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Brittany Murphy

 
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Brittany Murphy
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Brittany Murphy, born November 10, 1977, in Atlanta, GA, landed her first ongoing television role when she was 13 years old, playing Wendy in the sitcom, Blossom. She went on to act in Sister, Sister, Party of Five, Boy Meets World, and Nash Bridges, among other shows. Her screen credits include, Clueless, Drive, Drop Dead Gorgeous, Girl, Interrupted, Don't Say a Word, Riding in Cars With Boys, 8 Mile, Just Married, Uptown Girls, Love and Other Disasters and The Ramen Girl. Murphy also provides the voice for sex-kitten Luanne, in the animated Fox series, King of the Hill and she has spoke the role of Gloria in Happy Feet.

Last updated: December 15, 2008.

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Who2 Biography: Brittany Murphy, Actor
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  • Born: 10 November 1977
  • Birthplace: Atlanta, Georgia
  • Best Known As: Eminem's girlfriend in the 2002 film 8 Mile

Actress Brittany Murphy has made a Hollywood specialty of playing rough-around-the-edges chums and lovers. After guest starring roles in TV series like Blossom and Party of Five, she made her feature film debut in Clueless (1995) as Tai, the low-rent ugly duckling befriended by Alicia Silverstone's sleek Cher. Murphy won good reviews as Daisy, Winona Ryder's suicidal fellow mental patient in Girl, Interrupted (1999). She followed that with supporting roles in a string of "chick flicks" including Sidewalks of New York (2001) and Riding In Cars With Boys (2002, with Drew Barrymore). Murphy gradually remade herself from dowdy brunette to slim and sultry blonde: she played Eminem's fame-hungry girlfriend in 8 Mile, the 2002 film inspired by the rapper's life, the waitress Shellie in the violent comic book drama Sin City (2005, with Bruce Willis) and the noodle-master-in-training of The Ramen Girl (2008). Murphy also provides the voice of Luanne in the long-running animated series King of the Hill.

Murphy became engaged to film crew electrician Joe Macaluso in December of 2005; they split in August of 2006. She had previously been engaged to Jeff Kwatinetz, CEO of the talent management company The Firm... Murphy will reportedly be the voice of the fairy Tinkerbell in the 2007 Disney film Tinkerbell and the Ring of Belief... She provided vocals on Paul Oakenfold's single Faster Kill Pussycat, a dance club hit in 2006.

Actor: Brittany Murphy
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  • Born: Nov 10, 1977
  • Occupation: Actor
  • Active: '90s-2000s
  • Major Genres: Comedy, Drama
  • Career Highlights: Clueless, Girl, Interrupted, Drop Dead Gorgeous
  • First Major Screen Credit: Clueless (1995)

Biography

Brittany Murphy first came to the attention of film audiences as Tai, one of Alicia Silverstone's airhead friends, in the 1995 comedy Clueless. Though convincing as a dim-bulb character, Murphy cuts dramatically against this grain off-camera, as a ferociously intelligent and ambitious young performer who had acting in her blood from early childhood. As a teenager and young adult, she gave expression to the scope of her talent and versatility with a series of engaging film and television roles.

Born in Atlanta on November 10, 1977, Murphy was raised by her single mother in Edison, New Jersey; she later indicated, in interviews, that her mom struggled financially - that they were forced to eat spaghetti night after night, and that on certain occasions, she had to beg her mother to buy clothes at KMart; this would later account for Murphy's marked social investment in homeless causes, as discussed in a February 2003 Glamour article.

A precocious child who began putting on shows when she was a toddler, Murphy was acting in regional theatre productions by the age of nine. Work in various commercials followed, and in 1990 she landed her first television appearance at the age of twelve, on the sitcom Blossom. She also secured a supporting role as Brenda Drexell, the fourteen-year-old daughter of Dabney Coleman's fifth grade teacher Otis Drexell, on the (mercifully) short-lived 1991 FOX sitcom Drexell's Class. The following year, Murphy took her first cinematic bow in the dysfunctional family drama Family Prayers.

Murphy's talent for portraying, dramatically, all degrees on the spectrum of behavioral dysfunction further came to light in three successive projects through 1999: the blackly comic Reese Witherspoon trailer trash odyssey Freeway (1996) (as a disfigured lesbian who befriends Witherspoon's Vanessa); a mental patient in Lloyd Kramer's made-for-TV David and Lisa (1998), and James Mangold's Girl, Interrupted (1999) (as yet another resident at a mental institution).

Meanwhile, on a less ambitious (albeit more whimsical) note, Murphy also became a fixtureon King of the Hill, Mike Judge's long-running contemporary cartoon of suburban life in the southern U.S., as Luanne Platter, the hair stylist niece who comes to live with Hank Hill's family. Murphy kept a full plate as the millennium wrapped. In addition to her work for Mangold in 1999,

she also explored the collective insanity of the beauty pageant world in Drop Dead Gorgeous, while on the small screen, she covered much darker thematic ground with the well-received Holocaust drama The Devil's Arithmetic (also 1999). In 2001, Murphy appeared in the Michael Douglas thriller Don't Say a Word, and alongside Drew Barrymore in Riding in Cars With Boys.

