Brittany Anne Murphy-Monjack[5] (née Bertolotti; November 10, 1977 – December 20, 2009) was an American actress and singer, known for her proficiencies in both comedy and drama.

Her breakthrough came when she co-starred as Tai Frasier in Clueless (1995), followed by independent films such as Freeway (1996), and her 1997 Broadway debut in a production of Arthur Miller's A View from the Bridge.

Murphy gained critical recognition for her roles in numerous high-profile film projects during the early 2000s, such as Don't Say a Word (2001), Riding in Cars with Boys (2001), and 8 Mile (2002).

Other notable credits included Cherry Falls (2000), Spun (2002), Just Married, Uptown Girls (both 2003), Little Black Book (2004), Sin City (2005), and Happy Feet (2006).

[17][14][18][A] Angelo during this period was arrested on charges of drug possession, spending twelve years in prison;[14] and he had dealings with the Italian mafia, where he operated as an entrepreneur and diplomat for organized crime families.

[14][30] In 1987, at the age of ten, she made her theatrical debut called Really Rosie,[28] whose performance was praised by her teachers;[14] and she also sang in a production of Les Misérables.

[34] She appeared as a guest star on several television series, including Parker Lewis Can't Lose, Blossom, seaQuest 2032, Murder One and Frasier.

[33] Her breakthrough role was in her second feature film, the teen comedy Clueless (1995), directed by Amy Heckerling, which developed a cult following.

[36] Her performance in the film was praised by both the media and critics:[37] John Menter, an acting teacher during Murphy's childhood, said: "It wasn't until I saw her, sitting in the theater, who I felt she would be a huge star.

[44][45] She made her Broadway debut in 1997 playing the role of Catherine, in a new version of Arthur Miller's A View from the Bridge along with actors Anthony LaPaglia and Allison Janney.

"[49] That same year she had a supporting role in James Mangold's Girl, Interrupted, as a troubled psychiatric patient alongside Winona Ryder and Angelina Jolie.

[19] She voiced the character of Luanne Platter in the Fox animated sitcom King of the Hill for the entirety of the show from 1997 to 2009, and Joseph Gribble until the fifth season.

[55] In 2002, she played the role of Alex Latourno in the film based on the life of American rapper Eminem, 8 Mile, which received critical acclaim,[56] and was a success at the box office.

[45] A year later she gave the Stacy Holt's role in Little Black Book (2004), which was another critical failure, where reviewers focused on Murphy's poor performance.

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.

"[72] In an interview she stated that her main musical influence was the American singer Madonna: "My dreams and aspirations when I was a child for as long as I can remember was to be an entertainer.

[77] 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".

[78] The director of the production, Shawn Levy, has commented on the relationship saying: "From the minute they met, they were together, they laughed all the time, they made jokes and they looked happy".

[95] In the two-part miniseries, Ragsdale explained that Monjack told her that he suffered from spinal cancer and needed shark cartilage treatments to recover.

"[96] Before Monjack met Murphy, he was with filmmaker Allison Burnett at a public dinner, where he told the assembled guests that he was a multimillionaire, had dated Elle Macpherson and Madonna, had a collection of Ferraris and was dying of brain cancer until he purchased a treatment derived from shark fins that saved his life; however, these theories were revealed to be lies.

[103][104] During the last three and a half years of her life, she, her mother, and Monjack moved in together in the same mansion that Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake had lived in, and she kept much of her old furniture.

In the early 2000s, Murphy lost a large amount of weight,[108][109] which led to rumors of a cocaine addiction or that she suffered from bulimia or anorexia.

"[111] She had tried to quit her addiction and was against the use of marijuana, appearing in a fifteen-minute anti-smoking campaign for young people about not smoking to more than 10,000 schools as a complement to the educational program "Right Decisions, Right Now".

[11][122] 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.

[131] In January 2012, Murphy's 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.

[134] 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.

[142] Adam White, for Dazed Digital on November 15, 2017, stated that "the actress was small, but magnetic, with the rare ability to seem completely approachable and terrifying.

"[143] He went on to claim that "she was the equivalent of dancing in your room to a Spice Girls song, or crying out loud at the end of a party after too many drinks", but that "she died too young to establish an adequate legacy, and quietly for posthumous super stardom.

"[143] He again declared that "she was not pretty enough to be a female protagonist in an era in which lithe and ethereal Gwyneth Paltrow and Kirsten Dunst were the It girls of the moment.

[144] The song "Faster Kill Pussycat", by British DJ Paul Oakenfold performed by Murphy, re-entered at number seven on the UK Dance Chart.