Brittany Murphy

Brittany Anne Murphy-Monjack (née Bertolotti; November 10, 1977 – December 20, 2009) was an American actress and singer, known for her equal mastery of the comedy and drama genres. Her famed roles include Tai Frasier in the teen film Clueless (1995), Alex Latourno in 8 Mile (2002), Daisy Randone in Girl, Interrupted (1999), Molly Gunn in Uptown Girls (2003), Sarah in Just Married (2003), and Gloria in Happy Feet (2006). Murphy was born in Atlanta; her parents, Angelo Bertolotti and Sharon Murphy, divorced when she was three years old. She moved to Los Angeles as a teenager and began her acting career at thirteen. Her breakthrough role was Tai Frasier in Clueless (1995), followed by supporting roles in independent films such as Freeway (1996) and Bongwater (1998). She made her theatrical debut in a Broadway production of Arthur Miller's A View from the Bridge in 1997, before starring as Daisy Randone in Girl, Interrupted (1999) and Lisa Swenson in Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999). In the 2000s, she played the patient Elisabeth Burrows in Don't Say a Word (2001), alongside Michael Douglas, and Alex Latourno in 8 Mile (2002), for which she garnered critical acclaim. Her subsequent roles included Riding in Cars with Boys (2001), Spun (2002), Just Married (2003), Uptown Girls (2003), Sin City (2005), and Happy Feet (2006). She also voiced the character Luanne Platter in the animated television series King of the Hill (1997–2010). On The Ramen Girl (2008), she served as a producer in addition to acting. Her final film project was Something Wicked, released in 2014. She also dabbled in music, being able to sing and play the piano and trumpet during her childhood. In the early 1990s, she was part of the band Blessed Soul, alongside actor Eric Balfour. No plans to release an album were pursued. In 2006, she featured on British DJ Paul Oakenfold's single "Faster Kill Pussycat", and that same year, she covered two songs: Queen's "Somebody to Love" and Earth, Wind & Fire's "Boogie Wonderland" for the soundtrack of the film Happy Feet. On December 20, 2009, Murphy died at age 32 under disputed circumstances. The coroner's verdict stated that the cause of death was pneumonia, exacerbated by anemia and addiction to several prescription medications. Five months after her death, her husband, Simon Monjack, died of the same causes. The Los Angeles County Department of Health Services had considered toxic mold emanating from their home as a possible cause of death; however, Los Angeles Deputy Coroner Ed Winter stated that there were "no indicators" that mold was a factor. In January 2012, the actress's father, Angelo Bertolotti, filed a petition in the Superior Court of California asking that the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office release hair samples from his daughter for independent testing, claiming she was poisoned. In November 2013, he claimed that a toxicology report showed that deliberate poisoning by heavy metals, including antimony and barium, was a possible cause of death. Following her death, a series of biographical documentaries were made about her life. The Brittany Murphy Story—starring Amanda Fuller as Murphy, Sherilyn Fenn as her mother Sharon, and Eric Petersen as Monjack—aired on Lifetime on September 6, 2014. It received negative reviews from the media, who criticized Fuller's poor performance. In 2020, another documentary called Brittany Murphy: An ID Mystery aired on Investigation Discovery, in which the documentary filmmakers go into more detail about her death. A year later, the streaming service HBO Max released the two-part miniseries What Happened, Brittany Murphy? (2021), which featured several people close to the actress, including Kathy Najimy, Taryn Manning, Lisa Rieffel, and director Amy Heckerling. In 2023, the streaming service Tubi released a documentary called Gone Before Her Time: Brittany Murphy, which also explored her personal life and death.