Thora Birch

Thora Birch (born March 11 1982) is an American actor and producer. Her first film role was in Purple People Eater (1988) in which she was awarded the Young Artist Award for "Best Young Artistress Under Nine Years of age". Birch was a child-star who appeared in movies like All I Want For Christmas (1991) and the Patriot Games(1992), Hocus Pocus (1993), Monkey Trouble (94), Now and Then (1995), and Alaska (1996). The actress received a Young Artist Award for "Best Young Actress Under Nine Years of Age." In 1999, Birch played Jane Burnham in American Beauty. This film resulted in an BAFTA nomination. In 2001, she was nominated for Best Actress for Ghost World. Birch was nominated for an Emmy Award in 2003 for her performance as the main character in Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story. Her other films include Dungeons & Dragons (2000), The Hole (2001), Silver City (2004), Dark Corners (2006), Winter of Frozen Dreams (2009), and Petunia (2012).After taking time off from acting Birch returned to her acting career in the year 2016 and has since been in numerous independent films. Birch also played the role of Whisperer Mary/ Gamma in The Walking Dead's Season 10. Birch was born in Los Angeles, the eldest child of Jack Birch and Carol Connors. Birch, whose family originally had the surname Biersch is German-Jewish, and Scandinavian. She also has French-Canadian, French, and Italian roots. [6] Her name, Thora, is derived from the Norse god of lightning and thunder "Thor", which would be her name when she was a boy. She has a younger brother, Kian Bolt Birch.Birch's parents are both former film actors, both of whom appeared in the film Deep Throat. Due to their personal experience in the entertainment industry, they were not keen to promote the actress, but were convinced to show her photo to agents by a babysitter who spotted her mimicking commercials. Birch was just four years old when she received her first big break when her babysitter invited her on a audition for a Quaker Oats advertisement.