Brittany Murphy was a talented American actress who pursued a career as a teenage actress and starred in many hit movies like Freeway, Clueless, Don’t Say a Word, 8 Mile alongside Eminem, Happy Feet Spun, Rolling driving with Boys, Hot Girls, Sin City and many more.
Murphy was born on November 10, 1977 in Atlanta, Georgia as Brittany Anne Bertolotti. Her parents separated when she was only two years old and her mother had to move to Edison, New Jersey, where she was eventually raised. She had three half-siblings and was raised a Baptist and then a non-denominational Christian.
Her mother is of Irish and Eastern European descent and her father is of Italian descent. She attended Edison High School and was also an alumnus of Verne Fowler School of Dance and Theater Arts, Colonia, NJ.
Brittany had shown an interest in acting in all her early childhood, her mother never tried to stifle her creativity but encouraged her to fully explore and maximize her potentials. As a child, Murphy was trained in dance, acting and singing. In 1991, her family moved to Los Angeles so she could pursue an acting career.
She made her Broadway debut in 1997 when she starred as Catherine in A View from the Bridge alongside veteran actor Allison Janney. Her television debut was Brenda Drexell on the Class of Drexell series. Brittany’s breakthrough came in 1995, after her role in the teen comedy Clueless. After that, she appeared in several other films which include Interrupted Girl, ( which she starred alongside Angelina Jolie and Winona Ryder), Highway, Drop Dead Gorgeous, Bongwater, and many more.
His other TV series include The Torkelsons, Boy Meets World, Parker Lewis Can’t Lose, Murder One and Frasier, Sister, Sister, Sea Quest 2032, Flower and many more.
Brittany Murphy was also a singer. She was part of an early 1990s band named Blessed Soul alongside fellow actor Eric Balfour. In 2006, she and Paul Oakenfold released a single from the album A Living Spirit. The single, Faster Kill Pussycat, was so successful that it became a club hit and peaked at #1 on Billboard’s Hot Dance Club Play chart.
The world woke up on December 20, 2009 to the shocking news that the talented actress and singer died at the age of 32. What is the cause of his death? Here are the details and mysteries surrounding his death.
Details of Brittany Murphy’s Death and Mysteries Surrounding Her
The young star passed out in the bathroom of her Hollywood Hills home on that fateful day, December 20, 2009, after suffering from symptoms of pneumonia for a few days. Reportedly she had yelled at her mother from the bathroom that she couldn’t breathe properly, her mother fled to her but she passed out in his arms and all efforts to revive her turned out to be immediately abortive.
She was then rushed to hospital where she died after a heart attack. While it is common knowledge that multiple drug intoxication contributed to her death, an autopsy performed the same day also revealed that she died of pneumonia complicated with anemia (iron deficiency)
Despite the many pill bottles found in their bedroom, Murphy’s husband, Monjack, refuted reports that she was addicted to prescription drugs. According to him, his wife did not abuse prescription drugs.
Following the coroner’s report, police dismissed the case and Brittany Murphy was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Hollywood Hills on December 24, 2009.
After the mysterious manner in which she died and the numerous rumours, her estranged father Angelo Bertolotti in 2011 asked the Superior Court of California to request that the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office be required to turn over hair samples from Murphy for a private toxicology test to rule out a play foul.
The results revealed high levels of toxic metals present in his hair, including antimony and barium, which are used in some rat poisons. According to Los Angeles County Deputy Chief Coroner Ed Winter, the heavy metals found on her hair were due to Brittany coloring her hair.
Speaking in an interview with the 2014 Examiner, Bertolotti made it clear that he didn’t believe his daughter died a natural death, but that she was murdered by his ex-wife, a claim that Sharon Murphy described as a smear.
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Her husband
Murphy was married to British screenwriter Simon Monjack. The duo met in 2001 on the set of the film Hôtel blanc. After dating for a few years, they married in May 2007, in a private Jewish ceremony in Los Angeles.
The couple lived together in the same house with Murphy’s mother. Just five months after Murphy’s death, Monjack was found dead in the same bedroom as his wife and the cause of death was exactly the same as his wife’s – a case of acute pneumonia and severe anemia. Really mysterious huh? We know.
After Monjack’s death, L. A county health department gave toxic mold found in their home as a possible cause of the couple’s death. Ed Winter, however, denied the claims. According to him, there was no evidence to support these allegations. Murphy’s mother also found these claims preposterous.
Sharon Murphy, however, changed her mind in 2011 when she said toxic mold must indeed have killed her daughter and son-in-law.