Thora Birch

Thora Birch, born March 11, 1982, is an American actress. In 1988, she made her debut in a film with Purple People Eater. For the role, she received an Young Artist Award as "Best Young Actress Under nine years of age". Birch was a child-star who was in films like All I Want For Christmas (1991), Patriot Games(1992), Hocus Pocus (1993), Monkey Trouble (94), Now and Then (1995) as well as Alaska (1996). The actress received a Young Artistic Award in the category of "Best Young Actress Under Nine Years of Age." In 1999, Birch played Jane Burnham in American Beauty. This film was a huge success and earned her an BAFTA nomination. In 2001, she was recognized for Best Actress for Ghost World. Birch was nominated for an Emmy Award in 2003 for her performance as the lead character in Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story. Birch also appeared on Dungeons & Dragons (2000) (2001), The Hole (2004), Silver City (2004), Dark Corners (2006) and Winter of Frozen Dreams (2009). Birch has also appeared as Whisperer Mary and Gamma in season 10 of The Walking Dead (2019-2020). Birch was the oldest child born to Jack Birch (and Carol Connors) in Los Angeles. Birch, whose family's original surname was Biersch, is of German-Jewish, Scandinavian, French-Canadian and Italian descent. [6] Her name, Thora originates from the Norse god of lightning and thunder "Thor" which could have been her name, when she was a boy. Kian Bolt Birch who is her younger brother, is her mother. Both are former adult film actors, and were both part of Deep Throat. Based on their experience in the entertainment industry the parents were reluctant initially to encourage Thora. However, Thora's photograph was shown to agents when a babysitter spotted her fake commercials. The first time she got noticed was around the age of 4, when her babysitter took her along to an audition for the Quaker Oats commercial.