About Thora Birch
Thora Josephine Birch (born March 11, 1982) is an American actress. She made her film debut with a starring role in Purple People Eater (1988) and won a Young Artist Award for "Best Actress Under Nine Years of Age". Birch rose to prominence as a child star during the 1990s through a string of parts in films, such as Paradise (1991), Patriot Games (1992), Hocus Pocus (1993), Monkey Trouble (1994), Now and Then (1995), and Alaska (1996). Her breakthrough into adult-oriented roles came with her portrayal of Jane Burnham in American Beauty (1999), for which she was nominated for the BAFTA for Best Supporting Actress. Birch received further acclaim—and a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress—for starring as Enid Coleslaw in the cult hit Ghost World (2001). Her other film credits during the 2000s included Dungeons & Dragons (2000), The Hole (2001), Silver City (2004), and Dark Corners (2006). Birch took a break from acting after producing and starring in Petunia (2012). She returned in 2016 and has since appeared in various independent films, such as The Last Black Man in San Francisco (2019) and The Chronology of Water (2025). On television, Birch played the title role in Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story—for which she received an Emmy nomination—and the recurring role of Gamma / Mary on The Walking Dead (2019–2020). She made her directorial debut with the Lifetime film The Gabby Petito Story. 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. She made her film debut as Molly Johnson in the 1988 science fiction comedy Purple People Eater, for which she won a Young Artist Award in the category of "Best Young Actress Under Nine Years of Age". 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.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.