Biography And Filmography:

An award winning actress with dark brown eyes, bouncy and multitalented actress Brittany Murphy shot to the Hollywood A-list as Tai, the poorly dressed student whom Alicia Silverstone's character acts as her mentor, in the smash hit comedy "Clueless" (1995), where Jane Austen's Emma meets Beverley Hills 90210 in the teen culture spoof. 

Brittany took her first  primetime television job as the younger sister of Joe Regalbuto's Frank Fontana on a 1991 episode of  "Murphy Brown" starring Candice Bergen. She was then cast as Dabney Coleman's daughter on the television sitcom "Drexel's Class" in 1991, and stuck around for eighteen episodes before taking the role as Perry King's jealous daughter in the sitcom "Almost Home" in 1993. The actress was then hired for a six episode recurring role as Sarah, a friend and classmate of twin sisters Tia and Tamara on "Sister, Sister" in 1995.

Murphy was by now considered a rising star and given small, guest appearance roles on several television shows including "Kids Incorporated", "Blossom", "Frasier", "Party of Five", "Murder One", "Boy Meets World", "SeaQuest DSV" and "Nash Bridges". With the experience gained from her television work, she was ready to search for larger, more adult roles in both television and on the big-screen. But it was her role in "Clueless" that shot her to the attention of Hollywood. The film told the story of Cher (Alicia Silverstone), a high school student in Beverly Hills who must survive the typical angst of young teen life. As the down-trodden Tai, she showed she could carry a Hollywood hit and quickly started to get roles in other films.

Her first mainstream movie role was in the crime thriller "Freeway" (1996) starring Kiefer Sutherland and Reese Witherspoon, a twisted take on 'Little Red Riding Hood' with a teenage juvenile delinquent on the run from a social worker traveling to her grandmother's house and being hounded by a charming, but sadistic, serial killer and pedophile. Murphy was then cast and hired in the comedy "Bongwater" (1997) starring a young Luke Wilson and Jack Black, where David (Luke Wilson) is an aspiring artist and a pot dealer who falls in love with constantly pot smoking Serena. Her first leading role came in the role of Emily Nicholson in the dramatic "Falling Sky" (1998), the story of Emily, a young girl coming of age in lower class Las Vegas who must deal with her alcoholic mother.  

The actress was then cast in "Drop Dead Gorgeous" (1999) with Kirsten Dunst, a comedic documentary about a beauty pageant in a small Minnesota town where everything goes wrong including explosions, falling lights, and trailer fires. She grabbed a lot of attention in the biographical movie "Girl, Interrupted" (1999), working alongside celebrity A-listers Winona Ryder, Angelina Jolie, Jared Leto and Vanessa Redgrave, in a story based on writer Susanna Kaysen's account of her 18-month stay at a mental hospital in the 1960s. She proved that she could hold her own, even when over-shadowed by A-list super talent.

Her next role had her playing a lesbian in the dramatic "Common Ground" (2000) with Jason Priestley, where a woman joins the Navy during the 1950's and discovers lesbianism. Audiences and critics accepted and applauded her for her role even though few people went to the theater to see it. In 2000, she won her first leading role in the horror mystery "Cherry Falls" working with Jay Mohr and Michael Biehn, where a murderer is killing off the virgins of a small town high school that her character, Jody, attends.

She then appeared in the sports themed romantic comedy "Summer Catch" (2001) with Jessica Biel and Freddie Prinze Jr., the story of a rich girl whose family summers on Cape Cod who has a romance with a local poor boy who hopes to become a major league baseball player. She next worked with Michael Douglas and Jennifer Esposito in the thriller "Don't Say A Word" (2001), about the daughter of a psychiatrist who is kidnapped and he's horrified to find that the abductors' demand is that he break through to a post traumatic stress disorder suffering young woman who knows a secret. 

More comedy was in store with the Drew Barrymore comedy "Riding In Cars With Boys" (2001) where she played the role of Fay Forrester, based on a true story about a single mother with dreams of becoming a writer who has a son at the age of 15 in 1965, and goes through a failed marriage with the drug-addicted father. Next was the comedy "Spun" (2002) starring Jason Schwartzman, where an out-of-control speed freak (Schwartzman) is introduced his drug of choice's creator by his dealer and a massive three-day adventure ensues. 

Her next leading role came opposite Ashton Kutcher in the romantic comedy "Just Married" (2003), about a young newlywed couple that honeymoons in Europe where obstacles challenge their ability to sustain the marriage. She then starred with Dakota Fanning in the comedy "Uptown Girls" (2003), about a grown woman who retains her childish instincts and behavior, and starts working as the nanny of an 8-year-old girl (Fanning), who actually acts like an adult. Another starring role followed with "Little Black Book" (2004) working next to Holly Hunter and Kathy Bates, where a woman snoops through her boyfriend's palm pilot and reveals his former girlfriends which causes her to question why they're still listed in his little black book.

She then lent her distinctive voice to the character of Gloria in the smash hit animated adventure comedy "Happy Feet" (2006) working with Robin Williams, Elijah Wood, Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman, in the story about the world of the Emperor Penguins, who find their soul mates through singing, but one  penguin is born who cannot sing but he can tap dance something fierce. Murphy's was next cast in the starring role of Abby in the romantic comedy "The Ramen Girl" (2008), about an American woman who is stranded in Tokyo after breaking up with her boyfriend, and while searching for direction in life trains to be a râmen chef under a tyrannical Japanese master.

It's ironic that with all the television and big-screen success enjoyed by the actress that many only know her as Luanne Platter from the smash hit animated television series "King Of The Hill", a show about a rigid redneck propane salesman with a good heart and wacky friends and family. Murphy has appeared in 115 episodes playing the less-then-intelligent aspiring beautician character that helped bring the series two Prime Time Emmy Awards, and another five wins and 35 nominations. Brittany may be the hardest working actress in Hollywood, with no less then five projects during the 2008-2009 movie season.

First was the comedy "Poor Thing" (2008) starring alongside Rosario Dawson, a story inspired by true events that revolve around two con-artist women who befriend and murder homeless men in order to collect their life insurance policies. Next was the horror thriller "Deadline" (2009) starring opposite Thora Birch, about a screenwriter who travels to an abandoned house to finish a script on time but a series of strange events leads her to a psychological breakdown. 

Another thriller followed with "Across The Hall" (2009), a horror film about a stand-off between a young man, his fiancée and his best friend who comes to his aide. Another starring role followed with the dramatic "The White Hotel" (2009), a story set in post WWI Vienna, about an opera singer who is haunted by ominous hallucinatory dreams and becomes Sigmund Freud's famous case study, Anna G. Together. 

She wrapped her year appearing in the thriller sequel "Sin City 2" (2009), with Jessica Alba, Rachel Weisz, and Antonio Banderas, where in the dark bowels of Sin City, Dwight (Clive Owen) plans to have his vengeance against the woman who betrayed him, Ava Lord (Rachel Weisz), while Nancy (Jessica Alba) is trying to cope with Hartigan's death.

Watch Brittany Murphy In "The Ramen Girl" Movie Trailer

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