Thora Birch

Thora Birch
Birch from a photo shoot by Peter Konerko in November, 2016
Born	(1982-03-11) March 11, 1982 (age 34) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1988–present
Parent(s)	Carol Connors Jack Birch

Thora Birch (born March 11, 1982) is an American actress. She had early roles in the short-lived sitcom Day by Day and in Purple People Eater (1988), in which she won a Young Artist Award for "Best Young Actress Under Nine Years of Age". She also starred in other 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 with the Academy Award winning film American Beauty. Her performance was well received by both critics and audiences and brought Birch to international recognition. She later played the lead role in Ghost World (2001) for which she received a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. She appeared in independent films, such as Dark Corners (2006), Train (2008) and Winter of Frozen Dreams (2009).

After taking a break from acting, Birch resumed her acting career in 2016 and played software engineer Morgan in the first season of Carlton Cuse's television series Colony, as well as starring in four independent films.