Brittany Murphy Biography

Brittany Anne Murphy-Monjack (born Brittany Anne Bertolotti; November 10, 1977 " December 20, 2009), known professionally as Brittany Murphy, was an American actress, singer and producer. 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, is scheduled to be released in 2013.

Early life

Brittany Murphy was born in Atlanta, Georgia to parents, Sharon Kathleen Murphy and Angelo Joseph Bertolotti, who divorced when she was two years old, and Murphy was raised by her mother in Edison, New Jersey. Bertolotti was so estranged from the family that he was not named as the father on the 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 Eastern European descent and her father is of Italian ancestry. She was raised a Baptist and later became a non-denominational Christian. She had two older half-brothers and a younger half-sister.

Acting

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 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 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. 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.

Murphy appeared in the following music videos: Luscious Jackson's "Here" (1995), Wheatus' "A Little Respect" (2001) alongside actor Shawn Hatosy, and Tears for Fears' "Closest Thing to Heaven" (2004).

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 the fifth season. 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".

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, is scheduled to be released in 2013.

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's 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 [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."

Personal life

In late 2002, Murphy began dating Ashton Kutcher, her co-star in Just Married. 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. In August 2006, they ended their engagement. In May 2007, Murphy married British screenwriter Simon Monjack in a private Jewish ceremony in Los Angeles. For the last three and a half years of her life, Murphy, her mother and Monjack lived together in the same house.

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." At this point, she had recently signed as the spokesmodel for Jordache jeans.

Death

At 08:00 (16:00 GMT) 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 was pronounced dead on arrival at 10:04 after going into cardiac arrest.

Shortly after her death, Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter told the Associated Press: "It appears to be natural." An autopsy was performed the day after she died. Her death certificate listed the cause of death as "deferred". 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."

Murphy was buried at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills on December 24, 2009.

On May 23, 2010, her widower Simon Monjack was found dead at the same Hollywood Hills residence. In July 2010, Los Angeles Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter stated that the cause of his death was acute pneumonia and severe anemia. 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. 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. 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.

On January 11, 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 on July 19, 2012 after Bertolotti failed to show up to two separate hearings.

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 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.

Filmography

Feature films

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1993	Family Prayers	Elise	Alternative title: A Family Divided
1995	Clueless	Tai
1996	Freeway	Rhonda
1997	Bongwater	Mary
1998	Drive	Deliverance Bodine
1998	Falling Sky	Emily Nicholson
1998	'	Izzy	Direct-to-video release
1998	Phoenix	Veronica
1998	Zack and Reba	Reba Simpson
1999	Drop Dead Gorgeous	Lisa Swenson
1999	Girl, Interrupted	Daisy Randone
2000	Trixie	Ruby Pearli
2000	Angels!	Nurse Bellows
2000	Cherry Falls	Jody Marken
2000	'	Daniella	Short subject
2001	Sidewalks of New York	Ashley
2001	Summer Catch	Dede Mulligan
2001	Don't Say a Word	Elisabeth Burrows
2001	Riding in Cars with Boys	Fay Forrester
2002	Spun	Nikki
2002	Something in Between	Sky	Short subject
2002	8 Mile	Alex Latourno
2003	Just Married	Sarah
2003	Uptown Girls	Molly Gunn
2003	Good Boy!	Nelly (voice)
2004	Little Black Book	Stacy Holt
2005	Sin City	Shellie
2005	Neverwas	Maggie Paige
2006	'	Sue
2006	Love and Other Disasters	Emily "Jacks" Jackson
2006	Happy Feet	Gloria (voice)
2006	'	Krista Kutcher
2008	'	Abby
2008	Futurama: The Beast with a Billion Backs	Colleen O'Hallahan (voice)	Direct-to-video release
2009	Deadline	Alice	Direct-to-video release
2009	Across the Hall	June
2010	Abandoned	Mary	Direct-to-video release
2013	Something Wicked	Susan	Posthumous release

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1991	Murphy Brown	Frank's sister	Episode: "On Another Plane: Part 1"
1991"92	Drexell's Class	Brenda Drexell	18 episodes
1992	Kids Incorporated	Celeste	Episode: "Lay Off"
1992	Parker Lewis Can't Lose	Angie	Episode: "The Kiss"
1993	Almost Home	Molly Morgan	13 episodes
1993	Blossom	Wendy	Episode: "Blossom in Paris: Part 1"
1994	Frasier	Olsen	Episode: "Give Him the Chair!"
1994	Party of Five	Abby	2 episodes
1994"95	Sister, Sister	Sarah	6 episodes
1995	Boy Meets World	Trini Martin	2 episodes
1995	'	Lizzie Roth	Episode: "These Foolish Things"
1995	seaQuest DSV	Christine VanCamp	Episode: "Second Chance"
1995	Murder One	Diane "Dee-Dee" Carson	Episode: "Chapter Nine"
1996	Double Jeopardy	Julia	Movie
1996	Nash Bridges	Carrie	Episode: "Night Train"
1996	Clueless	Jasmine	Episode: "Driving Me Crazy"
1997" 2009	King of the Hill	Luanne Platter (voice) Various characters (voice)	226 episodes
1998	David and Lisa	Lisa
1999	'	Rivkah	Showtime film
1999" 2000	Pepper Ann	Tank the 8th grader (voice)	3 episodes
2000	Common Ground	Dorothy Nelson	Movie
2005	I'm Still Here	Voiceover	Documentary about The Holocaust
2009	Tribute	Cilla McGowan	Movie
2009	Megafault	Dr. Amy Lane	Movie

Awards and nominations

Annie Awards
1997	King of the Hill	Best Individual Achievement: Voice Acting be a Female Performer in a TV Production
2000	King of the Hill	Best Individual Achievement: Voice Acting be a Female Performer in a TV Production
2005	King of the Hill	Best Individual Achievement: Voice Acting be a Female Performer in a TV Production

DVD Exclusive Awards
2001	Bongwater	Best Supporting Actress
2001	Zack and Reba	Best Actress

Razzie Awards
2004	Just Married	Worst Screen Couple (shared with Ashton Kutcher)
2004	Just Married	Worst Supporting Actress

Satellite Awards
2002	Don't Say a Word	Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress " Motion Picture

Teen Choice Awards
2003	Just Married	Choice Movie Actress"?Comedy
2003	8 Mile	Choice Movie Actress"?Drama/Action-Adventure
2003	8 Mile	Choice Lip Lock (shared with Eminem)
2003	Just Married	Choice Lip Lock (shared with Ashton Kutcher)
2005	Little Black Book	Choice Movie Actress"?Drama

Young Artist Awards
1996	N/A	Best Professional Actress/Singer
1996	Clueless	Best Young Supporting Actress in a Feature Film
1999	David and Lisa	Best Performance in a TV Movie/Pilot/Mini-Series or Series"?Leading Young Actress
2000	Girl, Interrupted	Best Young Leading Actress in a Feature Film

See also