Cast opposite Eminem in director Curtis Hanson's 2002 drama 8 Mile, Murphy performed compellingly as an aspiring rap star's unapologetic muse; in 2004, Murphy headlined Nick Hurran's thoroughly disappointing rom-com Little Black Book. She also made a splash in Robert Rodriguez's innovative graphic novel adaptation Sin City, as the arrogant waitress who becomes the prize in a heated rivalry between Benicio del Toro and Clive Owen.

Murphy made appearances in four features in 2006. In Alex Keshishian's progressive romantic comedy Love and Other Disasters, she played a London-based American expatriate, employed at Vogue, who tries to fix up her gay roommate; in Ed Burns's sixth directorial outing, the Big Chill-like romantic comedy The Groomsmen, she played the expectant girlfriend of Burns's Paulie. She also portrayed a member of the ensemble in Karen Moncrieff's murder mystery The Dead Girl, about a group of seemingly disconnected individuals whose lives intersect as a girl's murderer comes to light, and one of the lead voices in George "Babe" Miller's Happy Feet, an animated penguin tale.

Murphy's appearance alongside Ashton Kutcher in Just Married was - to some degree - a case of art imitating life: offscreen, Murphy and Kutcher began to date as well (and became a hot tabloid item), though unlike their onscreen counterparts, they never wed. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
Wikipedia: Brittany Murphy
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Brittany Murphy

Murphy at the Australian premiere of Happy Feet, December 10, 2006
Born November 10, 1977 (1977-11-10) (age 32)
Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
Occupation Actress, singer
Years active 1991 – present
Spouse(s) Simon Monjack (m. 2007–present) «start: (2007)»"Marriage: Simon Monjack to Brittany Murphy" Location: (linkback:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brittany_Murphy)

Brittany Murphy (born November 10, 1977) is an American actress and recording artist. She has starred in films such as Just Married; Clueless; Girl, Interrupted; 8 Mile; Sin City; The Dead Girl; Uptown Girls; Happy Feet; Riding in Cars with Boys and Spun.

Contents

Early life

Born in Atlanta, Georgia,[1] Murphy's parents divorced when she was two. She was raised by her single mother, Sharon Murphy, in Edison, New Jersey, and later Los Angeles[2] (her father, Angelo Bertolotti, is a convicted mobster).[3] Murphy's mother is of Irish and Eastern European descent, and her father is Italian American.[4][5] She was raised a Baptist and attended a Lutheran school, but is now a non-denominational practicing Christian.[6]

When she was nine years old, Murphy landed a singing role in a musical version of Les Misérables, and had signed on with a manager by the time she turned thirteen.[citation needed] Her mother, Sharon was diagnosed with breast cancer when Murphy was 15. She survived after having a double mastectomy.[7]

Acting

Brittanymurphynavy.jpg

Murphy landed her first job in Hollywood when she was 14, 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 has also guest starred on several television series including Parker Lewis Can't Lose, Blossom, and Frasier. She has also had recurring roles on Sister, Sister, Party of Five, and Boy Meets World. In 1997, she began voicing the character of Luanne Platter (as well as the younger version of Joseph Gribble) on the long-running animated series King of the Hill.

Murphy has also starred in many successful films, including Clueless (1995), Girl, Interrupted (1999), Don't Say a Word (2001), the TV adaption of the novel The Devil's Arithmetic (2001), 8 Mile (2002) and Uptown Girls (2003) as well as many lesser-known films, such as Spun (2003). In 2004, she starred in the romantic comedy Little Black Book, and the critically acclaimed Sin City (2005). In 2009, she was cast in the Lifetime TV movie, Tribute, as the main character, Cilla.

Music

In Spring 2006, Murphy, along with Paul Oakenfold, released the single "Faster Kill Pussycat", from the album A Lively Mind which was released on June 6 in the United States. The song has become a club hit, and hit number one on Billboard's Hot Dance Club Play chart.[8] It also hit number seven in the UK singles chart in June 2006.[citation needed]

She dabbled in music again with the release of her movie Happy Feet, in which she covered Queen's "Somebody to Love" and Earth, Wind & Fire's "Boogie Wonderland".

Personal life

In 2003, Murphy dated Ashton Kutcher, who was her co-star in Just Married.[9] Once engaged to talent manager Jeff Kwatinetz, in December 2005, Murphy became engaged to Joe Macaluso, a production assistant she met while working on her film, Little Black Book.[10] In August 2006, they ended their engagement.[10] In May 2007, Murphy married screenwriter Simon Monjack in a private Jewish ceremony.[11]

In 2005, Murphy signed on as the spokesmodel for Jordache jeans.[12]

In 2006, Murphy was voted 36th in FHM's 100 Sexiest Women List, and in May of the same year, Maxim named Murphy #49 on its annual Hot 100 List.

