Where Is Brittany Murphy’s Mom Now? What We Know About Sharon Murphy’s Life 15 Years After Her Daughter’s Tragic Death

Brittany Murphy was raised by a single mom, Sharon Murphy, and the two remained incredibly close until Murphy’s death on Dec. 20, 2009.

The Clueless star was born on Nov. 10, 1977, to Sharon and her father, Anthony Bertolotti, in Atlanta. However, Bertolotti and Sharon split when Brittany was 3 years old, and she grew up in Edison, N.J., with her mom.

The two developed a close mother-daughter relationship, with Sharon living with Brittany and her husband, Simon Monjack, at the end of the actress’ life. It was Sharon who discovered her daughter in the bathroom of their home, as she told her mom, “Mommy, I can’t catch my breath. Help me,” before passing out in her arms, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Brittany died at 32 years old, with her cause of death noted as pneumonia. Sharon continued to live with Monjack until he died from similar causes in their home five months later.

“My daughter and I were our only family, and we were inseparable and always there for each other in good times and bad,” Sharon wrote in a letter published by The Hollywood Reporter in 2013.

From raising her as a single mom in New Jersey to supporting her acting career, here’s everything to know about Brittany Murph’s mom Sharon Murphy — and where she is now.

She raised Brittany as a single mom

In her letter in THR, Sharon wrote that Bertolotti was no longer part of Brittany’s life as early as 1 year old. “I raised Brittany alone,” she wrote. “We didn’t have much at first, but we always had each other.”

While Brittany was growing up, Bertolotti was imprisoned for 12 years on three criminal felony convictions and was tied to the Italian mafia, per The Hollywood Reporter. Sharon wrote that Bertolotti occasionally saw Brittany when she was a teenager but hadn’t seen her in the last three years of her life nor met her husband.

Sharon moved with Brittany to Los Angeles to support her career

In November 1998, Brittany detailed to PEOPLE how she grew up with a love for acting and, before she started high school, told her mom she wanted to commit to the craft fully by moving to Los Angeles. Believing in her daughter’s talent, Sharon quit her job in advertising and sold her furniture, moving across the country in 1991.

“It didn’t make sense to hire a chaperone to be with her when I’m her mom,” Sharon said, referring to the chaperone who worked with Brittany while she was shooting a commercial in Hollywood before their move.

“When I asked my mom to move to California, she sold everything and moved out here for me,” Brittany told the Associated Press in 2003. “I was really grateful to have grown up in an environment that was conducive to creating and didn’t stifle any of that. She always believed in me.”

Sharon was the last person to talk to Brittany before she died

On the morning of Dec. 20, 2009, Brittany collapsed in the home she shared with Sharon and her husband. Monjack recalled in a 2010 interview with Larry King after her death that her last words to her mom were, “Mom, I’m dying; I love you.”

The same month, Monjack and Sharon spoke to PEOPLE of Brittany’s death, with her husband recalling that the day started off normal until he heard Sharon “screaming” upon finding Brittany passing out in the bathroom.

Sharon called 911 as Monjack performed chest compressions on Brittany in an attempt to revive her. “Brittany, please come back,” Sharon sobbed on the call.

“I would sleep on her clothes if I could,” Sharon told PEOPLE. “She was the other half of me.”

She continued living with Brittany’s husband after she died

Following Brittany’s death, Sharon remained in the Hollywood Hills home with Monjack.

“I loved Simon like a son, and he loved me like a mom,” she said in a statement to PEOPLE after Monjack’s May 2010 death. “I’ve lost a son-in-law and a daughter, and I’m devastated.”

She spoke out against Brittany’s father’s conspiracies surrounding her death

In the years after Brittany died, her father began investigating her death further himself, not believing pneumonia was the sole cause. He sent samples of her hair to be tested by an outside toxicologist, who found that she allegedly had high levels of heavy metals.

However, experts, including Dr. Scheinin in the 2021 documentary What Happened, Brittany Murphy?, explained that the heavy metals weren’t in her bloodstream nor were they found in the roots of her hair, meaning they likely came from hair dyes and hairspray.

Berolotti went a step further and alleged Sharon had murdered Brittany and Monjack to inherit their estate. “My theory is that the mother did the job on both of them,” he told PEOPLE in 2013.

Sharon denied the accusation in her letter published in THR, citing experts’ explanations of the lab’s findings.

“She was my baby, and we stood together throughout Brittany’s life,” she wrote. “Now I must stand up for her again. It is time for those who really knew and loved her to put those who want to exploit her on notice: Your lies will no longer be tolerated, and as long as I live will continue to be exposed.”

Sharon has lived out of the public eye for a decade

In 2011, Sharon sold the Hollywood Hills home at a massive loss for $2.7 million. It was torn down in 2013 and rebuilt, but it is unclear where the grieving mother moved to next.

After her 2014 letter, Sharon disappeared from the public eye.

In October 2021, Vanity Fair spoke with Cynthia Hill, the director of What Happened, Brittany Murphy?, asking if she had been able to contact Sharon. She revealed that it was “very hard” to connect with her, and she had even hired a private investigator to track her down since no one could pinpoint where she was.

“We did locate her, and we hand-delivered a note to her,” she said. “She didn’t respond, but I did get confirmation that she had received it…I understand she has been mourning the loss of her daughter this whole time.”

Meanwhile, Bertolotti died in January 2019 at 92 years old.