The silence is what usually gets people. For years, if you searched for the woman who sat next to Brittany Murphy on every red carpet, you’d find a ghost. No Instagram. No "where are they now" reality show cameos. Just a lot of dark theories and unanswered questions.
Sharon Murphy is still alive, though she has essentially perfected the art of disappearing in a world that never stops watching.
She is 67 years old as of early 2026. If you were expecting a dramatic comeback or a tell-all book, you’ve clearly forgotten how the 2010s chewed her up and spit her out. After losing her daughter and her son-in-law in the same house, under the same weird circumstances, within five months of each other, she didn't just leave Hollywood. She evaporated.
The Reality of Her Disappearance
Honestly, it makes sense. People accused her of some pretty horrific stuff. Brittany’s estranged father, Angelo Bertolotti, spent years basically screaming from the rooftops that Sharon had a hand in the deaths to get the inheritance. The "heavy metals" toxicology report he touted was later debunked by experts as likely being environmental contamination (like hair dye), but the damage to Sharon's reputation was done.
You've probably heard the rumors. They lived in a "moldy" house. They were all on drugs. It was a cult.
The truth is much bleaker and, frankly, more boring. The Los Angeles Coroner’s Office ruled that both Brittany and her husband, Simon Monjack, died of pneumonia and severe anemia. Sharon was the one who found them both. Imagine that. You find your daughter dead in the bathroom, then five months later, you find the man you were grieving with dead in the same place.
Most of us would go into hiding too.
Where Is She Hiding?
Since selling the infamous Hollywood Hills mansion in 2011 for a massive loss—it was eventually torn down to the studs—Sharon has kept her circle extremely tight.
In 2021, when the HBO Max documentary What Happened, Brittany Murphy? was being filmed, the director, Cynthia Hill, tried everything to find her. She even hired a private investigator. They couldn't get a single quote. No one could pinpoint her exact location.
However, a few things are known:
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- She reportedly moved to a more modest area of Los Angeles.
- She has stayed in touch with a tiny handful of people who knew Brittany before she was famous.
- She is not, as some "true crime" TikTokers claim, living in a shed or under an alias. She’s just a private citizen.
The last time she really spoke out was in a scathing open letter to The Hollywood Reporter back in 2014. She called the poisoning theories "madness" and a smear campaign. Since then? Radio silence.
Why the Mystery Persists
People can’t wrap their heads around the fact that she doesn't want to talk. We live in an era where everyone has a price. But for Sharon, the price was clearly her daughter's life, and she’s not looking to trade the remaining memories for a paycheck.
There was a weird period where she and Simon Monjack were seen together after Brittany's death, looking shell-shocked and, to be fair, a bit eccentric. People judged that relationship harshly. They shared a bed to comfort each other—platonically, they claimed—because they were the only two people on Earth who understood the loss. When Simon died, Sharon was truly alone.
Life After the Headlines
Sharon's health has always been a point of concern for fans. She is a breast cancer survivor. She was actually battling the disease during the height of Brittany’s career, which is part of why they were so inseparable. Brittany was her caretaker as much as Sharon was her "momager."
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Nowadays, she likely spends her time exactly how a 67-year-old woman with a heavy past should: in peace. There are no active lawsuits anymore. Angelo Bertolotti passed away in 2019, which effectively ended the legal back-and-forth and the public accusations that haunted her for a decade.
If you’re looking for Sharon Murphy on social media, don't bother. There are plenty of fan pages dedicated to Brittany, but Sharon doesn't run them. She’s not "keeping the legacy alive" in a public way. She’s doing it privately.
What You Should Actually Know
If you’re following this story, it’s easy to get sucked into the "conspiracy" side of the internet. But the facts remain the same:
- The coroner never reopened the case despite the father’s protests.
- The "heavy metal poisoning" theory was never backed by a second reputable lab.
- Sharon has never been charged with any crime.
Basically, she is a grieving mother who got tired of being a character in a tabloid tragedy.
If you want to honor the family, the best move isn't hunting down a 67-year-old woman in the suburbs. It's watching Clueless or King of the Hill and remembering the talent that Sharon helped foster.
Next Steps for Fans
- Stop following "investigative" accounts that claim to have new evidence about Sharon; most are just re-hashing old, debunked toxicology reports from 2013.
- Support the Brittany Murphy Foundation (or similar arts charities) if you want to see the family name used for something positive.
- Respect the privacy of those left behind. Losing a child is a life sentence of grief, and doing it under a microscope is a special kind of hell.