37 Facts About Thora Birch

Thora Birch was born on March 11,1982 and is an American actress, producer, and director.

Thora Birch made her feature film debut with a starring role in Purple People Eater, for which she won a Young Artist Award for "Best Actress Under Nine Years of Age".

Thora Birch took a break from acting after producing and starring in the film Petunia.

Thora Birch returned in 2016 and has since appeared in various independent films, such as The Last Black Man in San Francisco.

In 2022, Thora Birch made her directorial debut with the Lifetime television film The Gabby Petito Story.

Thora Birch will make her directorial debut film with an adaptation of Elmore Leonard's novel Mr Paradise, making her the first woman to direct an adaptation of Leonard's writings.

Thora Birch was born in Los Angeles, California, to Jack Thora Birch and Carol Connors, ex-pornographic film actors who both appeared in 1972's Deep Throat.

Thora Birch is of German-Jewish, Scandinavian, French-Canadian and Italian ancestry.

Thora Birch's forename is derived from that of Norse god of thunder and lightning, "Thor", which would have been her name if she had been born a boy.

Thora Birch got her first big break at the age of four, when the babysitter accompanied her to a successful audition for a Quaker Oats commercial.

Thora Birch appeared in commercials in the late 1980s for Burger King, California Raisins, Quaker Oats, and Vlasic Pickles.

Thora Birch made her film debut as Molly Johnson in the 1988 science fiction comedy Purple People Eater, for which she received a Young Artist Award in the category of "Best Young Actress Under Nine Years of Age".

In 1990, Thora Birch was cast in a principal role on Parenthood, a sitcom based on the 1989 film of the same name, which ran for a single season on NBC.

Thora Birch co-starred as Billie Pike in the 1991 drama Paradise, with Roger Ebert commenting in his review for the Chicago Sun-Times that Thora Birch played the role with "strong, simple charm".

Thora Birch appeared in the festive comedy All I Want for Christmas that same year, playing a girl who schemes to reunite her divorced parents.

Thora Birch then co-starred as the daughter of Jack Ryan in the spy thriller Patriot Games, a commercial success which grossed US$178 million at the worldwide box office.

At age 11, Thora Birch starred in the Halloween-set fantasy film Hocus Pocus, playing Dani Dennison, the younger sister of a teenage boy who inadvertently resurrects a trio of witches.

Thora Birch was then cast as "Teeny" Tercell in the 1995 coming-of-age drama Now and Then.

Thora Birch appeared in several projects in 1999: firstly, the made-for-television film Night Ride Home, where she played a teenager grieving the loss of her older brother.

Thora Birch received various accolades for Ghost World, including a nomination for the 2002 Golden Globe Award for Best Actress.

Thora Birch's performance earned her a nomination for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress that year.

Thora Birch played a supporting role in Silver City, a political satire directed by John Sayles, which premiered at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival.

Thora Birch co-starred in the crime drama Slingshot the following year.

In Dark Corners, a psychological horror-thriller about a young woman who wakes up one day as a different person, Thora Birch starred in the dual role of Susan Hamilton and Karen Clarke.

Thora Birch later revealed she had been concerned about Murphy's wellbeing during filming.

Thora Birch played the role of Vivian in Petunia, an independent dramedy depicting the lives and romantic relationships of a dysfunctional New York family.

Thora Birch, who is credited as one of its producers, described the "intimate [and] honest" feature as "a little bit different".

Thora Birch starred as a left-wing activist in the 2018 political thriller Affairs of State, which Noel Murray of The Los Angeles Times called "refreshingly smart".

Thora Birch headlined and co-produced The Competition that same year, an independent romantic comedy.

Thora Birch is one of the great actresses of her generation and her work, in part, inspired me to want to make films.

Thora Birch's performance in Ghost World made me feel seen as a teenager when I was a bit lost.

Thora Birch called the experience "a fun, massive thing to have been a part of".

Thora Birch made her directorial debut in 2022 with The Gabby Petito Story, a Lifetime television movie in which she co-starred.

Also in 2022, Thora Birch played Audrey Beach in the ten-part fictional podcast Overleaper, an espionage-style thriller about a female soldier embarking on a top-secret mission.

Thora Birch married talent manager and philanthropist Michael Benton Adler on December 21,2018.

Thora Birch is a long-time Democrat who was a delegate at the 2012 Democratic National Convention.

Thora Birch has supported Joe Biden and local political efforts, such as Congressman Wiley Nickel's campaign.