Just when you think that Death has claimed so many lives in the oughties--making sport out of everyone from Heath Ledger to Bea Arthur to Michael Jackson--that he may fuck off for a while, the bastard swoops in for one last kill this year: Brittany Murphy. She was 32 when she was pronounced dead this morning by a heart attack. And while we could dwell on how a past checkered with drug abuse and eating disorders could've contributed to such tragedy, let's instead ruminate on the potential--however realized or not it may be--of Cher Horowitz's most successful make-over project from Clueless. That is, a leading lady who was so clearly on the up-and-up, that a brush with Oscar and consequent superstardom was not such a far-fetched idea.

Excepting The Ramen Girl, Murphy's career had a pretty promising upward arc. After Clueless, the star embarked on a vigilant workload that saw her balance banal rom-coms and nichey films alike. This combined versatility, along with continued small-screen gigs, quickly helped Murphy ascend to the comfortable ranks of the A-list--if even for just a moment.

However in 2006, she hit a career high. Murphy starred in Karen Moncrieff's little-seen, critically-acclaimed (and now, unfortunately-titled) The Dead Girl. Girl was a dark, gritty thriller. It was a rarity in that it brought out the best in Murphy. Perhaps too easily, as it combined the ill-fated plights of a single mother, a teenage runaway, an abused prostitute into a single character. But still. In portraying Krista, Murphy didn't miss a beat, delivering a nuanced performance that had us wondering what she was doing years past with sludge like Uptown Girls and Just Married.

In fact, the gift of this particular highlight from Murphy's too-short repertoire is that it tore through a safety net woven from boring rom-coms and the narcissistic edge of 8 Mile and Sin City to present a role where she couldn't rely on her bombshell status or ditzy demeanor as an acting crutch. Bottom line: This was Murphy's first major turn of playing someone other than Murphy. She glowed, too. So it's a shame that it may be her last time playing such a part too, save for some projects which still remain production. It easily falls in league with the type of carefully restrained acting that made critical favorites out of Gabourey Sidibe in Precious role and Charlize Theron in Monster.

While Girl featured Murphy in a much smaller capacity than most of her projects around that same time, the film assembled a strong supporting cast--including Marcia Gay Harden, James Franco, Toni Collette, and Kerry Washington--all whose performances served to bolster the rare Oscar-worthy turn in Murphy's oeuvre. In fact, this film was the first time anyone had taken the late thesp's name and placed it anywhere near the phrase "Oscar award."

However, Murphy may be well remembered, apart from her turn as Tai Frasier, for her forays off the big-screen. Most memorably as Luanne from King of the Hill and as Paul Oakenfold's muse in "Faster Kill Pussycat."