Brittany Murphy

Brittany Anne Murphy-Monjack (née Bertolotti; November 10, 1977 – December 20, 2009) was an American actress and singer, noted for her work in comedy and drama. Murphy moved to Los Angeles as a teenager and began her acting career at the age of thirteen. Her breakthrough role was Tai Frasier in Clueless (1995), followed by supporting roles in independent films such as Freeway (1996) and Bongwater (1998). She made her theatrical debut in a Broadway production of Arthur Miller's A View from the Bridge in 1997, before starring as Daisy Randone in Girl, Interrupted (1999) and Lisa Swenson in Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999).

In the 2000s she played the patient Elisabeth Burrows in Don't Say a Word (2001), alongside Michael Douglas, and Alex Latourno in 8 Mile (2002), for which she garnered critical acclaim. Her subsequent roles included Riding in Cars with Boys (2001), Spun (2002), Just Married (2003), Uptown Girls (2003), Sin City (2005), and Happy Feet (2006). She also voiced the character Luanne Platter in the animated television series King of the Hill (1997–2010). On The Ramen Girl (2008), she served as a producer in addition to acting. Her final film project was Something Wicked, released in 2014.

She also dabbled in music, being able to sing and play the piano and trumpet from childhood. In the early 1990s she was part of the band Blessed Soul, alongside actor Eric Balfour. The band did not release an album. She featured on British DJ Paul Oakenfold's single "Faster Kill Pussycat" in 2006, and in the same year covered two songs, Queen's "Somebody to Love" and Earth, Wind & Fire's "Boogie Wonderland", for the soundtrack of the film Happy Feet.