Mara Tolene Thorsen: Who is Margaret O’Brien’s daughter?

Mara Tolene Thorsen is the daughter of celebrated Hollywood actress Margaret O’Brien. Mara Tolene Thorsen’s mother is one of the last surviving stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood cinema. The American film, radio, television, and stage actress began a prolific career as a child actress in feature films for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer at age four, O’Brien became one of the most popular child stars in cinema history and was honored with a Juvenile Academy Award as the outstanding child actress of 1944. In her later career, she appeared on television, on stage, and in supporting film roles.

Mara Tolene Thorsen: Bio Summary

Who is  Margaret O’Brien’s daughter?

Mara Tolene Thorsen was born in 1977 to her parents in the United States of America. As of 2023, she is 46 years old. Mara Tolene is the daughter of Margaret O’Brien and her husband, Roy Thorsen. She is the only child of the couple. The actress gave birth to her only child at the age of 39. Her father Roy Thorsen was Businessman.

ALSO, READ; Roy Thorsen: Who is Margaret O’Brien’s husband?

In 1976, when Margaret announced that she was expecting her first child, she was asked if she wanted her daughter to enter show business, the actress explained, “I wouldn’t mind if she became an actress. I think being a child star is much easier on girls than on boys. There’s so much pampering to it. That rests easier on the girls. However, Mara will make her own decision. I will not push her into anything.”

Margaret continued being a homemaker and mother after the birth of her daughter and occasionally accepted acting roles such as in Amy, a 1981 Disney film.

Mara Tolene Thorsen is a psychologist

Margaret O’Brien’s daughter is a psychologist living in California per Yahoo. She revealed on her psychologytoday page -“My practice is focused on providing an empathic, compassionate, and non-judgmental therapeutic approach. I provide a warm collaborative environment respecting each person’s unique history, culture, struggles, strengths, and goals.“

Mara’s clinical experience includes specialties working with high-risk children/adolescents and adults and with severely abused, neglected, and traumatized youth. She has also worked extensively with suicidal and self-harming patients and has specialized training in working with commercially sexually exploited children. She is a Clinical Associate at the New Center for Psychoanalysis.

Mara Tolene Thorsen has been spotted at her mother’s side on the red carpet, both as a child and as an adult. While O’Brien was growing up, her trophies were consistently stored in a unique space. On one occasion in 1954, the family’s housekeeper requested to bring O’Brien’s Juvenile Oscar and two additional prizes home with her to polish.

ALSO, READ; Roy Thorsen: Who is Margaret O’Brien’s husband?

When the maid didn’t show up for work again after three days, O’Brien’s mother fired her and asked that the prizes be given back. O’Brien’s mother, who had previously been ill with a heart disease, had a relapse and passed away shortly after. A few months later, when O’Brien, then 17, sought to get in touch with the maid, she discovered that she had relocated and had not left a forwarding address, so she had forgotten about the woman and the Oscar while in grief.

In February 1960, Mara Tolene Thorsen’s mother, O’Brien was honored with two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for motion pictures at 6606 Hollywood Boulevard, and one for television at 1634 Vine St. In 1990, she was also honored by the Young Artist Foundation with its Former Child Star “Lifetime Achievement” Award recognizing her outstanding achievements within the film industry as a child actress.