Brittany Murphy
Murphy at the Australian premiere of Happy Feet, December 10, 2006
Born	Brittany Anne Bertolotti[1] (1977-11-10)November 10, 1977 Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
Died	December 20, 2009(2009-12-20) (aged 32)[2] Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Cause of death	Pneumonia
Resting place	Forest Lawn Memorial Park
Occupation	Actress, singer, voice artist
Years active	1991–2009
Spouse	Simon Monjack (m. 2007–2009)

Brittany Anne Murphy-Monjack^[3] (November 10, 1977 – December 20, 2009),^[2] known professionally as Brittany Murphy, was an American actress and singer. She starred in films such as Clueless, Just Married, Girl Interrupted, Spun, 8 Mile, Uptown Girls, Sin City, Happy Feet, and Riding in Cars with Boys. She voiced Luanne Platter on the animated TV series King of the Hill. Her final film, Something Wicked, was released on August 25, 2011.

Early life[link]

Brittany Murphy was born as Brittany Anne Bertolotti^[1] in Atlanta, Georgia, on November 10, 1977.^[4] Her parents, Sharon Kathleen Murphy^[3] and Angelo Joseph Bertolotti,^[5][6] divorced when she was two years old, and Murphy was raised by her mother in Edison, New Jersey, where she attended Edison High School. Bertolotti was so estranged from the family that he was not named as the father on the first death certificate.^[6] The family later moved to Los Angeles so that Murphy could pursue an acting career.^[7][8][9] Murphy said her mother never tried to stifle her creativity, and she considered her mother a crucial factor in her later success: "When I asked my mom to move to California, she sold everything and moved out here for me. ... She always believed in me."^[4] Murphy's mother is of Irish and Eastern European descent and her father is Italian American.^[10][11] She was raised a Baptist and later became a non-denominational Christian.^[12][13] She had two older half-brothers and a younger half-sister.^[14]

Acting[link]

Brittany Murphy attended Verne Fowler School of Dance and Theatre Arts in Colonia, New Jersey, in 1982. From the age of four, she trained in singing, dancing, and acting until her move to California at 13.^[15] Murphy made her Broadway debut in 1997, as Catherine, in a revival of Arthur Miller's A View From The Bridge opposite veteran actors Anthony LaPaglia and Allison Janney.^[16]

Murphy landed her first job in Hollywood when she was 13, starring as Brenda Drexell in the series Drexell's Class. She then went on to play Molly Morgan in the short-lived The Torkelsons spinoff Almost Home. Murphy also guest-starred on several television series, including Parker Lewis Can't Lose, Blossom, seaQuest 2032, Murder One and Frasier. She also had recurring roles on Sister, Sister; Party of Five and Boy Meets World.

Murphy starred in several films, including Clueless (1995); Girl, Interrupted (1999); Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999); Don't Say a Word (2001); the TV adaptation of the novel The Devil's Arithmetic (2001); 8 Mile (2002) and Uptown Girls (2003) as well as many lesser-known films, such as Spun (2002) and Neverwas (2005), which was never released to theaters. In 2003, she starred in the romantic comedies Just Married and Little Black Book (2004) and the critically acclaimed Sin City (2005). She starred in two Edward Burns films: Sidewalks of New York (2001) and The Groomsmen (2006). Film critic Roger Ebert acclaimed her acting talent, giving good reviews to several of her films and comparing her to Lucille Ball.^[17] In 2009, she was cast in the Lifetime TV movie, Tribute, as the main character, Cilla. She was set to appear in the Sylvester Stallone film, The Expendables, which was released in August 2010.^[4]

Murphy was also a voice actor. She voiced the character Luanne Platter on the FOX animated sitcom King of the Hill for the entirety of the show's run from 1997 to 2009, and Joseph Gribble until season 5. She also provided the voice for Gloria the penguin in the 2006 feature Happy Feet. She was nominated for an Annie Award for voice acting in the King of the Hill episode "Movin' On Up".^[18]

Murphy completed her last film, the thriller/drama Abandoned, in June 2009, released in 2010.^[19]

In November 2009, Murphy left the production of The Caller, which was being filmed in Puerto Rico, and was replaced by Rachelle Lefevre. Murphy denied media reports that she had been fired from the project after being difficult on set, and cited "creative differences".^[20]

Music[link]

Murphy's career also included work as a singer. She commented: "My singing voice isn't like my speaking voice...I've just always kept it a secret and never taken credit because I wanted to learn how to work behind the microphone in a recording studio, and some of the singers don't even know it was me recording on their albums."^[21]

Murphy performing for the crew during a USO show aboard USS Nimitz on June 19, 2003

