# TMZ: 'Sin City' Actress Brittany Murphy Dead **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 20, 2009, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tmz-sin-city-actress-brittany-murphy-dead/521976 "2009-12-20T19:15:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2009, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tmz-sin-city-actress-brittany-murphy-dead/521976/61 "2009-12-20T23:43:32Z")
FAS means what? ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2009, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tmz-sin-city-actress-brittany-murphy-dead/521976/62 "2009-12-20T23:45:31Z")
I’m going to guess _Fetal Alcohol Syndrome_. \*\* ---
**Author:** ![Electronic\_Chaos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Electronic\_Chaos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electronic_Chaos)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2009, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tmz-sin-city-actress-brittany-murphy-dead/521976/63 "2009-12-20T23:49:52Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > Heh, sounds like she was playing something she knew then. > > I can’t stand that movie because it really makes you feel Spun. If anyone ever wants to know what Crystal Meth is like without the side-effects? Watch Spun. _shudders_ I had to take about five showers after watching that movie. Great movie, but I don’t think I could ever watch it again. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2009, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tmz-sin-city-actress-brittany-murphy-dead/521976/64 "2009-12-20T23:50:00Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > Oh right, Mama Cass. She was huge. Did she die of a heart attack? Yes, she did. Despite sensationalistic and erroneous claims in the press that she died choking on a ham sandwich. The coroner’s report verified that she had no food in her trachea and reported the cause of death as “fatty myocardial degeneration due to obesity”, or in layman’s words, heart failure. Coincidentally, Keith Moon, The Who’s drummer, would die in the same flat in 1978. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2009, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tmz-sin-city-actress-brittany-murphy-dead/521976/65 "2009-12-20T23:53:25Z")
How random. Late 2009’s Heath Ledger. Some sites are now saying [diabetes](http://news.google.com/news?q=britney%20murphy%20diabetes&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wn) had a role. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2009, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tmz-sin-city-actress-brittany-murphy-dead/521976/66 "2009-12-20T23:55:48Z")
> [@choie](#): > > Ugh, this is horrible. I had no idea she was suspected of having health problems. > That’s how I know her best too, **bienville**. I actually disliked her in the role (due to her mannerisms and bizarre voice), but she seemed much more natural in the less broad film/TV style of acting. She only really came to my attention with the rather formulaic and forgettable comedy, [Just Married](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0305711/). And that was mostly because she and Ashton Kutcher had a thing (Fucking? Dating?). Other than that, my impression of her in all other roles after that… were that she was apparently crazy, according to Kutcher, and that she looked anorexic, imo. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2009, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tmz-sin-city-actress-brittany-murphy-dead/521976/67 "2009-12-20T23:58:59Z")
I most liked her for singing the version of Queen’s “Somebody To Love” that was in _Happy Feet_. She had a really good voice and I just loved that version. So sad and unexpected. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2009, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tmz-sin-city-actress-brittany-murphy-dead/521976/68 "2009-12-21T00:16:27Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > How random. Late 2009’s Heath Ledger. Some sites are now saying [diabetes](http://news.google.com/news?q=britney%20murphy%20diabetes&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wn) had a role. I was in massage school at the time and all of the faculty was hopping mad about that one. The basic gist of it was, if the massage therapist had been ‘licensed’ she would’ve been compelled to call the authorities before she called Mary Kate Olsen. Dunno if that would’ve made a difference. I don’t see why she’d really have anything to worry about if he was dying when she got there, no reason to let them know she was acting in a professional capacity as his massage therapist. ---
**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2009, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tmz-sin-city-actress-brittany-murphy-dead/521976/69 "2009-12-21T00:16:35Z")
I think she was great. It’s really sad. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2009, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tmz-sin-city-actress-brittany-murphy-dead/521976/70 "2009-12-21T00:22:13Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > Karen Carpenter was anorexic and I have no clue who Cass Elliott is. Mama Cass was at the other end of the scale. RIP, Brittany. Luanne Platter was a great character, and you made her so. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2009, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tmz-sin-city-actress-brittany-murphy-dead/521976/71 "2009-12-21T00:38:18Z")
