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Brittany Murphy tragic death revisited as Clueless co-star Alicia Silverstone says late actress was perfect for iconic movie

Clueless, starring Alicia Silverstone and Brittany Murphy, is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year.
posted by Shreya Ghosh
Saturday 7/19/2025 at 9:25PM EDT
  • Alicia Silverstone (Image via Instagram/@aliciasilverstone)
    Alicia Silverstone (Image via Instagram/@aliciasilverstone)

    As a teenage actor, Brittany Murphy portrayed a prominent and entertaining role in the Alicia Silverstone-starring Clueless.

    Three decades ago, the Amy Heckerling-directed classic film was released on July 19. It has been 30 years, and fans worldwide still love watching the movie over and over again.  

    Heckerling and Silverstone joined The Guardian on their iconic collaboration's 30th anniversary and walked down the memory lane of working on it. During the conversation, the duo recalled casting Brittany Murphy for Tai.

    Alicia Silverstone & Amy Heckerling lauded Brittany Murphy for her acting proficiency

    While Silverstone might have been the protagonist of Clueless, Murphy's character, Tai, seemed a clueless girl in the film. Casting director Marcia Ross discovered a young girl named Brittany Murphy joining the industry, and the rest is history today.

    In a conversation with The Guardian, published on July 19, the director recalled working with the late actress, sharing,

    "Everybody loved her."

    While she often felt underconfident in her credibility as an actor about to join the star cast of Clueless, her skills reflected otherwise. Amy also recounted a special anecdote of Brittany and Alicia doing a chemistry read session, where the latter was certain of casting Murphy to play Tai.

    Heckerling expressed,

    "Alicia was trying to tell me: 'Oh my God, it has to be her.' And I was already like: 'Yeah, we know.'"

    Brittany Murphy died in 2009

    On December 20, 2009, Murphy passed away at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 32. While the prominent members of Clueless looked back on being a part of the movie, they also missed having Brittany Murphy along with them. 

    Elisa Donovan, who played the role of Amber Mariens in this comedy film, confessed to missing the late star, according to The Guardian. She shared,

    "I always think about Brittany and it’s really hard to do any of this and not talk about her. She was so talented and just had so much energy and so vibrant … just this hummingbird, frenetic sort of energy, but also like, 'everything’s great. I got it. No problem.'"

    Donovan admitted to feeling that she wishes for Murphy to be a part of such interviews, noteworthy celebrations, and special occasions, expressing,

    "It makes me emotional because I feel like she should be doing a lot of this, like she would be doing a lot of this."

    Dr. Lisa Scheinin performed Brittany's autopsy. Recalling that moment and the media attention throughout the years in a 2024 conversation with Us Weekly, she said,

    "A lot of times, when a celebrity dies, there’s an initial flurry of interest and then it just fades away."

    However, the result was completely the opposite for the Uptown Girls actress. The retired L.A. County Deputy Medical Examiner further added,

    "All she needed was to have gone to a doctor who would probably have sent her immediately for blood transfusions. Her hematocrit [red blood cell count] was practically so low at death it was incompatible with life. I’m surprised she lasted that long."

    Murphy's death was widely talked about back then. Though an autopsy confirmed her demise was accidental, according to an Extra report, her admirers believed in rumors and tried to grasp whether there was another probable reason for her death in her early 30s.

    As the outlet stated, the report of her death stated the condition as

    "acute pneumonia consistent with a community-acquired infection"

    Also, she reportedly struggled with "hypochromic microcytic anemia" related to her having heavy menstrual cycles. The authentic documents also notified,

    "Chronic anemia leads to a weakened state of health and would increase vulnerability to infection."

    The outlet also cited further information about Brittany's autopsy. It also clarified,

    "Multiple medications were present in the blood with elevated level of hydrocodone, acetaminophen and chlorpheniramine. L-methamphetamine was also present."

    It also specified,

    "L-methamphetamine is a component of some inhalers."

    While traces of medicines were found in her blood, there were no illegal drugs or signs of alcohol consumption. The report also explained,

    "The elevated levels of these medications cannot be discounted, especially in her weakened state."

    All the findings of her autopsy and the discovery of medications led to the report of an accidental death.

    The news of Brittany Murphy's tragic death, followed by speculations and headlines, was publicized widely. Reportedly, she collapsed on her home's bathroom floor. She was rushed to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, immediately. According to Esquire, doctors pronounced her dead within some hours. 

    A surge of conspiracy theories and headlines prompted the release of a HBO Max documentary titled What Happened, Brittany Murphy? in 2021.

    The documentary delved into unknown, dark insights of her personal life that left her demotivated. The outlet reported Hollywood executives remarking on her as "not f*ckable" enough to star as a protagonist in projects. Affected by the judgmental and hurtful comments, Brittany was planning to shed off extra pounds and work on enhancing her looks by changing her hair color.

    A never-ending series of conspiracies about Brittany Murphy's death

    In 2007, Brittany Murphy tied the knot to Simon Monjack. Despite her friend's efforts to call off the wedding, she went ahead to marry Simon and stay with her mother, Sharon. 

    Over time, Murphy started getting secluded from her mates, as per Esquire. Shockingly, Monjack took over her agent, manager, and makeup artist's responsibilities and terminated the professionals. Slowly, the star lost connection with her loved ones as her husband began intervening at every step of her life.

    Her career trajectory took a turn for the worse after her partner visited her last film's set in a drunken state. The outlet reported LA Weekly, noting that Brittany was later fired from the project in November 2009.

    A month after Murphy was fired from her last project, she passed away after falling on the bathroom floor at her house. Soon, her husband and mother began staying together. Following her unfortunate death, her mom and partner appeared on a much-talked-about episode of  Larry King Live.

    During the chit-chat, Monjack raised several eyebrows and triggered further guesses after stating that conducting an autopsy was unnecessary for his wife's demise.

    The suspense around her shocking death rose further after Simon passed away on May 23, 2010. At the age of 39, he died within six months of losing his wife. Surprisingly, his cause of death was anemia and pneumonia, quite similar to what Murphy suffered from.

    Sharon faced challenges after the consecutive deaths of her daughter and son-in-law. She started living alone and thought of selling her diamond jewelry to sustain her expenditures. Unfortunately, those assets, gifted by Simon, were fake. Later, it was disclosed that he showed fake documents of investing millions in jewelry and properties. The reality was quite the opposite. During his marriage to Murphy, he wasted around $3 million.

    In 2012, Brittany’s father filed a lawsuit against the Los Angeles Coroner’s Office and the Los Angeles Police Department. It resulted in an investigation revealing high amounts of lead in her hair. It was discovered that hairspray or dye used in styling contained the chemical element.

    Amid the chaos, uncertainties, and theories, Simon's ex-girlfriend revealed horrifying claims about him on What Happened, Brittany Murphy?. According to her remarks, he was abusive and had controlling tendencies. Also, he was often caught lying to his ex-partner. Interestingly, Simon and his ex-beau shared a kid, whom the Sin City actress was unaware of. 

    TOPICS: Brittany Murphy


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