In case you’ve been busy shoveling snow all weekend, Hollywood was shaken yesterday when it learned that actress Brittany Murphy had passed away at the young age of 32. TMZ originally reported that Murphy was found unconscious in the shower by her mother early Sunday morning after going into cardiac arrest. Paramedics were unable to revive the actress and she was pronounced dead shortly thereafter. As of right now, the LAPD says there’s no immediate evidence of criminality and that it doesn’t look like there was any foul play. Of course all of this hinges on the official autopsy reports, which haven’t been released yet.
Murphy is probably best known for her role as the ditzy dork-turned-high school hottie in Clueless. She enjoyed some brief mainstream success back in the earlier part of the decade when she starred opposite Eminem in 8 Mile, followed by films like Just Married, Uptown Girls, Little Black Book and Sin City. From there Murphy began taking on a lot of smaller indie films, populating her filmography with little-seen titles like The Groomsmen, The Dead Girl, Deadline and The Ramen Girl. According to IMDb, Murphy currently had five movies in the works, though she was recently booted off of The Caller due to being a disruption and hindering production (her rep said there were “creative differences”).
Some have suggested that Murphy was a bit of a party girl, and that drugs may have played a role in her death. TMZ also reported that her husband, Simon Monjack, had requested that an autopsy not be performed; however the L.A. County Coroner’s office will still perform one. Could he be hiding something? We don’t know. There are also reports that Murphy was a diabetic, so perhaps that played a role too.
Regardless, fact is she was way too young to leave us, and our hearts go out to her family as they mourn her passing.
What was your favorite Brittany Murphy film?
