Thora Birch was born to Jack and Carol Birch on March 11, 1982 at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles, California. Her name is derived from the name of the Norse god of thunder and lightning, Thor. Thora was her parents' first child, and even at a very young age she displayed qualities of a budding actress.When she was a toddler, Thora was encouraged to audition for commercials and successfully landed parts in several of them, including advertisements and TV commercials for Quaker Oats and Vlasic Pickles. But it was in 1988 that her acting career really started to take off. She was cast as Molly in the short-lived television series "Day By Day", and she also landed quite an important role as Molly in the children's movie Purple People Eater which also starred Ned Beatty and Neil Patrick Harris. Thora even won a Youth In Film Award for her performance in the film.Thora now lives in her own home in southern California. While that is her home, she's rarely there nowadays since she is constantly away, either filming on location or promoting her new movies. Currently underway for Thora are two new films: the psychological horror/thriller Dark Corners, and Winter of Frozen Dreams, based on a true story which climaxed with the first televised murder trial in U.S. history. Thora has also said that she has aspirations of one day becoming a director, so maybe in the future we will she'll be behind the camera as well. Until then, she will be on movie screens around the world.
