BRITTANY MURPHY
REMEMBERING
By Kirsten Howard
Join us in celebrating the life and career of the irreplaceable Brittany Murphy.
Clueless
Brittany Murphy was born Brittany Anne Bertolotti in Atlanta, Georgia in 1977. She was raised by her mother, who supported her dreams from the beginning.
Riding in Cars with Boys
In 1991, Brittany’s mother moved the family from New Jersey to Los Angeles so that her young hopeful could pursue a career in acting.
Having already trained in singing, dancing, and acting from the age of 4, Brittany scored her first real role at 13 as Brenda Drexell in the TV series Drexell's Class.
Uptown Girls
She went on to land small parts in hit shows like Blossom, seaQuest 2032, Frasier, Party of Five, and Boy Meets World.
Frasier
But it was her breakout role as the goofy Tai in Amy Heckerling’s 1995 teen rom-com Clueless that first got her properly noticed.
The cult classic film was loosely based on Jane Austen's 1815 novel Emma and it was set in a modern-day Beverly Hills high school. Murphy played the eager-to-please new girl of the story.
After Clueless, Murphy went on to star in various indie films like Freeway with Reese Witherspoon, and James Mangold's Girl, Interrupted alongside Winona Ryder and Angelina Jolie.
Girl, Interrupted
She also played an aspiring beauty queen in Drop Dead Gorgeous, and provided the voice for the character of Luanne Platter on the animated sitcom King of the Hill for twelve years.
King of the Hill
She also starred in rom-coms like Just Married and Little Black Book before dipping her toe into the burgeoning comic book movie scene with Sin City in 2005.
Sin City
Murphy hadn’t lost her passion for singing. She and Paul Oakenfold even released a single called ‘Faster Kill Pussycat’ in 2006, and it climbed to number one on Billboard's Hot Dance Club Play chart.
She also sang in the animated movie Happy Feet, covering Queen's ‘Somebody to Love’ and Earth, Wind & Fire's ‘Boogie Wonderland’ as her character Gloria.
The actress kept working until her death in 2009, when she passed away at the age of 32.
Brittany Murphy may be gone, but she will never be forgotten.