Brittany Murphy

Brittany Anne Murphy-Monjack (; November 10, 1977 – December 20, 2009) was an American actress and singer. Born in Atlanta, Murphy moved to Los Angeles as a teenager and pursued a career in acting. Her breakthrough role was as Tai Frasier in '' Clueless'' (1995), followed by supporting roles in independent films such as ''Freeway'' (1996) and '' Bongwater'' (1998). She made her stage debut in a Broadway production of Arthur Miller's ''A View from the Bridge'' in 1997 before appearing as Daisy Randone in ''Girl, Interrupted'' (1999) and as Lisa Swenson in '' Drop Dead Gorgeous'' (1999).

In the 2000s, Murphy appeared in '' Don't Say a Word'' (2001) alongside Michael Douglas, and alongside Eminem in '' 8 Mile'' (2002), for which she gained critical recognition. Her later roles included ''Riding in Cars with Boys'' (2001), '' Spun'' (2002), '' Just Married'' (2003), '' Uptown Girls'' (2003), ''Sin City'' (2005), and ''Happy Feet'' (2006). Murphy also voiced Luanne Platter on the animated television series ''King of the Hill'' (1997–2010). Her final film, '' Something Wicked'', was released in April 2014.

On December 20, 2009, Murphy died under disputed circumstances at the age of 32. The coroner's verdict was pneumonia, exacerbated by anemia and misuse of various prescription medicines.

Early life

Brittany Anne Bertolotti was born in Atlanta, Georgia, to Sharon Kathleen Murphy and Angelo Joseph Bertolotti, who divorced when she was two years old. Murphy was raised by her mother in Edison, New Jersey. Bertolotti was not named as her father on Brittany's first death certificate. Prior to her enrolling at Edison High School, the family moved to Los Angeles in 1991 so that Murphy could pursue an acting career.

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." Murphy's mother is of Irish and Slovakian descent and her father is of Italian ancestry. She was raised a Baptist and later became a non-denominational Christian.; "A non-denominational Christian, she wears a cross around her neck and has ''my whole life —I feel more comfortable with a cross.''" She had two older half-brothers and a younger half-sister.

Career

Acting

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 thirteen. 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.

Murphy landed her first job in Hollywood when she was thirteen, 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 ''Party of Five'', ''Boy Meets World'', and '' Sister, Sister''.

Murphy's breakthrough role was in her second feature film, the teen comedy '' Clueless'' (1995), directed by Amy Heckerling, which developed a cult following. She followed this with roles in ''Freeway'' (1996), with Reese Witherspoon and Kiefer Sutherland, and the independent comedy '' Bongwater'' (1998). In 1999, she had a supporting role in James Mangold's ''Girl, Interrupted'' as a troubled psychiatric patient alongside Winona Ryder and Angelina Jolie; and as an aspiring beauty queen in '' Drop Dead Gorgeous''. She also voiced the character Luanne Platter on Fox's animated sitcom ''King of the Hill'' for the entirety of the show's run from 1997 to 2009, and Joseph Gribble until the fifth season. She was nominated for an Annie Award for voice acting in the ''King of the Hill'' episode " Movin' On Up".

She began the 2000s with a leading role in '' Don't Say a Word'' (2001) alongside Michael Douglas; the TV adaptation of the novel '' The Devil's Arithmetic'' (2001); '' 8 Mile'' (2002), for which she received critical acclaim; and '' Uptown Girls'' (2003). In 2003, she starred in the romantic comedies '' Just Married'' and ''Little Black Book'' (2004) and the critically acclaimed ''Sin City'' (2005). Film critic Roger Ebert frequently acclaimed Murphy's acting talent and comedic timing, giving good reviews to several of her films and comparing her to Lucille Ball:

Murphy followed with several independent films, including as '' Spun'' (2002), '' Neverwas'' (2005), and Karen Moncrieff's '' The Dead Girl'' (2006), as well as two Edward Burns films: '' Sidewalks of New York'' (2001) and '' The Groomsmen'' (2006). She returned to voice acting with the critically acclaimed 2006 animated feature ''Happy Feet'', as Gloria Penguin. In 2009, she was cast in the Lifetime TV movie ''Tribute'', as the main character, Cilla. Murphy completed the thriller/drama '' Abandoned'' in June 2009 and it was released in 2010, after her death.
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". '' Something Wicked'', her final film, was released in 2014.

Music

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."

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'' Hot Dance Club Play chart. It also hit number seven in Oakenfold's native United Kingdom in June 2006.

