Don't they know it's the end of the world.

Clueless. Girl, Interrupted. Eight Mile.

Her films defined a generation. But when your career hits a snag, the Midas touch of Hollywood turns to ash within the blink of an eye.

With rumors of prescription drug abuse and anorexia, the film offers stopped coming. She clung to whatever independent or low-budget movie she could score, no matter how terrible the script.

She fell in love with a con artist, who flaunted himself as a rich, powerful producer with connections. After they married, the financially struggling actress was paying off her unemployed husband's debt.

In the final two weeks of her life, she was so sick with pneumonia, her lips were blue. She could barely breathe. Yet she was still playing nurse to her ailing mother and husband, who were also sick. Her domineering husband convinced her that they didn't need a doctor.

One afternoon, she was on the floor, unable to breath, her face turning blue. She refused to go to the emergency room. Instead, she told her mother she was going to die. Nobody called 911.

Five hours later, her prediction came true.

After her death, the bitter reality became painfully obvious: If Brittany Murphy had seen a physician at any point before her death, she wouldn't have died. By not seeking medical help, Brittany Murphy had essentially killed herself.

I've always seen myself as one of those 'show people.' My earliest memories are wanting and needing to entertain people, like a gypsy traveler who goes from place to place, city to city, performing for audiences and reaching people.

 

Everybody has difficult years, but a lot of times the difficult years end up being the greatest years of your whole entire life, if you survive them.

God forgot to give me the jealous bone.

I'm a giver. I have learned to be selective of the people in my world, because if I love someone, I will give them my blood, whatever they need. In doing so, one can end up with little left for themselves. It's a lesson in self-preservation that I'm still learning. If you don't have yourself, you have nothing to give.

I don't even take myself seriously, so how could I possibly take Hollywood seriously?

I have always wanted to be really tall for a day. That's kind of a superficial thing. I'm 5'3, but for one day I would love to be 5'9 and tower over everybody.

 I can't believe that people actually know my first and last name. I think it's really, really, gosh-darn neat.



 I think to call my mom and I best friends is almost an insult to our relationship. She's the greatest in the whole wide world, and I don't feel closer to anyone. She's a pillar of strength, and she doesn't flaunt it. She has this will - she just knows she can get through things. It's inspiring.

 

It's easy to get wrapped up in sharing everyday life with a partner. It's fun to get lost in love and romance. It's the best. But holding on to yourself while doing that is the most important thing.

 

I would like to be very, very, very, very old.

Queen of Diamonds

 

Gorgeous. Demanding. Brazen. Self-centered. Self-loathing. Vain. Lush. Fag hag. Bitch. Sweetheart. Mother. Daughter. Spoiled. Diamonds.

Hollywood.

Some of my best leading men have been dogs and horses.

It's not the having, it's the getting.

Everything makes me nervous - except making films.

I don't like my voice. I don't like the way I look. I don't like the way I move. I don't like the way I act. I mean, period. So, you know, I don't like myself.

There's something meretricious and superficial about having to look into the camera knowing you should look your best, knowing you should try to look pretty. It's all about self and I hate that, unless it's with someone I love taking my picture.

If someone's dumb enough to offer me a million dollars to make a picture, I'm certainly not dumb enough to turn it down.

I don't pretend to be an ordinary housewife.

I've only slept with men I've been married to. How many women can make that claim?

I adore wearing gems, but not because they are mine. You can’t possess radiance, you can only admire it.

The problem with people who have no vices is that generally you can be pretty sure they're going to have some pretty annoying virtues.

You find out who your real friends are when you're involved in a scandal.

Pour yourself a drink, put on some lipstick, and pull yourself together.

Eventually the inner you shapes the outer you.

 

Follow your passion, follow your heart, and the things you need will come.

When people say: she’s got everything, I’ve only one answer: I haven’t had tomorrow.

The Tejano Princess

Young, gorgeous, and vivacious.

It was rare to see Selena Quintanilla-Perez without a glowing smile. Her laughter was contagious. Her music was heartbreakingly magical.

At 23, the Texas beauty was murdered by the president of her own fan club.

The last word she heard before she collapsed to her death was "bitch."

Nothing is fair.

