She was raised in Edison, New Jersey, and from there she moved to Burbank, California, with her mother (of Irish and Eastern European descent), who had divorced her Italian American father, Angelo Bertolotti, when Murphy was young. When she was nine years old, she landed a singing role on Les Misérables, and by the time she was thirteen, she already had a manager. Murphy landed her first job in Hollywood when she was fourteen when she had a starring role as Brenda Drexell in Drexell's Class. She was also the lead singer of the band Blessed Soul in the early 1990s. She has since starred in many films such as 8 Mile, Clueless and Uptown Girls and appeared in television from Sister, Sister to being the voice of Luanne Platter of the long-running animated series King of the Hill. Her weight loss and transformation over the years caused speculation of an eating disorder or plastic surgery, both of which she denied. She is currently, as of 2005, the new spokesmodel for Jordache jeans.
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