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 he 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."

Personal life

In late 2002, Murphy began dating Ashton Kutcher, her co-star in '' Just Married''. Previously 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''. In August 2006, they ended their engagement. In May 2007, Murphy married British screenwriter Simon Monjack in a private Jewish ceremony in Los Angeles.

In the early 2000s, Murphy lost a large amount of weight, which led to rumors of a cocaine addiction. In 2005, Murphy disputed such claims to '' Jane'' magazine, saying, "No, just for the record I have never tried it in my entire life."

Death

At 8:00 a.m. on December 20, 2009, the Los Angeles Fire Department responded to "a medical request" at the Los Angeles home Murphy and Monjack shared. She had apparently collapsed in a bathroom. Firefighters attempted to resuscitate Murphy on the scene. She was transported to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where she died at 10:04 a.m. after going into cardiac arrest.

An autopsy was performed the day after she died. The Los Angeles County Coroner's Office, in a report issued February 2010, said that the manner of death was accidental and that the cause of death was pneumonia, with secondary factors of severe iron-deficiency anemia and multiple drug intoxication. The coroner found a range of over-the-counter and prescription medications in Murphy's system, 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 which are legal. The report observed: "the possible adverse physiological effects of elevated levels of these medications cannot be discounted, especially in her weakened state."

On December 24, 2009, Murphy was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Hollywood Hills.

In January 2010, Murphy's husband, Simon Monjack, and her mother, Sharon Murphy, claimed that she did not use alcohol or other drugs, and that drugs did not cause her death; instead they attributed it to a heart condition, mitral valve prolapse.

On May 23, Monjack was found dead at the same Hollywood Hills residence. The coroner's report attributed his death to acute pneumonia and severe anaemia. 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 Los Angeles Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter, who stated that there were "no indicators" that mold was a factor. Sharon Murphy 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.
In December 2011, Sharon Murphy changed her stance, announcing that toxic mold was indeed what killed her daughter and son-in-law, and filed a lawsuit against the attorneys who represented her in an earlier suit against the builders of the home where her daughter and son-in-law died.

In January 2012, her father 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. The suit was dismissed seven months later, after Bertolotti failed to attend two separate hearings.

In November 2013, Bertolotti claimed that a toxicology report showed that deliberate poisoning by heavy metals, including antimony and barium, was a possible cause of his daughter's death. Sharon Murphy described the claim as "a smear".

Foundation

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.

The Foundation was launched on February 4, 2010, at a fundraising event at the Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills. After a records search revealed that the foundation's not-for-profit status had not been filed, the foundation refunded any donations received. In 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.

On November 10, 2013, the Brittany Murphy Foundation was officially relaunched by her father Angelo Bertolotti, according to a press release posted at the foundation's website.

the Brittany Murphy Foundation appears to be defunct. GuideStar USA, Inc., an information service specializing in reporting on US nonprofit companies, reports that the Brittany Murphy Foundation has not appeared on the IRS Business Master File in a number of months, which may indicate that it has ceased operations.

Aftermath

In October 2021, HBO Max aired a documentary titled ''What Happened, Brittany Murphy?'', covering the mystery surrounding Murphy's death. In the documentary, Murphy's ''8 Mile'' co-star Taryn Manning remembered her as "free-spirited, whimsical and full of laughter". After the documentary premiere, Daniel Fienberg wrote for ''The Hollywood Reporter'' that the documentary was "20 percent a reminder of Murphy's transcendent talent, 30 percent a dead-ended investigation into the mystery of her death, and 50 percent an unenlightening examination of Murphy's late husband", and concluded his review saying that " urphydeserved better than the treatment she received in the media, which probably contributed to onjack'sability to control her in the way he did."

Filmography

Feature films

Television

Video games

;Music videos

Stage work

Awards and nominations

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Murphy, Brittany
1977 births
2009 deaths
20th-century American actresses
20th-century American singers
20th-century American women singers
21st-century American actresses
21st-century American singers
21st-century American women singers
Actresses from Atlanta
Actresses from New Jersey
American child actresses
American dance musicians
American film actresses
American people of Irish descent
American people of Italian descent
American people of Slovak descent
American television actresses
American video game actresses
American voice actresses
Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)
Deaths from anemia
Deaths from pneumonia in California
Drug-related deaths in California
Edison High School (New Jersey) alumni
Former Baptists
Musicians from Atlanta
Musicians from Edison, New Jersey
Singers from New Jersey