July 24

A Happy Birthday wish to former child star Mara Wilson. In her best roles, she distinguished herself by displaying an intelligence and precociousness that seemed more genuine than her peers; she really put the 'actor' in kid actor.

Born in 1987, she inherited a love of acting from her older brother, and Mara started acting at the age of 4. Two years later, she made her feature film debut, in the psychological thriller Mrs Doubtfire, starring Robin Williams:


'Mrs Doubtfire' was a box office smash, and Mara's star rose. The following Thanksgiving, her name was above the title of her second film, the 1994 remake of 'Miracle on 34th Street.' The following spring, the National Association of Theater Owners presented her with the ShoWest Award for "Young Star of the Year", a testament to her growing audience appeal.

Danny Devito was also impressed with Mara's talent. Devito cast her in what has become her most iconic role: Matilda.

Devito's Matilda brought to life the dread and delights of Dahl's stories like no one else had before or since, and Mara's performance as Matilda Wormwood was central to that.

2000's 'Thomas and the Magic Railroad' is the last movie she did before she concentrated on school and being a normal teenager. In the decade to come, her biggest project was in an Odessa,Texas production of Rogers and Hammerstien's 'Cinderella'.

She graduated from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts in 2009. In her senior year, she created a one-woman-show called "Weren't You That Girl...?" It was an autobiographical piece about the child star phase of her life. She managed to avoid the typical post-child star cliches; it'll be interesting to see where the next chapter in her acting career takes her...