Thora Birch

Thora Birch, born March 11, 1982 was an American actress. In 1988 she made her feature film debut with Purple People Eater. For this role, she received the 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) as well as the Patriot Games(1992), Hocus Pocus (1993), Monkey Trouble (94), Now and Then (1995) as well as Alaska (1996). She received a Young Artist Award for "Best Young Actress Under Nine Years Old." In 1999, Birch played Jane Burnham in American Beauty. This film brought her an BAFTA nomination. In 2001, she played Enid in the cult classic Ghost World (2001), getting a nomination to the Golden Globe for Best Actress. Birch was also nominated for an Emmy Award in 2003 for her role as the title character in Homeless to Harvard:The Liz Murray Story. Other films she has appeared in include Dungeons & Dragons (2000), The Hole (2001), Silver City (2004), Dark Corners (2006), Winter of Frozen Dreams (2009), and Petunia (2012).After having a break from acting, Birch was back in the spotlight in 2016 and has since been in a number of independent films. Birch also played the character of Whisperer Maryas well as Gamma on the Walking Dead's season 10. Birch was the oldest of the children born to Jack Birch (and Carol Connors) in Los Angeles. Birch her family, which originally included the surname Biersch is German-Jewish and Scandinavian. She also has French-Canadian, French, and Italian ancestry. [6] Her name, Thora , is the name that comes from Thora, the Norse god thunder and lightning ("Thor"), which could have been her name if she was a boy. Kian Bolt Birch is her younger brother. Both of her parents were former actors in adult films and appeared in Deep Throat. Based on their own experiences in the entertainment business it was difficult for them initially to support Thora. But, her photograph was shown to agents when a babysitter spotted her fake commercials. Birch was given her first major break at the age of four, when the babysitter took her to a successful audition for a Quaker Oats commercial.