Huh. I had her confused with someone else. I’ve apparently never seen this girl act. This is also the first time I remember hearing of someone in Hollywood dying while they were still young and beautiful by my standards. I’m sure there are more, but I can’t think of any. That SNL skit does make me wonder if she got (further) depressed from being dropped from that movie. And I’m sure being made fun of for it didn’t help. I wonder if she didn’t just say “Fuck it” and take too many of whatever drug got her in trouble there. ---
**Author:** ![MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2009, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tmz-sin-city-actress-brittany-murphy-dead/521976/72 "2009-12-21T01:03:39Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Huh. I had her confused with someone else. I’ve apparently never seen this girl act. This is also the first time I remember hearing of someone in Hollywood dying while they were still young and beautiful by my standards. I’m sure there are more, but I can’t think of any. > > That SNL skit does make me wonder if she got (further) depressed from being dropped from that movie. And I’m sure being made fun of for it didn’t help. I wonder if she didn’t just say “Fuck it” and take too many of whatever drug got her in trouble there. I have never seen any of those movies either, but I knew her name from King Of The Hill credits (she apparently voiced the Luanne character) but judging from what I have read here today, if it is a drug death, I would not be suprised if it was an intentional OD… Certainly a shame, no matter the actual cause of death. ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2009, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tmz-sin-city-actress-brittany-murphy-dead/521976/73 "2009-12-21T01:06:24Z")
She had a small, but memorable (to me) role in **Drop Dead Gorgeous**. That’s all I knew her from, but was left with a good impression. ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2009, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tmz-sin-city-actress-brittany-murphy-dead/521976/74 "2009-12-21T01:16:30Z")
That’s really too bad. In addition to liking her in Clueless, I’ll always remember this[awesome scene](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsUMHE0RlXY) in Riding in Cars with Boys, which was otherwise pretty forgettable. She made me laugh really hard. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2009, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tmz-sin-city-actress-brittany-murphy-dead/521976/75 "2009-12-21T01:38:30Z")
I really liked her in the dark comedy _Freeway_, with Reese Witherspoon, Kiefer Sutherland, Dan Hedaya, and Brooke Shields. Murphy’s role wasn’t a big one, but she played it really well. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2009, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tmz-sin-city-actress-brittany-murphy-dead/521976/76 "2009-12-21T01:40:45Z")
I wish they’d release _Freeway_ with the court room scene restored to its test-audience edit. Idiots in Santa Monica thought it was too mean, and when I saw the release edit it was cut down. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2009, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tmz-sin-city-actress-brittany-murphy-dead/521976/77 "2009-12-21T02:03:35Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Aren’t autopsies required when someone isn’t under a doctor’s care? I don’t think so. This \*would \*be an automatic coroners case, whether they order an autopsy, esp against the families wishes, will depend. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2009, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tmz-sin-city-actress-brittany-murphy-dead/521976/78 "2009-12-21T03:10:44Z")
hulu’s removed the SNL sketch. ---
**Author:** ![gwendee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@gwendee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gwendee)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2009, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tmz-sin-city-actress-brittany-murphy-dead/521976/79 "2009-12-21T03:51:45Z")
> [@Mach Tuck](#): > > She had a small, but memorable (to me) role in **Drop Dead Gorgeous**. That’s all I knew her from, but was left with a good impression. I’ve seen a bunch of her movies but that’s the first one I thought of when I heard this news. She had some great lines in that. I think she was definitely talented, and made choices that suited her range, and also had some surprising moments in a few not quite Oscar caliber movies. The commentator on CNN just said that the LA coroner released a statement that says her death appears to have been from natural causes. If she had a congenital heart condition I guess that could be characterized as natural causes, but I cannot think of anything natural about a woman dying at 32. It’s startling enough when people my own age die, but people 10 years younger…yikes. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2009, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tmz-sin-city-actress-brittany-murphy-dead/521976/80 "2009-12-21T04:22:01Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > hulu’s removed the SNL sketch. They should have done that months ago. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tmz-sin-city-actress-brittany-murphy-dead/521976.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tmz-sin-city-actress-brittany-murphy-dead/521976.md?page=5)