Filmography

Film
Year Film Role Notes
1993 Family Prayers Elsie Alternative title: A Family Divided
1995 Clueless Tai
1996 Freeway Rhonda
1997 Bongwater Mary
Drive Deliverance Bodine
1998 Falling Sky Emily Nicholson
The Prophecy II Izzy Direct-to-video release
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
Sidewalks of New York Ashley
2001 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
8 Mile Alex Latourno
2003 Just Married Sarah
Uptown Girls Molly Gunn
Good Boy! Nelly Voice
2004 Little Black Book Stacy Holt
2005 Sin City Shellie
Neverwas Maggie Blake
2006 The Groomsmen Sue
Love and Other Disasters Emily "Jacks" Jackson
Happy Feet Gloria Voice
The Dead Girl Krista Kutcher
2008 The Ramen Girl Abby
Futurama: The Beast with a Billion Backs Colleen (Voice) Direct-to-DVD release
2009 Deadline Alice
Across the Hall June
Abandoned Mary
Television
Year Title Role Notes
1991 Murphy Brown Frank's Sister 1 episode
1991-1992 Drexell's Class Brenda Drexell 18 episodes
1992 Kids Incorporated Celeste 1 episode
Parker Lewis Can't Lose Angie 1 episode
1993 Almost Home Molly Morgan 13 episodes
Blossom Wendy 1 episode
1994 Frasier Olsen 1 episode
Party of Five Abby 2 episodes
1994-1995 Sister, Sister Sarah 6 episodes
1995 Boy Meets World Trini 2 episodes
The Marshal Lizzie Roth 1 episode
seaQuest DSV Christine VanCamp 1 episode
Murder One Diane "Dee-Dee" Carson 1 episode
1996 Double Jeopardy Julia Television movie
Nash Bridges Carrie 1 episode
Clueless Jasmine 1 episode
1997-2009 King of the Hill Luanne Platter (Voice)
Various characters (Voice)
226 episodes
1998 David and Lisa Lisa Television movie
1999 The Devil's Arithmetic Rivkah Television movie
1999-2000 Pepper Ann Tank the 8th grader (Voice) 3 episodes
2000 Common Ground Dorothy Nelson Television movie
2009 Tribute Cilla McGowan Television movie
Megafault Dr. Amy Lane Television movie

See also

References

  1. ^ "Brittany Murphy Biography (1977-)". filmreference.com. http://www.filmreference.com/film/77/Brittany-Murphy.html. Retrieved 2009-09-02. 
  2. ^ Rochlin, Margy (2001-09-30). "Film; A Young Trouper Who Plays Crazy as Well as Sexy". The New York Times. pp. 2. http://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/30/movies/film-a-young-trouper-who-plays-crazy-as-well-as-sexy.html?sec=&spon=&pagewanted=2. 
  3. ^ Daly, Sean (2003-08-03). "Uptown girl's ship has come in; Brittany Murphy going strong Happier after Kutcher split". Toronto Star. http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/thestar/access/386907331.html?dids=386907331:386907331&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Aug+09%2C+2003&author=Sean+Daly&pub=Toronto+Star&desc=Uptown+girl's+ship+has+come+in%3B+Brittany+Murphy+going+strong+Happier+after+Kutcher+split&pqatl=google. Retrieved 2009-11-18. 
  4. ^ Wollman Rusoff, Jane (2001-10-18). "The rising actress switches gears and goes from crazy to sexy for Riding in Cars With Boys". Mr. Showbiz. ; Mr. Showbiz website long defunct; transcript now availabe at http://www.brittanymurphy.8m.com/mrshowbiz.html
  5. ^ McGoldrick, Debbie (2005). "Brittany: I’m Irish!". Irish Voice. http://www.irishabroad.com/news/irishinamerica/entertainment/brittanyimirish-050713.asp. Retrieved 2009-11-18. 
  6. ^ "Uptown Girls: An Interview with Brittany Murphy". latinoreview.com. http://web.archive.org/web/20070401031608/http://www.latinoreview.com/films_2003/mgm/uptowngirls/brittany_interview.html. Retrieved 2009-09-02. 
  7. ^ Legacy of Strength by Yahoo.com
  8. ^ "Paul Oakenfold Album & Song Chart History". billboard.com. http://www.billboard.com/charts/dance-club-play-songs?chartDate=2006-05-27#/artist/paul-oakenfold/chart-history/36785?f=359&g=Singles. Retrieved 2009-09-01. 
  9. ^ Samantha, Miller (2003-01-20). "Baby, Let's Play Married By Samantha Miller Newlyweds Onscreen, Brittany Murphy and". people.com. http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20139060,00.html. Retrieved 2009-09-01. 
  10. ^ a b Ingrassia, Lisa (2006-08-22). "Brittany Murphy, Fiancé End Engagement". people.com. http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,1254881,00.html. Retrieved 2009-09-01. 
  11. ^ Brittany Murphy Marries Writer-Director - Weddings, Brittany Murphy : People.com
  12. ^ "Brittany Murphy, new face of Jordache". msnbc.msn.com. 2005-07-25. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8701300/. Retrieved 2009-09-02. 

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