Mara Wilson

MARA WILSON

Date of Birth: July 24 1987

Mara Wilson was born into a Jewish family with three older brothers and one younger sister. When Mara's eldest brother, Danny started doing commercials, she knew she wanted to see herself up on the screen. Ever since she was a baby, she knew her brother's agent, and when she was five, she asked if she could too, get into the business.

Although she did not land a part in her first audition, Mara was not discouraged. She eventually got a role in an Oscar Mayer Lunchables commercial which never ran because one of the other girls in the ad had fallen asleep. Mara trudged on and finally found herself on screen in commercials for Marshall's sweaters, Bank of America and Texaco. "You know, most of my friends think doing commercials is so easy, but it's not. It's a lot harder than it looks."

Her commercial work lead her to an invitation to audition for the position of the youngest daughter in the 1993 comedy, Mrs. Doubtfire. She got the part and the exposure and was spotted by movie writer/producer/director John Hughes, who chose her for an important part in his latest production, a remake of the Christmas classic Miracle on 34th Street (1994).

After a long battle, Mara lost her mother to breast cancer in 1995. Although the death was a terrible blow to Mara, she did not yet quit her successful career. In the next few years, Mara had starred in several more films: Matilda, A Simple Wish and New Kid on the Block.

However, after filming Thomas and the Magic Railroad (2000), Mara dropped out of the film industry. She plans to go to college to study writing, so she can become a writer of children's books. "I want to write the kind of books that 9- and 10-year-old girls like to read," she said at one time. "The kind of books I like to read now."

Mara Wilson lives with her father, three older brothers and one younger sister in Burbank, California, where she attends John Burroughs High School.

Filmography:

Thomas and the Magic Railroad (2000)
New Kid on the Block (1999)
A Simple Wish (1997)
Matilda (1996)
Miracle on 34th Street (1994)
Mrs. Doubtfire (1993)