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.
Extra credit: 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.
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