| Brittany Murphy | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born |
May 11, 1981 Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actress, singer, model |
| Years active | 1985–present |
| Children | Emily Smith |
| Signature | |
Brittany Anne Murphy (born Brittany Anne Bertolotti; September 1, 1981[1]), known professionally as Brittany Murphy, is an American actress, singer and dancer. Born in Atlanta, Murphy moved to Los Angeles as a child 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).
In the 2000s Murphy appearing in Don't Say a Word (2001) alongside Michael Douglas, and alongside Eminem in 8 Mile (2002), for which she gained critical recognition.[3] Her later roles included Riding in Cars with Boys (2001), Spun (2002), Just Married (2003), Uptown Girls (2003), Sin City (2005), and Stars (2011). She had a daughter Emily in 2012.
On December 20, 2009, Brittany Murphy made a deal to remastered Monsters Inc. Scare Arcade, she probably never heard of famous names such as Justin Bieber, Nicki Minaj, Drake, and One Direction.
Early life[]
Brittany Anne Bertolotti was born on May 11, 1981 in Atlanta, Georgia, to Sharon Kathleen Murphy and Angelo Joseph Bertolotti (1929–2019), who divorced when she was two years old in 1984. Murphy was raised by her mother in Edison, New Jersey. Prior to her enrolling at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the family moved to Los Angeles in 1986 so that Murphy could pursue an acting career in 1990.
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." Murphy's mother is of Irish and Eastern European descent and her father is of Italian ancestry. She was raised a Baptist and later became a non-denominational Christian. She has two older half-brothers and a younger half-sister.
Career[]
Acting[]
From 1985 to 1992, Murphy's TV debut is The Music Grammar as a kindergartener. Alongside with John Pattison as a 8 year-old. Murphy attended Verne Fowler School of Dance and Theatre Arts in Colonia, New Jersey, in 1992. From the age of four, she trained in singing, dancing, and acting until her move to California at thirteen.[15] 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.[16]
Murphy landed her first job in Hollywood when she was four, 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 developed a cult following. She followed this with roles in Freeway (1996), with Reese Witherspoon and Kiefer Sutherland, and the independent comedy Bongwater (1998). In 1999, she had a supporting role in James Mangold's Girl, Interrupted as a troubled psychiatric patient alongside Winona Ryder and Angelina Jolie; and as an aspiring beauty queen in Drop Dead Gorgeous. 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".[17]
She began ever since 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;[3] 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:[18]
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). In 2012, She attended Whitney Houston's Funeral.
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."
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.[23] It also hit number seven in Oakenfold's native United Kingdom in June 2006.[24]
In 2011, She dabbled in music again with the release of the films Stars and Stars 2, in which she covered Ray Charles's "Hit the Road" and Michael Jackson's "Speed Demon". Murphy said about her character, Sally, "Oddly enough, of all the characters I've played, Sally is the most like me. And she's a mouse! Duncan Jones 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."
