Photo: Dfree / Shutterstock
By Izzy Casey — Written on Mar 27, 2021
People who have watched maybe one of the most iconic Halloween movies of all-time, "Hocus Pocus," know who Thora Birch is.
Birch is known for her role as the younger sister, Dani Dennison, in "Hocus Pocus," the daughter of Lester and Jane Burnham in "American Beauty," and Enid in "Ghost World," starring alongside then-15-year-old co-star Scarlett Johansson. Birch even won a Golden Globe for Best Actress nomination for her role as Enid!
Though Birch eventually took a break from acting, she attended college and is married!
Who is Thora Birch's husband, Michael Benton Adler?
Thora Birch is married to her talent manager, Michael Benton Adler, whose clients include Lesley-Ann Brandt, Adam Goldberg, Elisabeth Röhm, Wolé Parks, and many more. Adler is primarily a manager in the film industry, but he's also worked in a variety of positions in a variety of films.
Adler worked as an editor and producer for "The Manzanita Kid," and editor, director, writer, and cinematographer for the short film "Dear Cameron." His name has been listed under special thanks for film likes: "Once Upon a Time … In Hollywood," "The Beach Bum," "Widows," "Annihilation," "Lion," "Interstellar," and "Django Unchained."
That's a lot of thanks — and a lot of hats!
Who is Thora Birch?
Thora Birch was born March 11, 1982 in Los Angles, California. Her net worth is $8 million.
While Birch started her career off in commercials for Quaker Oats, Burger King, Vlasic Pickles, and California Raisins, she's best known for her roles in "Ghost World," "Hocus Pocus," "Patriot Games" (where she played the daughter of actor Harrison Ford), "Clear and Present Danger," "American Beauty," "Monkey Trouble," "Purple People Eater," "Now and Then," "The Hole," and a whole lot more.
She was famous as a child star, but in recent years she's starred in "Above Suspicion" alongside Emilia Clarke, "The Etruscan Smile," "Kindred Spirits," "The Walking Dead," and a new film currently in post-production called "13 Minutes." She also has a green belt in karate!
Who are Thora Birch's parents?
Thora Birch's parents are in the film industry, but not in the way that you might think. Birch's mother, Carol Connors, and her father, Jack Birch, were adult film actors, and most famously starred together for the film "Deep Throat."
Unfortunately for Birch, her father and mother were reported to often follow her on film sets and act in an inappropriate manner, especially her father. During the time, Jack was her then-manager. In a sex scene Birch had to film for "Winter of Frozen Dreams," her father threatened the crew and then "demanded" that he stay for the scene, where he gave a thumbs-up to the actors.
Her mother had been reportedly giving orders to the cameramen and the directors on where to place the camera and where "Thora would look her best."
On other sets, her father caused numerous altercations, creating discord in the Hollywood community and trouble for Birch. Even on the set of "American Beauty," her parents were legally required to sign off on Birch's underage topless scene and be present for it.
The last straw was when her father meddled in the 2010 off-Broadway production of "Dracula" where, because of his inappropriate actions, Birch was fired from the production.
Where has Thora Birch been and what is she doing now?
After Birch's break from acting to go to college, she started to slowly get back into the acting world, but it wasn't until she met Adler a few years before 2018 that he helped her find her spark again.
Adler was her talent manager for two whole years before they started to get more comfortable with each other.
Birch recently celebrated her 39th birthday posting on Twitter, "I’ve got one more year left in the 30s! Eek! Thank you all for the well wishes and I’ll be sure to share a real time pic (‘cause that’s a thing) with you later."
Unfortunately, it doesn't look like Birch will be coming back into "The Walking Dead" world as her character, Gamma/Mary, is said to have been killed off in the 10th season.
However, she will play Jess in the new 2021 film called "13 Minutes," which was expected to release in 2021, but because of the pandemic, it's currently uncertain when it will release.
Why did Thora Birch stop acting?
Around 2007-2008, Birch stopped acting and decided to pursue other goals like going to college.
But in an interview from 2014, Birch made it clear that she never stopped acting; rather, she "decided to take a break and live my life, branch out a little, educate myself." She didn't "step back" as the interviewer suggested and replied, "I was always working, it's just that no one was paying attention."
Recalling her time in Hollywood, specifically walking the red carpet, Birch admitted, "I tried to walk a fine line between being alluring and somewhat glamorous but maintain a strong identity and pursue things that were a little more thoughtful, and I guess nobody really wanted women to do that at that time."
She attended Kaplan University in Iowa and earned a degree in legal studies in 2011, and appeared in her next movie, "Petunia," in 2012. During that same time year, she was a California delegate for President Barack Obama at the 2012 Democratic Party convention, vocalizing her concerns about the environment and human rights on a blog.
How did Birch and Adler meet?
Adler was Birch's manager, who encouraged her to get back into the film industry, and helped her bring positive vibes back into her life.
"He's just something I never saw coming," Birch revealed in an interview. “I wasn't looking, didn't believe in the whole true love thing... We had a very professional, non-personal relationship for about two years... we started going to events together, and we’d wind up in a corner giggling like little kids. It just naturally turned into a date one night, and ever since then we have been inseparable."
When did Birch and Adler marry?
In December 2018, the two lovebirds tied the knot. The big day happened at the San Francisco City hall, where Birch wore a Christian Siriano minidress, instead of a big white ball gown. Cute!
She dropped a photo of the two celebrating at City Hall on her personal Twitter account.
Adler is also a philanthropist and social rights activist.
Adler doesn't just sit on piles and piles of his own wealth! He donates his big bucks to political campaigns, exclusively to Democratic party candidates like Barack Obama, Howard Dean, Joe Biden, and Bernie Sanders.
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Izzy Casey is a writer and editor based in NYC who covers news and entertainment for YourTango. Her work has been published in or is forthcoming from Gulf Coast: A Journal of Literature and Fine Arts, Black Warrior Review, Bennington Review, BOAAT, Prelude, NY Tyrant, The Iowa Review, and elsewhere.