Early life

Mara Wilson was born in Los Angeles, California on July 24, 1987. She is the oldest daughter of Mike Wilson, a television broadcast engineer, and the late Suzie Shapiro Wilson, a homemaker. Wilson's mother was Jewish and her father is of part Irish descent. Mara was raised Jewish, but she became an atheist when she was 15. She has three older brothers, Danny, Jon, and Joel, and a younger sister, Anna. Wilson's cousin is political commentator Ben Shapiro. Her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer on March 10, 1995. By the time the doctors found the cancer it was too late. Suzie Wilson died on April 26, 1996 right after Wilson finished filming "Matilda". The movie was dedicated to Suzie's memory. Wilson's father has since remarried. After her mother died, Wilson lost her passion for acting.

Career

Wilson became interested in acting after watching her oldest brother Danny act. Mara's parents refused to let her act, but they eventually reluctantly agreed to let her go into acting. After acting in commercials for Lunchables, Bank of America, Texaco, and Marshall's, Mara was invited to audition for the 1993 comedy film "Mrs. Doubtfire", and won the part. This was followed by the 1994 remake of Miracle on 34th Street. In 1994, she had a recurring role as Nikki Petrova on Melrose Place and played Barbara Barton in the television film A Time to Heal.

Wilson sang "Make 'Em Laugh" at the 67th Academy Awards telecast on March 27, 1995, with Tim Curry and Kathy Najimy. In 1995, she won the ShoWest Award for "Young Star of the Year". Her performances in those films caught the attention of Danny DeVito and led to her being cast as Matilda Wormwood in "Matilda". She then went on to star in "A Simple Wish" along side Martin Short.

Wilson won a Young Artist Award for her role in A Simple Wish in "Best Performance in a Feature Film Leading Young Actress" and a Young Star Award for Matilda in "Best Performance by a Young Actress in a Comedy Film". She was twice nominated for a Saturn Award for Best Performance by a Younger Actor, for Matilda and A Simple Wish. In 1999, she played Willow Johnson in the 1999 Disney Channel television film Balloon Farm. Wilson auditioned for the 1998 remake of The Parent Trap, but she was considered to be too young for the role. In 1998 Wilson went to a table reading of What Dreams May Come starring Robin Williams, but she did not get the part. Her appearance in the 2000 film Thomas and the Magic Railroad was her last major film role to date. At that point, scripts were being sent to her so that she did not have to go to auditions. Before she retired from acting, she got the script for Donnie Darko, but declined to audition for the film.

In 2012, Wilson appeared briefly in one episode of a web series called Missed Connection in the role of Bitty and made special appearances on internet review shows for That Guy with the Glasses — most notably a comedic turn playing an adult Matilda during a review of Matilda by The Nostalgia Chick, Lindsay Ellis.

In 2012, Wilson explained why she quit film acting. "Film acting is not very fun. Doing the same thing over and over again until, in the director's eyes, you 'get it right', does not allow for very much creative freedom. The best times I had on film sets were the times the director let me express myself, but those were rare."

In May 2013, Wilson wrote an article for online magazine Cracked.com, offering her opinion of the delinquency of some former child stars. She now works for Publicolor and is hoping to break into young adult novels, and has written her first Off Broadway play, entitled Sheeple. In an interview that December, Wilson stated that her film acting days are over, and that she is now focusing on writing instead of film acting.

Wilson has a recurring role on the podcast Welcome to Night Vale as "The Faceless Old Woman Who Secretly Lives in Your Home." Wilson has been signed to Penguin Books. Her debut book Where Am I Now?: True Stories of Girlhood and Accidental Fame will be available in 2016. Wilson has her own storytelling show called What Are You Afraid Of? Her goal is to turn What Are You Afraid Of? into a podcast. In 2016, Wilson made a brief return to television by appearing as a waitress on an episode of Broad City.

Personal life

Wilson went to the Idyllwild Arts Academy near Palm Springs, California, and graduated in 2009 from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. While at New York University she appeared in her own one woman show called Weren't You That Girl?

When Wilson was 12, she was diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Wilson has struggled with anxiety and depression. In 2015, she teamed up with Project UROK, a nonprofit organization whose mission to aid teens with mental illness. Wilson appeared in a video in which she talks about the mental illnesses she has experienced, including anxiety, depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder.

As of 2013 she lives in New York City, in part, she has explained, because "No one gives a shit about celebrities. Susan Sarandon comes to your deli, Lou Reed's in your kickboxing class, David Mamet flips you off, whatever, most New Yorkers really don't care."

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1993	Mrs. Doubtfire	Natalie "Nattie" Hillard	Debut film
1994	Miracle on 34th Street	Susan Walker
1996	Matilda	Matilda Wormwood	Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Performance by a Younger Actor Nominated—Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a Feature Film Won—Young Star Award for Best Performance by a Young Actress in a Comedy Film
1997	A Simple Wish	Anabel Greening	Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Performance by a Younger Actor Nominated—Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a Feature Film Nominated—Young Star Award for Best Performance by a Young Actress in a Comedy Film
2000	Thomas and the Magic Railroad	Lily Stone	Nominated—Young Star Award for Best Performance by a Young Actress in a Comedy Film Nominated—Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a Feature Film

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1994	Melrose Place	Nicole "Nikki" Petrova	5 episodes
1994	A Time to Heal	Barbara Barton	TV movie
1996	Pearl	Samantha Stein	Episode: "The Tutor" (Season 1, Episode 11)
1999	Batman Beyond	Tamara (voice)	Episode: "Mind Games" (Season 2, Episode 10)
1999	Balloon Farm	Willow Johnson	TV movie
2016	Broad City	Waitress	Episode: "Burning Bridges" (Season 3, Episode 8)

Internet

Year	Series	Role	Notes
2012	Nostalgia Critic	Herself	Episode: "A Simple Wish"
	Nostalgia Chick		Episode: "Matilda"
	Demo Reel	Donnie DuPre's wife (voice)	Episode: "Lost in Translation (Bromance Version)"
	Shut Up and Talk	Herself	Episode: "Guest: Mara Wilson"
	Missed Connection	Bitty	Episode: "Bad Dates" Filmed in 2011
2013	Welcome to Night Vale	The Faceless Old Woman Who Secretly Lives In Your Home	Episode: "26 - Faceless Old Woman" Episode: "31 - A Blinking Light up on the Mountain" Episode: "Condos" Episode: "The Debate" Episode: "49 - Old Oak Doors" Episode: "53 - The September Monologues" Episode: "The Librarian" Episode: "65 - Voicemail" Episode: "66 - worms..."
2014	Keith and The Girl	Herself	Episode: "2002: Boobs"
	Nostalgia Chick		Episode: "Nostalgic Foods of Yore"
	Amy Poehler's Smart Girls		Episode: "The In Too Steep Tea Party"
	Maven of the Eventide		Pumpktoberfest Vlogs, Episodes 5 and 12
2015	Keith and The Girl		Episode: "2147: Gang Dick"
	That's the Show with Danny		Episode: "117: The One with Mara Wilson"
	Gilmore Guys		Episode 4.21

Awards

• 1995 - ShoWest Award - Young Star of the Year

Stage

• Cinderella (2005)
• Weren't You That Girl? (2009)
• What Are You Afraid Of? (2014)

Writings

• Sheeple (2013)
• Where Am I Now?: True Stories of Girlhood and Accidental Fame (September 13, 2016)

[ Source: Wikipedia ]