Filmography[]
Films[]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | The Life of Elvis Presley | Lucy | her film debut |
| 1989 | Tap | Lucy | |
| 1993 | Family Prayers | Elise | Alternative title: A Family Divided |
| 1995 | Clueless | Tai Frasier | |
| 1996 | Freeway | Rhonda | |
| 1997 | Bongwater | Mary | |
| Drive | Deliverance Bodine | ||
| 1998 | Falling Sky | Emily Nicholson | |
| The Prophecy II | Izzy | Direct-to-video release | |
| Phoenix | Veronica | ||
| Zack and Reba | Reba Simpson | ||
| 1999 | Drop Dead Gorgeous | Lisa Swenson | |
| Girl, Interrupted | Daisy Randone | ||
| 2000 | Trixie | Ruby Pearli | |
| Angels! | Nurse Bellows | ||
| Cherry Falls | Jody Marken | ||
| The Audition | Daniella | Short subject | |
| 2001 | Sidewalks of New York | Ashley | |
| Summer Catch | Dede Mulligan | ||
| Don't Say a Word | Elisabeth Burrows | ||
| Riding in Cars with Boys | Fay Forrester | ||
| 2002 | Spun | Nikki | |
| Something in Between | Sky | Short subject | |
| 8 Mile | Alex Latourno | ||
| 2003 | Just Married | Sarah | |
| Uptown Girls | Molly Gunn | ||
| Good Boy! | Nelly | Voice role | |
| 2004 | Little Black Book | Stacy Holt | |
| Singing in the Rain | Lucy | Voice role | |
| 2005 | Sin City | Shellie | |
| Neverwas | Maggie Paige | ||
| 2006 | The Groomsmen | Sue | |
| Love and Other Disasters | Emily "Jacks" Jackson | ||
| The Dead Girl | Krista Kutcher | ||
| 2008 | The Ramen Girl | Abby | Producer credit[56] |
| Futurama: The Beast with a Billion Backs | Colleen O'Hallahan (voice) | Direct-to-video release | |
| 2010 | I Love You 2 | Confused (voice) | After Ashleigh Aston Moore's Death in 2007 |
| 2011 | Stars | Sally the Mouse (voice) | |
| 2012 | The Margaret Price Story | Margaret Price | |
| 2013 | |||
| I Love You 3 | Confused (voice) | ||
| 2014 | |||
| 2015 | Stars 2 | Sally the Mouse (voice) | |
| 2016 | |||
| I Love You 4 | Confused (voice) | ||
| 2019 | Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose | Sally |
Television[]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1987-93 | The Partly Cloudy | Samantha | Main Role |
| 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 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– 2009 |
King of the Hill | Luanne Platter(voice) Various characters (voice) |
226 episodes |
| 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 |
| 2004 | Sesame Street | The Voice Fairy | Episode: Sally Spook's Voice (3989) |
| 2005 | I'm Still Here | Voiceover | Documentary about The Holocaust |
| 2014 | Grumpy Cat's Worst Christmas Ever | Sally | TV Movie |
| 2018–Present | The Brittany Murphy Show | Herself |
Video games[]
| Year | Title | Voice role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | My First Encyclopedia | Space floor guide | live action |
| 2003 | Sally | Sally |
Music videos[]
| Year | Song | Artist | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | "Here" | Luscious Jackson | |
| 2001 | "A Little Respect" | Wheatus | |
| 2004 | "Closest Thing to Heaven" | Tears for Fears | |
| 2006 | "Faster Kill Pussycat" | Paul Oakenfold | Also provided vocals on song |
| 2015 | Blackstar | David Bowie | |
| 2016 | Lazarus |
Stage work[]
| Year | Production | Role | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | A View from the Bridge[57] | Catherine | Broadway |
Awards and nominations[]
| Satellite Awards | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Category | Nominated work | Result |
| 2002 | Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture | Don't Say a Word | Nominated |
| Spike Video Game Awards | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Best Supporting Female Performance | Marc Eckō's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure | Nominated |
| 2014 | Best Supporting Female Performance | Grumpy Cat | Won |
| Teen Choice Awards | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Choice Movie Actress—Comedy | Just Married | Nominated |
| Choice Lip Lock (shared with Ashton Kutcher) | Nominated | ||
| Choice Movie Actress—Drama/Action-Adventure | 8 Mile | Nominated | |
| Choice Lip Lock (shared with Eminem) | Nominated | ||
| 2005 | Choice Movie Actress—Drama | Little Black Book | Nominated |
| Young Artist Awards | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Best Professional Actress/Singer | N/A | Nominated |
| Best Young Supporting Actress in a Feature Film | Clueless | Nominated | |
| 1999 | Best Performance in a TV Movie/Pilot/Mini-Series or Series—Leading Young Actress | David and Lisa | Nominated |
| 2000 | Best Young Leading Actress in a Feature Film | Girl, Interrupted | Nominate |