events but offer limited detail on motive or the day’s full sequence.
| Label | Value |
|---|---|
| Full name | Judith Eva Barsi (Wikipedia entry) |
| Birth | June 6, 1978, Los Angeles, California (Find a Grave) |
| Death | July 25, 1988, Los Angeles, California (Los Angeles Times) |
| Notable works | The Land Before Time, Jaws: The Revenge, All Dogs Go to Heaven (IMDb profile) |
| Cause of death | Homicide (gunshot) by father, followed by father’s suicide (People) |
What is the latest verified information about Judith Barsi?
Recent media coverage
All known verified facts about Judith Barsi were established by late July 1988. The Los Angeles Times (leading California newspaper) reported on July 28, 1988, that Judith Barsi was “believed to have died with her mother Wednesday in an apparent murder-suicide.” No new primary evidence — no new police reports, no coroner’s record release — has surfaced in the decades since. People magazine published a retrospective in 2026 restating the same facts, drawing on the same pool of secondary sources.
Coroners’ reports and death certificates
A death certificate image exists on Wikimedia Commons, but its chain of custody is unverified. No official government document — no LAPD investigative summary, no county coroner’s autopsy report — is publicly accessible in digitized form. This means that every online account ultimately traces back to the 1988 Los Angeles Times article and memorial-database entries like Find a Grave, which describe her as a murder victim but do not constitute primary records.
Public understanding of this case rests entirely on a single newspaper report and memory-based sources. No official investigative file has been released to the public, creating a vacuum that speculation fills.
Why this matters: The lack of accessible primary documents means that any claim about motive, the day’s sequence, or parental history carries less evidentiary weight than a typical homicide case file would allow.
What should readers know first about Judith Barsi?
Brief biography
- Judith Eva Barsi was born on June 6, 1978, in Los Angeles, California, to Hungarian immigrant parents Jozsef Barsi and Maria Barsi (née Benko) (Wikipedia entry).
- She began acting in television commercials as a young child and soon landed minor television roles (IMDb profile).
- Her most famous roles were as the voice of Ducky in The Land Before Time (1988) and a supporting part in Jaws: The Revenge (1987) (People retrospective).
- Her final film, All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989), was released posthumously and dedicated to her memory (IMDb profile).
Key events timeline
- June 6, 1978: Born in Los Angeles (Find a Grave).
- Early 1980s: Begins appearing in commercials and television guest spots (IMDb profile).
- 1987: Cast in Jaws: The Revenge; voice work begins for The Land Before Time (IMDb profile).
- July 25, 1988: Killed by father Jozsef Barsi, who also killed mother Maria before dying by suicide, in Canoga Park, Los Angeles (Los Angeles Times).
- July 28, 1988: Los Angeles Times publishes the first news article confirming the deaths (Los Angeles Times).
- November 1989: All Dogs Go to Heaven released with dedication to her memory (IMDb profile).
Judith Barsi’s career arc — from commercials to major animated features — was cut short at its peak. The gap between her final completed role and her death is roughly one year, a compression that fuels the tragedy’s lasting impact.
Which official sources confirm key claims about Judith Barsi?
Newspaper archives
The single most authoritative source is the Los Angeles Times (Tier 2 — established editorial publication) article from July 28, 1988. It is the sole contemporary news report that directly covers the discovery of the bodies and the police’s initial findings. No other major newspaper of the time published original reporting from the scene.
Legal records
No official government documents — LAPD incident reports, Los Angeles County coroner’s records, or court filings — are publicly available online. A death certificate image on Wikimedia Commons exists but has no verified provenance. This absence is a critical gap many readers don’t realize exists.
Wikipedia and IMDb as secondary sources
Wikipedia (Tier 3 — community-maintained encyclopedia) consolidates information from the LA Times and other sources. IMDb (Tier 3 — user-contributed database) provides filmography verified against production credits. Both are useful starting points but neither carries the authority of a primary document.
What is still unclear or unverified about Judith Barsi?
Unconfirmed details about her father’s motive
The Los Angeles Times report states only that the father, Jozsef Barsi, shot his wife and daughter before shooting himself. No official document explaining his motive has been released. Social media and Reddit threads often fill this gap with speculation about financial stress or mental health issues, but none of these explanations are sourced from primary records.
Discrepancies in some online accounts
Fandom pages and community memorials sometimes vary on minor details such as the exact address of the death scene or Judith’s elementary school. These discrepancies stem from the absence of an official case summary against which all accounts could be checked.
Any online narrative that offers a detailed motive or a step-by-step account of July 25, 1988, without citing the LA Times or a verifiable primary document is almost certainly speculative. Readers should treat such accounts with skepticism.
What are the most common user questions about Judith Barsi?
Who was Judith Barsi?
Judith Eva Barsi was an American child actress born on June 6, 1978, in Los Angeles. She appeared in television commercials and guest roles before landing voice work in The Land Before Time and a role in Jaws: The Revenge (IMDb profile).
How did she die?
Judith Barsi was shot by her father, Jozsef Barsi, on July 25, 1988, in a double murder-suicide in which he also killed his wife Maria before taking his own life (Los Angeles Times).
What movies was she in?
Her known film credits include Jaws: The Revenge (1987), The Land Before Time (1988), and the posthumously released All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989). She also appeared in television programs such as The Twilight Zone (IMDb profile).
What happened to her father?
Jozsef Barsi died by suicide after killing his wife and daughter. No legal proceedings occurred against him because he died at the scene (People retrospective).
Where is Judith Barsi buried?
She is buried alongside her mother, Maria Barsi, at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in the Hollywood Hills, with a memorial page maintained on Find a Grave.
A child actress whose credits included the film “Jaws IV: The Revenge” was believed to have died with her mother Wednesday in an apparent murder-suicide.
Los Angeles Times (Tier 2 — major daily newspaper), July 28, 1988
Judith Barsi, the child actress best known for voicing Ducky in The Land Before Time, was murdered by her father at age 10.
People (Tier 2 — established editorial publication), 2026 retrospective
For readers researching this case, the implication is clear: trust the LA Times article, treat all other claims with a source-conscious filter, and recognize that the full official record remains inaccessible. The gap between public knowledge and primary documentation is not a failure of research — it is a structural gap in the available evidence itself.
reddit.com, commons.wikimedia.org, forevermissed.com, facebook.com, youtube.com
Frequently asked questions
What was Judith Barsi’s most famous role?
Her most famous role was as the voice of Ducky in The Land Before Time (1988). She also appeared in Jaws: The Revenge (1987) and All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989) (IMDb profile).
How old was Judith Barsi when she died?
She was 10 years old. She was born on June 6, 1978, and died on July 25, 1988 (Los Angeles Times).
Did Judith Barsi have any siblings?
No. Judith Barsi was the only child of Jozsef and Maria Barsi (Wikipedia entry).
Where is Judith Barsi buried?
She is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in the Hollywood Hills, alongside her mother Maria (Find a Grave).
Are there any books about Judith Barsi?
No full-length biography or non-fiction book has been published about Judith Barsi from a major publisher. Most coverage exists in newspaper archives and online articles.
Did Judith Barsi’s father face any legal consequences?
No. Jozsef Barsi died by suicide at the scene of the killings, so no criminal proceedings occurred (People retrospective).
Is there an official police report available?
No official LAPD report, coroner’s record, or autopsy document has been released to the public in digitized form. A death certificate image on Wikimedia Commons exists but lacks verified provenance.
Related reading: Dana Plato: Tragic Death, Autopsy, Custody, and Son’s Story · Erik Menendez: Parole Denied, Daughter, Kim Kardashian Visit
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