Actress Brittany Murphy Dies at 32

Overdose, Anorexia Cause of Starlet's Death?

The bubbly blonde actress Brittany Murphy (32) died on Sunday 20 December 2009 after suffering from a cardiac arrest in the bathroom of her Hollywood Hills home.

Brittany Murphy's Cause of Death

The Los Angeles County coroner's office says it has completed a postmortem of the actress, but will not release a cause of death until after toxicology tests are complete. It could take up to 6x weeks before a determination is made public. Officials interviewed Murphy's personal physician and examined prescription drugs taken from her home.

"My world was destroyed yesterday," Murphy's husband Simon Monjack told Access Hollywood in a recent interview. He said Murphy's mother, Sharon, discovered the actress unconscious in the shower, and he called 911.

Brittany Murphy's Weight issues

The 32-year-old, who appeared in films such as Clueless, 8 Mile and Just Married, recently admitted to a journalist she was too thin. "I am a bit thinner now than what I would like to be," she told Fox News at a fashion event on December 3. "I was a ballerina for a long time - what it does to your body is incredible." Two days prior to that interview she appeared thinner than usual at the Los Angeles opening of her new film, Across the Hall.

Rumours of Drug Abuse and Health Problems

Still, rumours of prescription drug abuse and health problems continue to swirl around her death. The director of 90s smash hit Clueless, Amy Heckerling, told The Wrap: "I think she felt the pressure to become a different sort of commodity to survive in show business, and I think it was awful."

Brittany Murphy's Hollywood Career

Murphy moved to Los Angeles with her mother, Sharon, in the early 1990s. Her career started with small roles in television series, commercials and movies, but her part in Clueless led to larger projects. She is best known for parts in Girl, Interrupted, Just Married and 8 Mile, and also voiced the character Luanne Platter for more than 200 episodes on Fox's animated series King of the Hill.