Thora Birch

Thora Birch, born March 11 1982 was an American actress. Her debut in film was Purple People Eater (1988) and was the recipient of the Young Artist Award for "Best Young Artistress Under Nine Years of age". Birch gained notoriety as a child star through appearances in films like All I Want for Christmas (1991), Patriot Games (1992), Hocus Pocus (1993), Monkey Trouble (1994), Now and Then (1995), and Alaska (1996).Her breakthrough role came in 1999 when she played Jane Burnham in the highly acclaimed film American Beauty, for which she earned an BAFTA nomination for Best Supporting Actress. In 2001, she won for Best Actress for Ghost World. Birch was nominated for an Emmy Award for her performance in Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story in 2003. Birch has also appeared in Dungeons & Dragons (2000) and The Hole (2001), Silver City (2004) and Dark Corners (2006). She was nominated for an Emmy Award in 2003. Birch was also in the role of Whisperer Maryas well as Gamma in The Walking Dead's Season 10. Birch was the oldest of the children born to Jack Birch (and Carol Connors) in Los Angeles. Birch who's family included the surname Biersch, is German-Jewish and Scandinavian. She also has French-Canadian, French, and Italian heritage. [6] Her name, Thora , is an abbreviation of Thora, the Norse god of thunder and lightning ("Thor") that would be her name if she had been a child. Kian Bolt Birch is her younger brother, is her mother. Both of them were adult film actors and have been in Deep Throat. Due to their experience in the entertainment industry, they were reluctant to encourage her, but were convinced to show Thora's photograph to agents by a babysitter who saw her imitating commercials. Birch was just four years old when she got her first big break when the babysitter invited her to audition for the Quaker Oats advertisement.