She was in a band called Blessed Soul with fellow actor Eric Balfour in the early 1990s. On June 6, 2006, Murphy and Paul Oakenfold released the single "Faster Kill Pussycat", from the album A Lively Mind. The song became a club hit, and hit number one on Billboard's Hot Dance Club Play chart.^[22] It also hit number seven in Oakenfold's native United Kingdom in June 2006.^[23]

She dabbled in music again with the release of the film Happy Feet, in which she covered Queen's Somebody to Love and Earth, Wind & Fire's Boogie Wonderland. Murphy said about her character Gloria, "Oddly enough, of all the characters I've played, Gloria is the most like me. And she's a penguin! George Miller always wanted one person to do both [the speaking and the singing]. I said, 'I can sing,' and I asked him to give me a shot. I don't think he took me very seriously because most actors say they can do most things."^[21]

Murphy starred in Wheatus' video "A Little Respect" alongside actor Shawn Hatosy. She also appeared in the music video for Luscious Jackson's "Here" and Tears for Fears' "Closest Thing to Heaven."^[24]

Modeling[link]

In 2005, Murphy signed as the spokesmodel for Jordache jeans.^[25]

Personal life[link]

In late 2002, Murphy began dating Ashton Kutcher, her co-star in Just Married.^[26] Once engaged to talent manager Jeff Kwatinetz, Murphy became engaged to Joe Macaluso in December 2005, a production assistant she met while working on the film Little Black Book.^[27] In August 2006, they ended their engagement.^[27] In May 2007, Murphy married British screenwriter Simon Monjack in a private Jewish ceremony in Los Angeles.^[28] For the last three and a half years of her life, Murphy, her mother and Monjack lived together in the same house.^[29]

In the early 2000s, Murphy lost a large amount of weight,^[30][31] which led to rumors of cocaine addiction.^[30][32] In 2005, Murphy disputed such claims to Jane magazine, saying, "No, just for the record I have never tried it in my entire life, I've never even seen it, and I don't leave the house too much, except to go to work."^[30][32]

Death[link]

At 08:00 (16:00 GMT) on December 20, 2009, the Los Angeles Fire Department responded to "a medical request"^[33] at the Los Angeles home Murphy and Monjack shared. She had apparently collapsed in a bathroom.^[4] Firefighters attempted to resuscitate Murphy on the scene. She was transported to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead on arrival^[34] at 10:04 after going into cardiac arrest.^[4][33]

Shortly after her death, Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter told the Associated Press: "It appears to be natural."^[35][36][37] An autopsy was performed on December 21, 2009. Her death certificate listed the cause of death as "deferred".^[38] On February 4, 2010, the Los Angeles County coroner stated that the primary cause of Murphy's death was pneumonia, with secondary factors of iron-deficiency anemia and multiple drug intoxication. On February 25, 2010, the coroner released a report stating that Murphy had been taking a range of over-the-counter and prescription medications, with the most likely reason being to treat a cold or respiratory infection. These included "elevated levels" of hydrocodone, acetaminophen, L-methamphetamine and chlorpheniramine. All of the drugs were legal and the death was ruled to be an accident, but the report observed: "the possible adverse physiological effects of elevated levels of these medications cannot be discounted, especially in her weakened state."^[39]

Murphy was buried at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills on December 24, 2009.^[40]

On May 23, 2010, her widower Simon Monjack was found dead at the same Hollywood Hills residence.^[41] In July 2010, Los Angeles Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter stated that the cause of his death was acute pneumonia and severe anemia.^[42] It was reported that the Los Angeles County Department of Health had considered toxic mold in their house as a possible cause of the deaths, but this was dismissed by Ed Winter, who stated that there were "no indicators" that mold was a factor.^[43] Murphy's mother Sharon described the reports of mold contributing to the deaths as "absurd" and went on to state that inspecting the home for mold was never requested by the Health Department.^[44] On January 11, 2012, Angelo Bertolotti applied to the Superior Court of California requesting that the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office be required to hand over samples of his daughter's hair for independent testing.^[45][46]

Legacy[link]

In January 2010 Murphy's mother, Sharon, and her widower, Simon Monjack, established the Brittany Murphy Foundation, a charitable fund for children's arts education, as well as supporting the USO and cancer research.^{[citation needed][47]}

The foundation was launched on February 4, 2010, at a fundraising event at the Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills.^[48] After a records search revealed that the foundation's not-for-profit status had not been filed, the foundation announced that it would refund any donations received and issued an official letter on the foundation's website. They stated that in an effort to get the foundation set up as quickly as possible, they had established it as a private foundation with plans to apply for nonprofit status later. However, they said that they had decided to wait until the foundation's nonprofit status was approved before going any further in order to truly honor Murphy and the foundation's charitable goals.^[49]

Filmography[link]

Awards and nominations[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Brittany Murphy

Biography portal

• Brittany Murphy at the Internet Movie Database
• Brittany Murphy at Yahoo! Movies
• Brittany Murphy at Find a Grave