Brittany Murphy
The autopsy report of actress and singer Brittany Murphy — 1977–2009.
The Actress
Brittany Murphy was an inspirational and talented actress and singer whose career was cut short by her unexpected death. Born Brittany Anne Bertolotti in Atlanta, Georgia, she later moved to Edison, New Jersey, where she was raised by her mother. At the age of four, the young and talented Brittany began training for her acting and singing career, and at 13 she moved to California, where she starred in the sitcom Drexell's Class.
At 20, she made her Broadway debut starring in Arthur Miller's A View from the Bridge. She was in a band called Blessed Soul with fellow actor Eric Balfour in the early 1990s, and in 2006 she and Paul Oakenfold released the single “Faster Kill Pussycat,” which became a club hit and reached number one on the Billboard dance chart.
The Films
Brittany starred in a string of beloved films: Clueless (1995) as the endearing Tai Frasier, Girl, Interrupted (1999), Don't Say a Word (2001), 8 Mile (2002) opposite Eminem, Just Married (2003), Uptown Girls (2003), and Sin City (2005). She was also the voice of the sweet, airheaded Luanne Platter on King of the Hill for twelve years.
The Personal Life
Brittany's personal life off screen included several high-profile relationships. In 2002 she dated her Just Married co-star Ashton Kutcher. She was engaged to her former talent manager Jeff Kwatinetz and involved with Joe Macaluso, a production assistant. In 2007 she married Simon Monjack, a British screenwriter, and they remained married until her death.
The Death
On the morning of December 20, 2009, paramedics were called to Brittany and Simon Monjack's Los Angeles home after she collapsed in her bathroom. Paramedics and firefighters performed CPR unsuccessfully, and she was transported to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead on arrival at 10:04 a.m. She was 32.
Her cause of death was initially deferred pending toxicology testing. Although multiple drugs were found in her system — including hydrocodone and chlorpheniramine — these were legal medications and not directly correlated to her death. The official cause of death was ruled accidental: pneumonia, complicated by iron deficiency anemia and multiple drug intoxication. In a tragic echo, Simon Monjack died in the same house five months later, in May 2010, of acute pneumonia and severe anemia. Brittany Anne Murphy-Monjack is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in the Hollywood Hills.