“Exactly myself. And hopefully, through my self-discovery, others can gain self-discovery. I just hope to be an illumination of light and love and strength for people who need it—whenever they need it.” These are the exact words Brittany Murphy said as she declared how she wanted to be remembered in 2003, just six years before she would tragically lose her life too young. And exactly herself is how she is remembered today. Not just through the legacy of her career, but through those who knew her as the sun.
Brittany Murphy was born as Brittany Anne Bertolotti on November 10th, 1977, in Atlanta, Georgia, to parents, Angelo Bertolotti and Sharon Murphy, who divorced when she was around two years old. Shortly after her parents’ divorce, she and her mother moved to New Jersey, where she would be raised until age thirteen. Early on in her childhood, she began participating in jazz, ballet, musical theatre, tap, and singing lessons. She fell instantly in love with entertainment. Her old childhood dance coach even stated that she knew since Brittany was 5 years old that she had real potential. She continued her lessons and picked up learning the piano and trumpet, and around age 10, she began starring in plays at her school, Verne Fowler School of Dance and Theater Arts. This continued until Murphy was thirteen, and in the early 90’s, she and her mother moved to Burbank, California, to pursue her acting career.
In 1991, Brittany Murphy had her first television role playing in one episode on “Murphy Brown” before getting her Hollywood debut at just thirteen playing Brenda Drexell in “Drexell’s Class.” Between 1991-1994, Murphy played lots of minor roles in shows like Almost Home, Murder One, Fraiser, and many more before getting her breakout role. In 1995, Brittany Murphy acted in the highly rated film Clueless as Tai. She was the youngest member of the cast at just seventeen years old, despite her age, her role as Tai was praised. Many people loved her genuine acting and immediately advocated for her to get more roles. And play more roles she did, she had her Broadway debut in 1997. The late 90’s and 2000’s became a studded filmography for Murphy, with her starring in movies such as Drop Dead Gorgeous (199), one of my personal favorites, Girl, Interrupted (1999), Don’t Say A Word (2001), 8 Mile (2002), Uptown Girls (2003), and Just Married (2003). Those are just some of the crowd favorites, in total, Brittany Murphy starred in about thirty-three movies.
During this time of brilliance for Brittany Murphy, she also began to have her fair share of speculation and rumors regarding her personal life. She had engagement rumors with her co-star Ashton Kutcher on Just Married after the two had been dating and were seen wearing rings, but nothing was ever confirmed by them. She also had fleeting relationships with a talent manager and a production assistant before one of the most memorable rumors about her began. Around 2001, after starring together in Girl, Interrupted, Murphy and Winona Ryder became good friends and were photographed kissing in a car. Which of course, so many rumors about both Murphy and Ryder. They both denied everything, though, and said the kiss was all a joke since they had seen the paparazzi. However, during the filming of The White Hotel (a now scrapped film that was never released), Murphy met British screenwriter Simon Monjack. The two quickly fell in love and privately married in 2007. A couple of years prior, there were many concerns for Brittany concerning her drastic weight loss. Many suspected she was dealing with an eating disorder such as anorexia or bulimia. Others suspected a cocaine addiction. But in 2005, Murphy denied all allegations, not exactly addressing the eating disorder accusations but saying she’s never tried drugs in her life. But the fragile figure continued through the years, and people began thinking her husband, Monjack, was responsible for it, as there were many rumors of him being controlling and toxic, even once saying in a 2021 documentary that he “loves anorexic women.” Now, though, no one quite knows what really happened. But Brittany Murphy in early 2008, had claimed she was working on getting stronger so she could have her first child.
On December 20th, 2009, in Los Angeles, Brittany Murphy would take her final breath at only thirty-two years old. The last three months of Murphy’s life, she was holed up in her home with her husband, Monjack, and her mother, Sharon. It is claimed that the three of them had come down with flu symptoms and decided to treat it at home rather than see a doctor. But Brittany took a turn for the worse. Around eight in the morning, she had collapsed in her bathroom before she was rushed to a hospital, where she unfortunately passed away around two hours later after going into cardiac arrest. Murphy’s death held a lot of controversy, with many believing it could have been prevented. Her autopsy had shown the cause of death as pneumonia with added things like anemia and multi-drug intoxication. Despite that, there were claims that she had been poisoned, exposed to toxic mold, and some even suspected her mother and husband were responsible. However, nothing has ever come from these claims. One thing is for sure is that Brittany Murphy lost her life far too young.
Even though Brittany Murphy had a tragic exit from this earth, she left a glowing mark on it. She’s remembered as “free spirited, whimsical, and full of laughter” (Taryn Manning, 2021) and as loved by everyone. The same sentimental feelings around Brittany Murphy remain even almost twenty years later. Her memory lives on through our screens and the characters she played that left an impact on her audience. She said she wanted to be remembered as exactly herself. And that’s exactly what’s left.