Thora Birch

Thora Birch (born March 11, 1982) is an American actor and producer. In 1988 she made her feature debut in a film in the film Purple People Eater. For the role, she was awarded a Young Artist Award as "Best Young Actress under nine years of age". Birch became a household name as an infant as she appeared in films like All I Want for Christmas (1991), Patriot Games (92), Hocus Pocus (93), Monkey Trouble (1994), Now and Then (1995) and Alaska (1996). In 1999 she was nominated to receive a BAFTA nomination. She then starred as Enid in the cult classic Ghost World (2001), winning a nomination for Golden Globe for Best Actress. Birch was also nominated for an Emmy Award in 2003 for her role as the lead 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 having time off from acting Birch began her career again in 2016 and has since starred in several independent films. Birch also played Whisperer Mary and Gamma on season 10 of The Walking Dead (2019-2020). Birch was born in Los Angeles, the eldest child of Jack Birch and Carol Connors. Birch is German-Jewishand has Scandinavian and French-Canadian in her ancestry.  The name of her mother, Thora, is derived from the Norse god of lightning and thunder "Thor" that would be her name were she a boy. Kian Bolt Birch is her younger brother. Both parents played actors in adult films and appeared in Deep Throat. They were not keen to support Thora because of their experience in the industry of entertainment. However, a babysitter noticed Thora performing commercials in a similar way and convinced them to show Thora’s image to agents. Her first break came at the age of four, when her babysitter took her to auditions for the Quaker Oats commercial.