|
|
| Birth Name(s) : Thora Birch |
Date of Birth: March 11, 1982 |
| Status:
N/A
|
Partner:
N/A |
| Profession:
Actor |
Official Site
Go to the Thora Birch Official Homepage |
| << Add Thora Birch To Your Favorites |
Thora Birch Advertisements
|
Full Thora Birch Biography
Thora Birch was born on March 11, 1982. Her father Jack, and mom Carol, named her after the Norse God Thor ("Thora" being the feminine), the God of thunder; she has a younger brother named Bolt.
Thora appeared in one of the "classic" California raisin commercials in 1986 (at age 4), and later did other commercials. At age 6, Thora appeared in "Purple People Eater" (1988) and won a Youth in Film Award for her performance. Then she appeared in the television series "Parenthood," which co-starred a not-yet-discovered Leonardo DiCaprio. Thora's breakout movie was "Paradise" (1991) with bona fide stars Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith; Thora bested 4,000 young hopefuls to land the role, and she again got great reviews.
Thora appeared in "Hocus Pocus" (1993) with major stars; however, she got real recognition by having a starring role in "Monkey Trouble" (1994), in which her affection for her pet (and sometimes scene-stealing) monkey basically carried the entire movie (she and the monkey did their own stunts).
All grown up, this petite beauty (5'4") with green eyes had a major role in "American Beauty" (1999) which won 5 Oscar awards. Thora delivered a strong, effective performance as the alienated daughter of parents whose mid-life crises drive them to affairs and destruction; her acting was convincing and inspired, and once again received good reviews. A down-to-earth young woman in real life, she loves Italian food and diet root beer. |
|
Thora Birch Promotions
|
Additional Thora Birch Biography
Birch was born in Los Angeles, California, the eldest child of Jack Birch and Carol Connors. Both her parents (who have managed her career and remain her managers up to the present day) were former adult film actors and her mother appeared in the pornographic film, Deep Throat. Birch, who has a brother named Bolt Birch, is of Jewish, Nordic, and Italian descent. The family's original surname was "Biersch", coming from her German Jewish ancestors. The name 'Thora' is a feminized form of the name Thor, the God of the Sky and of Thunder in Norse mythology. Birch lives in southern California. She is a vegetarian and holds a blue belt in karate.
From an early age, Birch was encouraged by her parents to audition for commercials. She landed several parts representing companies such as Quaker Oats and Vlasic Pickles. In 1988, she broke into acting when landing the role of Molly in the short-lived television series Day By Day in which she was billed simply as "Thora." That same year she played an important role in the movie Purple People Eater opposite Ned Beatty and Neil Patrick Harris for which she won a Youth In Film Award for her performance.
Birch's performance in the 1995 film Now and Then is generally regarded as one of her best performances to date . It also starred Gaby Hoffmann, Christina Ricci, Demi Moore and Melanie Griffith. Directed by Lesli Linka Glatter, the film is about four friends who have been so preoccupied with their own lives that they have not seen one another for some time until the impending birth of one of their babies reunites them. Upon reuniting, they reminisce about events during the summer of 1970 when they were 12 which were ultimately influential in shaping their lives. It was during that summer, a mixture of both happy and sad events, that they realized that adulthood was fast approaching, that they began to work out what life was about and what they wished to do with their own lives. They also promised to be there for another, hence the reason why they were reuniting for the birth of the baby. Birch won critical acclaim for her performance.
By 1996, Thora was one of leading child actresses of her generation. She consolidated her position with a leading role in the adventure film, Alaska (1996) in which she plays 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. Whilst 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, Thora took a break from acting for a couple of years. 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 also 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 after 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 barely 17 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 and they and child labor representatives were on the set for the shooting of it.
After leading roles in The Smokers (2000) and Dungeons & Dragons (2000), Birch landed the leading role in Ghost World (2001) alongside Scarlett Johansson, Steve Buscemi and Brad Renfro and was nominated for a Golden Globe for best actress for her performance. The film concerns best friends Enid (played by Birch) and Rebecca who graduate from high school and find themselves forced to enter the 'real world'.
Birch has indicated that she has aspirations 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.
Thora was a guest on this show. Please send us more information about her appearance.
- "Doogie Howser, M.D." 1989
Thora played a character named Aggie Travers on an episode of this show entitled "The Choice". Her character was a young girl with telekinetic powers. (Aired on April 28, 1995) DVD
- "Promised Land" 1997
Thora guest-starred as Erin on this show as a young AIDS-inflicted girl who goes to summer camp and makes a suicide pact with some other girls in similar situations. (Aired on October 18, 1997)
- "Night Visions" 2001
Thora guest-starred as Susan in an episode of this short-lived series entitled "The Maze". In the episode, Thora's character emerges from a maze only to find that most of the Earth's population has disappeared. While Thora's episode was not aired during the original run, it has since been aired internationally by at least one station that picked up the show after its cancellation.
- Music videos
- Moby - "We Are All Made Of Stars" |
|
| Add Thora Birch Biography (SuperUSERS) + |
Thora Birch Quote(s)
| For me, romance isn't an over-the-top act. It's someone offering to help and to support me. Or if that person thinks I'm making the wrong decision, he'll tell me. I want him to be honest, because being that honest takes a lot of guts. |
|
| Add Thora Birch Review/Comment
|
HQ Thora Birch Pictures (16) | Random Thora Birch Picture
|
| << Back to the Thora Birch Homepage |
|
