Birch began acting at the age
of four in a series of commercials for California raisins. Other commercial work
soon followed and by 1988, she had landed her first film role. Playing Molly in
the family feature Purple People Eater, Birch won a Youth in Film Award. She then
appeared in a television series based on the popular Steve Martin film Parenthood.
Although the series was short-lived, it was clear that Birchs career had
just begun.
In
the 1990s, Birch made appearances in an impressive list of Hollywood productions,
including a recurring role as Harrison Fords daughter in the adaptations
of several Tom Clancy novels Patriot Games (1992) and Clear and Present
Danger (1994). She earned her first starring role in Monkey Trouble (1994), a
family film concerning the antics of a precocious primate.
Birch
got her big break in American Beauty (1999), the Oscar-winning exploration of
suburban anxiety. She received rave reviews for her portrayal of Jane Burnham,
the dour, alienated daughter of two mid-life-crisis ridden parents (played by
Kevin Spacey and Annette Bening).
Her
dramatic credibility established, Birch courted the independent ranks with a starring
role in Terry Zwigoffs Ghost World (2001). Playing opposite Steve Buscemi,
Birch won a Golden Globe nomination for her portrayal of Enid, a recent high-school
graduate who battles with the mundane offerings of her strip-mall landscape.
Birch
lives with her parents on their East Los Angeles ranch.
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Thora Birch Nude Gallery