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Thora Birch
Birch in 2006
Born	(1982-03-11) March 11, 1982 (age 42) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1988–present

Thora Birch (born March 11, 1982) is an American actress. She was a child actor in the 1990s, starring in movies such as All I Want for Christmas (1991), Patriot Games (1992), Hocus Pocus (1993), Now and Then (1995), and Alaska (1996). She came to prominence in 1999 after earned worldwide attention and praise for her performance in American Beauty. She then starred in the well received film Ghost World (2001), which earned her a Golden Globe nomination.

Early life

Birch was born in Los Angeles, California, the eldest child of Jack Birch and Carol Connors. Her parents, who were her business managers from the start, are former adult film actors and both appeared in the pornographic film Deep Throat. Birch is of German Jewish, Nordic, and Italian descent. The family's original surname was Biersch, coming from her German Jewish ancestors. Her name Thora is derived from the name of the Norse God of thunder and lightning, Thor. She has a younger brother, Bolt.

From an early age, Birch's parents encouraged her to audition for commercials. She landed several parts, including advertisements for Quaker Oats and Vlasic Pickles. Her first acting job followed.

Career

Early career, 1988–1995

In 1988, she landed the role of Molly in the short-lived television series Day By Day. She was billed simply as "Thora". That same year she won a part in the movie Purple People Eater opposite Ned Beatty and Neil Patrick Harris. Her performance won her a Youth In Film Award. Birch played as 'tomboy' Billie Pike in the movie Paradise which also starred Don Johnson, Melanie Griffith, and Elijah Wood. To obtain the role, she had to compete with more than 4,000 other young hopefuls who auditioned for it. Birch received critical praise for her performance.

Birch's ability to portray herself as a young tomboy landed her several parts during the period of 1991–1995, including the role of Dani in Hocus Pocus (1993). She won leading roles in such films as All I Want for Christmas (1991) and Monkey Trouble (1994). She appeared in two Harrison Ford films, Patriot Games (1992) and its sequel, Clear and Present Danger (1994).

Birch's performance in the 1995 film Now and Then teamed her with Gaby Hoffmann, Christina Ricci, Demi Moore, Rosie O'Donnell, and Melanie Griffith.

Worldwide recognition, 1996–2001

In 1996, she landed a leading role in the adventure film, Alaska (1996). She played the role of Jessie Barnes, who has moved to Alaska with her father (played by Dirk Benedict) and brother after the death of her mother. Her father is a former airline pilot and upon moving to Alaska, he starts earning a living by delivering supplies to small towns in the Alaskan wilderness in his light aircraft. While making a delivery, his plane crashes into a mountainside. Concluding that not enough was being done to locate him, Jessie and her brother set out on a successful attempt to find him with the help of a baby polar bear.

After guest-starring appearances in the The Outer Limits, Promised Land, and Touched by an Angel, Birch took a break from acting. In 1999, she returned in the made-for-TV movie Night Ride Home and also took a small uncredited role in the Natalie Portman film Anywhere but Here. She was initially cast in the role of Tammy Metzler in the dark-comedy Election, but ended up leaving after only the third day of filming due to disagreements with director/writer Alexander Payne. Jessica Campbell was then given the role of Metzler.

Later in 1999, Birch won enormous critical praise playing the role of Jane Burnham in American Beauty and was nominated for a British Academy of Film and Television Arts award. The movie itself went on to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. As Birch was 16 at the time she made the film, and thus classified as a minor in the United States, her parents had to approve her brief topless scene in the movie. They and child labor representatives were on the set for the shooting of it.

After leading roles in The Smokers (2000), Dungeons & Dragons (2000), and The Hole (2001), Birch landed the leading role in Ghost World, alongside Scarlett Johansson, Steve Buscemi, and Brad Renfro. She was nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance.

2002–present

Birch played as Liz Murray in the made-for-TV movie Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story (2003), for which she received a Emmy nomination, and she appeared as Karen in Silver City (2004). She starred in the films Dark Corners, in which she appeared in the lead role as a woman who wakes up one day as a different person and ends up being stalked by gruesome creatures, and Train, in which her brother, Bolt Birch, has a small part. The movie entails a trip to Europe for a group of American college athletes who unknowingly board a train that is occupied by a brutal killer.

Birch has indicated that she aspires to become a director and has recently begun directing short video sketches for a sketch comedy troupe called The Doomed Planet. The sketches can be seen on her official website.

In 2009, she starred alongside the actress Brittany Murphy in the horror film Deadline and appeared in Winter of Frozen Dreams. In January 2010, Birch played Sidney Bloom in the Lifetime movie, The Pregnancy Pact.

Personal life

In 2003, Birch started dating singer Fred Durst, but they broke up eventually. She is vegan.

Filmography

References

1. "Thora Birch". Actress of the Week. AskMen.com. Retrieved 2006-07-15.
2. ^ "Getting her own thing going". The Sunday Times (South Africa). 2002-03-17.
3. The Answer Man, by Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times, 10/10/99, p.5.
4. There's a reason for R rating, Deseret News, March 2, 2007.
5. Hinckley, David (January 23th 2010). "Lifetime's 'Pregnancy Pact' treats surge in teen pregnancy with kid gloves". New York Daily News. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

External links

• Official website
• Please use a more specific IMDb template. See the documentation for available templates.
• Template:Amg name
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• Template:Worldcat id

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• American child actors
• American film actors
• American actors of Italian descent
• American vegetarians
• American actors of German descent
• Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Screen Actors Guild Award winners
• Actors from Los Angeles, California
• 1982 births
• Living people
• Young Artist Awards winners