Brittany Murphy was born in Atlanta, Georgia, on November 10, 1977. Her parents, Sharon Murphy and Angelo Bertolotti, divorced when she was two years old, and Murphy was raised by her mother in Edison, New Jersey, and later in Los Angeles, where they moved so 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. Murphys mother is of Irish and Eastern European descent and her father is Italian American. Murphys father, a suspected mobster, has had numerous federal indictments and convictions stemming from the possession and distribution of narcotics. She was raised a Baptist and later became a non-denominational Christian.\r
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~\r
Murphy landed her first job in Hollywood when she was age 14, starring as Brenda Drexell in the series Drexells 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 Cant Lose, Blossom and Frasier. She also had recurring roles on Sister, Sister; Party of Five and Boy Meets World. In 1997, she began voicing the character of Luanne Platter (as well as the younger version of Joseph Gribble) on the long-running animated series King of the Hill.\r
Murphy starred in several films, including Clueless (1995); Girl, Interrupted (1999); Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999); Dont Say a Word (2001); the TV adaption of the novel The Devils Arithmetic (2001); 8 Mile (2002) and Uptown Girls (2003) as well as many lesser-known films, such as Spun (2003). In 2004, she starred in the romantic comedy Little Black Book, and the critically acclaimed Sin City (2005). She starred in two Edward Burns films: Sidewalks of New York (2001) and The Groomsmen (2006). 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 will be released in 2010.\r
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 shows run. 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.\r
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~\r
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 Billboards Hot Dance Club Play chart. It also hit number seven in the UK singles chart in June 2006.\r
She dabbled in music again with the release of the film Happy Feet, in which she covered Queens Somebody to Love and Earth, Wind & Fires Boogie Wonderland.\r
Murphy starred in Wheatus video A Little Respect alongside actor Shawn Hatosy. She has also appeared in the music video for Luscious Jacksons Here and Tears for Fears Closest Thing to Heaven.\r
In 2005, Murphy signed as the spokesmodel for Jordache jeans.\r
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~\r
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.\r
Murphy was a Type-2 diabetic, and suffered from a thyroid condition.\r
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~\r
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 collapsed in a bathroom. Firefighters attempted to resuscitate Murphy on the scene and she was subsequently transported to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead at 10:04 a.m. after going into cardiac arrest. According to the coroners report, the Clueless star died accidentally as a result of multiple drug intoxication, pneumonia, and iron deficiency anemia.\r
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~\r
The first photo used in this video is not Brittany Murphy. It is Marissa Jaret Winoku. I copied it from an article about Brittanys makeover. I hope anyone who knew Brittany was not offended by this error.