Brittany Murphy
1977 – 2009
Brittany Murphy died on the morning of December 20, after she went into full cardiac arrest and could not be revived.
She was 32.
A 911 call was made at 8:00 AM from a home in Los Angeles that is listed as belonging to her husband, Simon Monjack, the Los Angeles City Fire Department reported.
Brittany Murphy was taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center where she was pronounced dead on arrival. Her time of death was listed as 10:04 AM.
Brittany starred in such films as “Just Married,” “8 Mile,” and “Girl Interrupted.” Murphy was reportedly fired from last film, “The Caller,” after reports she was problematic on set.
She had been ill with flu-like symptoms in the days before she died and prescription medications were taken from her home, the Los Angeles County coroner’s office said Monday.
Tests are still being conducted to determine what killed the 32-year-old star, who collapsed on Sunday in the bathroom of her Hollywood Hills home.
Paramedics tried to revive her, but she was pronounced dead at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
The flu-like symptoms were reported to authorities by members of Murphy’s family.
Assistant chief coroner Ed Winter said an autopsy has been completed on Murphy’s body, but a determination of the cause of death won’t be made until the office receives the results of other tests, including toxicology and an analysis of the brain and other organs.
This typically takes four to six weeks, Winter said, adding that examiners found “no evidence of trauma to the body.”
Police also said there was nothing suspicious about Murphy’s death.
Funeral arrangements have not been announced.
“The sudden loss of our beloved Brittany is a terrible tragedy,” her husband, Simon Monjack, and her family wrote in a statement. “She was our daughter, our wife, our love, and a shining star.”
Born in Atlanta on Nov. 10, 1977, Murphy grew up in New Jersey and moved to Los Angeles with her mother to pursue an acting career. She broke into the business in the early 1990s with small roles in various commercials, TV series — including Frasier and Party of Five — and movies.
8 Mile highlight
Her part in Clueless led to larger projects and her role in 8 Mile led to wide recognition. “That was the difference between people knowing my first and last name as opposed to not,” she said in an interview in 2003.
Murphy also found work in voiceovers, including voicing the character Luanne on the animated series King of the Hill as well as Gloria the penguin in Happy Feet.
She is due to appear in Sylvester Stallone’s The Expendables, set for release next year.
Throughout her career, Murphy mentioned her mother as being the bedrock of her success.
“When I asked my mom to move to California, she sold everything and moved out here for me,” Murphy said 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.”
Before her marriage to Monjack, she dated Ashton Kutcher, who co-starred with Murphy in the romantic comedy Just Married.
Kutcher posted a Twitter message Sunday morning about Murphy’s death: “2day the world lost a little piece of sunshine. My deepest condolences go out 2 Brittany’s family, her husband, & her amazing mother Sharon.”
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