Brittany Murphy

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Brittany Murphy

Murphy at the London premiere of Happy Feet in 2006

Born

Brittany Anne Bertolotti

November 10, 1977
Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.

Died

December 20, 2009 (aged 32)

Los Angeles, California, U.S.

Cause of

Pneumonia and anemia[1]

death

Resting

Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood

place

Hills)
Los Angeles, California
Bright Eternity, Lot 7402, Grave 1[2]
34.14414N 118.31979W[2]

Occupation

Actress
singer
voice artist

Years active

19912009

Spouse(s)

Simon Monjack (20072009)

Brittany Murphy-Monjack[3] (born Brittany Anne Bertolotti; November 10, 1977 December 20,
2009), known professionally as Brittany Murphy, was an American film and stage actress, singer,
and voice artist. A native of 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).
The 2000s saw Murphy with roles in Don't Say a Word (2001) alongside Michael Douglas, and
alongside Eminem in 8 Mile (2002), for which she gained critical recognition.[4] Her later roles
included Riding in Cars with Boys (2001), Spun (2002), Uptown Girls (2003), Sin City (2005),
and Happy Feet (2006). Murphy also voiced Luanne Platter on the animated television series King
of the Hill (19972009). Her final film, Something Wicked, was released in April 2014.
In December 2009, Murphy died of pneumonia and anemia at the age of 32. The Los Angeles
County Coroner's Office at first ruled her death an accidental drug overdose. However, when her
widower Simon Monjack died from the same illnesses six months later, the Los Angeles County
Department of Health Services considered toxic mold in their home as a possible cause for their
deaths, but this has been dismissed by the Coroner's Office. In 2011, Murphy's mother Sharon 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.
Contents
[hide]

1Early life

2Career
o

2.1Acting

2.2Music

3Personal life

4Death
o

4.1Foundation
5Filmography

5.1Feature films

5.2Television
6Awards and nominations

7References

8External links

Early life
Brittany Anne Bertolotti[5] was born in Atlanta, Georgia,[6] to Sharon Kathleen Murphy[3] and Angelo
Joseph Bertolotti,[7][8] 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.
[8]
Prior to her enrolling at Edison High School, the family moved to Los Angeles in 1991 so that
Murphy could pursue an acting career.[9][10][11]
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."[6] Murphy's mother is of Irish and Eastern
European descent and her father is of Italian ancestry.[12][13] She was raised a Baptist and later became
a non-denominational Christian.[14][15] She had two older half-brothers and a younger half-sister.[16]

Career

Murphy at the Australian premiere of Happy Feet, December 2006

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.[17] 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.[18]
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's breakthrough role was in her second feature film, the teen comedy Clueless (1995),
directed by Amy Heckerling, which went on to receive cult status. She followed this with roles
in Freeway (1996), with Reese Witherspoon and Kiefer Sutherland, and the independent
comedy Bongwater (1998). In 1999, she landed a supporting role in James Mangold's Girl,
Interrupted (1999) as a troubled psychiatric patient alongside Winona Ryder and Angelina Jolie; and
as an aspiring beauty queen in Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999). 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".[19]
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;[4] 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:[20]
As for Brittany Murphy, for me, it goes back to the 2003 Independent Spirit Awards [where] Murphy
was assigned to present one of the awards. Her task was to read the names of the five nominees,
open an envelope, and reveal the name of the winner. This she turned into an opportunity
for screwball improvisational comedy, by pretending she could not follow this sequence, not even
after the audience shouted instructions and the stage manager came to whisper in her ear not once
but twice. There were those in the audience who were dumbfounded by her stupidity. I was
dumbfounded by her brilliance.[21]
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.[22] 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".[23] 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."[24]

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.[25] It also hit number seven in Oakenfold's native United Kingdom in June 2006.[26]
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."[24]

Personal life
In late 2002, Murphy began dating Ashton Kutcher, her co-star in Just Married.[27] 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.[28] In August 2006, they
ended their engagement.[28] In May 2007, Murphy married British screenwriter Simon Monjack in a
private Jewish ceremony in Los Angeles.[29] For the last three-and-a-half years of her life, Murphy,
her mother and Monjack lived together in the same house.[30]
In the early 2000s, Murphy lost a large amount of weight,[31][32] which led to rumors of
a cocaine addiction.[31][33] In 2005, Murphy disputed such claims to Jane magazine, saying, "No, just
for the record I have never tried it in my entire life."[31][33] At this point, she had recently signed as the
spokesmodel for Jordache jeans.[34]

Death
At 8:00 AM on December 20, 2009, the Los Angeles Fire Department responded to "a medical
request"[35] at the Los Angeles home Murphy and Monjack shared. She had apparently collapsed in a
bathroom.[6] Firefighters attempted to resuscitate Murphy on the scene. She was transported
to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where she died at 10:04 after going into cardiac arrest.[6][35][36]
Shortly after her death, Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter told the Associated Press: "It appears to
be natural."[10][37][38] An autopsy was performed the day after she died. Her death certificate listed the

cause of death as "deferred".[39] On February 4, 2010, the Los Angeles County coroner stated that the
primary cause of Murphy's death was pneumonia, with secondary factors of irondeficiency 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."[1]

Grave of Brittany Murphy at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills

On December 24, 2009, Murphy was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Hollywood Hills.[2][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]
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. [45]
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.[46][47] The suit was dismissed on July 19, 2012, after Bertolotti
failed to show up to two separate hearings.[48]
In November 2013, Angelo Bertolotti claimed that a toxicology report showed that deliberate
poisoning by heavy metals, including antimony and barium, was a possible cause of Brittany
Murphy's death. Sharon Murphy described the claim as "a smear". [49][50]

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.[citation needed][51]
The foundation was launched on February 4, 2010, at a fundraising event at the Saban
Theatre in Beverly Hills.[52] 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.[53]
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. [54]

Filmography
Feature films
Ye
ar

Title

Role

1993

Family Prayers

Elise

1995

Clueless

Tai

1996

Freeway

Rhonda

1997

Bongwater

Mary

1997

Drive

Deliverance Bodine

1998

Falling Sky

Emily Nicholson

1998

The Prophecy II

Izzy

Notes

Alternative
title: A
Family
Divided

Direct-tovideo

Ye
ar

Title

Role

Notes

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

The Audition

Daniella

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

Short

Ye
ar

Title

Role

Notes

subject

2002

8 Mile

Alex Latourno

2003

Just Married

Sarah

2003

Uptown Girls

Molly Gunn

2003

Good Boy!

Nelly

2004

Little Black Book

Stacy Holt

2005

Sin City

Shellie

2005

Neverwas

Maggie Paige

2006

The Groomsmen

Sue

2006

Love and Other Disasters

Emily "Jacks" Jackson

2006

Happy Feet

Gloria

2006

The Dead Girl

Krista Kutcher

2008

The Ramen Girl

Abby

Producer
credit[55]

2008

Futurama: The Beast with a

Billion Backs

Colleen O'Hallahan
(voice)

Direct-tovideo
release

Voice role

Voice role

Ye
ar

Title

Role

Notes

Direct-tovideo
release

2009

Deadline

Alice

2009

Across the Hall

June

2010

Abandoned

Mary

Direct-tovideo
release

2014

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

Year

Title

Role

Notes

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

The Marshal

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

King of the Hill

Luanne Platter (voice)

226 episodes

Year

Title

2009

Role

Notes

Various characters (voice)

1998

David and Lisa

Lisa

1999

The Devil's Arithmetic

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

Movie
2009

Megafault

Dr. Amy Lane