I've been wanting to mention this since the untimely demise of Brittany Murphy during Christmas break, but I would just like to say that I mentioned Murphy herself several years ago as an example of a "Hollywood Car Wash," that is to say when the Hollywood machine gets to a normal person so that they starve themselves and take drugs to the point where their poor little hearts can't take it anymore. I will say, here is a post from 3 1/2 years ago with some before and after pictures of Murphy. Here is my book, which is based on real stories of what women in the entertainment industry put themselves through to fit into that impossible Hollywood mold. Yes, it is satirical and doesn't have a tragic ending like Murphy's, but it actually does go into the kind of real pressure and despair these girls feel. You might like the book if this kind of thing interests you.
Who knows what really happened to Brittany Murphy– only time (and tox reports) will tell. I don't even want to speculate what was up with her super-creepy British husband, but I have to say I was pretty glad to see that her assets were in a trust which was left to her mother.
Also, I find it to be extremely cynical that a few weeks ago, Brittany Murphy was little more than a Hollywood has-been who was being mocked on Saturday Night Live. Apparently dying was the best thing she could do for her career, since now she got the ubiquity that always eluded her in life. Tragically sad, all of it.