Thora Birch

Thora Birch, born March 11 1982 was an American actress. Her debut in film was Purple People Eater (1988), where she won the Young Artist Award for "Best Young Artistress Under Nine Years old". Birch rose to prominence as a child actress by appearing in films such as 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 appeared as Jane Burnham in the highly acclaimed film American Beauty, for which she earned a BAFTA nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Then, she starred as Enid in the cult classic Ghost World (2001), winning a nomination for Golden Globe for Best Actress. 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 was also on Dungeons & Dragons (2000) (2001), The Hole (2004), Silver City (2004), Dark Corners (2006) and Winter of Frozen Dreams (2009). Birch also played Whisperer Mary / Gamma in 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-Jewishwith Scandinavian and French-Canadian in her ancestry.  Her name, Thora is derived from the Norse god of lightning and thunder "Thor", which would have been her name, were she a boy. She is the younger sister of Kian Bolt Birch.Birch's parents were former film actors who both appeared in the film Deep Throat. Based on their own experiences in the entertainment business it was difficult for them initially to promote Thora. But, her photo was seen by agents when a babysitter had seen her imitation commercials. Birch was given her first major break at the age four, when the babysitter took her to an audition for a Quaker Oats commercial.