I had a very boring childhood because I never had the opportunity to associate with anybody my own age due to my career.

Although my Spanish is a little weak I feel that I am Mexican. I'm very proud of my roots and ever since I was little we played English music and country music aside from Tejano. It was something very natural for us.

I only dance with people I know. I don't dance with strangers unless they ask my dad for permission. I also enjoy seeing other people dance. Then I go backstage and practice the steps I saw.

The life of an artist isn't all glamorous. It's a lot of work. A lot of people think it's very easy. They think you always stay in good hotels, you buy good things, but it's not like that. You have to work hard like everybody else.

Really and truly, I can't imagine myself having an everyday job and going into an office. I love business. I have my own business aside from singing, but I can't picture myself going to the same place everyday. I don't know, it would be kind of a drag to me, I guess. I have gotten so used to traveling now.

I think I'm very a kindhearted person. I don't like to hurt people's feelings. If I do, it's not intentionally. I'm sincere and very honest. And I feel that nowadays a lot of people have lost that, but I think that starts in the home. My parents have taught me that. Being fair with people.

The reason I'm so appreciative of everything that's going on around me is cause I never expected it. Never dreamed...never in my wildest dreams thought I would come this far and I plan to keep that attitude.

What I do on stage, you won't catch me doing off stage. I mean, I think deep down I'm still kind of, like, timid and modest about a lot of things. But on stage, I release all that; I let it go.

So you can imagine how I felt when they called out my name. I cried in the back. It was just a great feeling.

If you have a dream, don't let anyone take it away.

The Dancing Queen

Her voice revealed a broken heart behind a cheerful tune. Glittered disco balls danced on her flawless ebony skin. She was at the right place, at the right time. She craved fame and it ate her whole. How do you escape from a reflection of yourself, frozen in time?

She didn't.

God had to create disco music so I could be born and be successful.

 I am sensual and very physical. I'm very erotic. But my sexuality exists on a sort of a fantasy level.

I don't care if I'm beautiful; I don't care what I am on the outside. It isn't about the outside.

I don't really try to predict what can and will happen with things. Sometimes you think something's gonna be a huge success, and it isn't. And sometimes you pay no attention to something whatsoever, and God just makes it into everything.

I like to know that someone is stronger than I am. I want to be able to know that if I get tired, somebody is there to hold up the fort. I like knowing that I can't pick a refrigerator alone. God did not make me strong enough to do that.

I'm just an ordinary person that did some extraordinary things.

I want a private life, I truly do. I'm not just pretending to want one like lots of celebrities.

Nobody wants you to stop, obviously because you're a moneymaking machine. But you have to make the decision and you have to move forward. So I took time off to have babies and do all that.

Most people don't get called a queen. I appreciate the reference and that I've gotten to be part of people's lives. But now I have to make a new title for myself. That diva thing is getting a little used.

My life was changed in one breath from God.

Baby Girl

In a perfect world, she would have lived.

She would have been one of the most famous movie stars of our generation. She would have won an Oscar. She would have been the hottest pop star on the music charts. She would have married. She would have had adorable little celebrity babies.

Would have.

I'm the interpreter. I'm the one who takes your words and brings them to life. I was trained to sing and dance and laugh, and that's what I want to do.

Being female, you're raised to be a good, sweet girl and not flip out. So, I had to give myself permission to be mean and evil. It's tough. But I've always been drawn to the darker side of things.

All I can do is leave it in God's hands and hope that my fans feel where I'm coming from.

Keep working hard and you can get anything that you want. If God gave you the talent, you should go for it. But don't think it's going to be easy. It's hard!

I don't want to abandon one work for the other, and I don't think I need to sacrifice anything to put my all into either one of them.

I know that people think I'm sexy and I am looked at as that. It is cool with me. It's wonderful to have sexy appeal. If you embrace it, it can be a very beautiful thing.

You have to love what you do to want to do it everyday.

I stay true to myself and my style, and I am always pushing myself to be aware of that and be original. There are times I can't even figure myself out.

I think it's important to take a break, you know, from the public eye for a while, and give people a chance to miss you. I want longevity. I don't want to get out there and run myself ragged and spread myself thin.

I want people to remember me as a full on entertainer and a good person.