Brittany Anne Murphy was born on November 10, 1977 in Atlanta, Georgia. She was known as an actress and singer. Murphy's parents divorced while she was a child and she was raised by her mother in Edison, New Jersey before moving to Burbank, California.

She started acting in theater by the age of 9 and at 14 scored her first role in Hollywood in the TV show "Drexell's Class". She could be seen in other TV shows such as "Blossom", "Boy Meets World", "Sister, Sister" before finally catching her big break in the 1995 movie "Clueless" Alicia Silverstone. During her career she appeared in an enviable number on films of various genres from thriller to comedy. Her film credits include "Drop Dead Gorgeous" (1999), "Girl, Interrupted" (1999) in which she starred along with Angelina Jolie, "Don't Say a Word" (2001), with Michael Douglas, Eminem's semi-autobiographical picture "8 Mile" (2002), comedies such as "Just Married" (2003), "Little Black Book" (2004) well as the successful "Sin City" (2005) and others. Her more recent work includes films "The Ramen Girl" (2008) and "Deadline" (2009). Her collaboration with musician Paul Oakenfold produced a house music hit called "Faster Kill Pussycat" climbed on to become a number one hit on Billboard's Hot Dance Club Play chart.

Murphy's premature death on December 20, 2009 came as a shock to her fans and those who knew her. After collapsing at her home she was taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Before her arrival she had already passed from cardiac arrest. Her death was ruled accidental although several over the counter drugs were found in her system. Her final resting place is at the Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills. She was married to Simon Monjack from May 2007 until her death in 2009.