'Clueless' actress Brittany Murphy dies after collapsing in shower; death 'appears to be natural'

Actress Brittany Murphy was rushed to the hospital Sunday morning. She was pronounced dead on arrival. She was pronounced dead at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angles Sunday at 10:04 a.m. PST, a spokesperson for the hospital informed. The Los Angles Police Department said they are investigating the death, but refused to discuss details.

Hollywood stunner Brittany Murphy, who found big-screen success after her breakout role in "Clueless," died Sunday after collapsing in the shower at her Hollywood Hills home.

Los Angles cops are investigating the 32-year-old's sudden death, but a coroner official said it "appears to be natural."

An autopsy is pending - over the objections of her British screenwriter husband, Simon Monjack, who told hospital staffers he didn't want one.

The screen siren and singer was in full cardiac arrest and could not be revived after her beloved mother - who told paramedics the actress was diabetic - found her unconscious in the shower.

According to a witness, five paramedics who arrived after the 8 a.m. 911 call feverishly administered CPR as Monjack wandered around in his pajama bottoms. Murphy had been suffering from flu-like symptoms for days and was throwing up profusely in the hours before she died.  "There were a lot ... a lot of prescriptions in the house," a source said.

The troubled starlet rose to fame in 1995 as the sidekick Tai in "Clueless," who went from awkward wallflower to snotty hottie. She has appeared in more than 25 movies since then, including 1997's "Bongwater," "Girl, Interrupted" in 1999, "8Mile" and "Sin City."

Murphy, whose gravelly voice rocked the animated film "Happy Feet," even broke into the dance club world with the hit single "Faster Kill Pussycat."

Murphy lived in Edison, N.J., before moving to California when she was 13 and landing her first television role in "Blossom."

She underwent a transformation from a too-pudgy-for-Hollywood brunette to a bone-thin blond - with cleavage ample enough to land her in Maxim's 100 hottest women in 2006.

Speculation over her weight loss haunted her for years, but she dismissed reports that her weight was connected to drug use or an eating disorder. "I have never tried [cocaine] in my entire life,"she told Jane magazine.

Friends openly worried that she had become addicted to the prescription painkiller Vicodin after undergoing plastic surgery.

"Brittany has been living life on the edge," one source told Britain's Daily Mail.

"She was just an absolute doll since she was born," Bertolotti said from his Branford, Fla., home. "Her personality was always outward. Everybody loved her — people that made movies with her, people on a cruise — they all loved her. She was just a regular gal."

She was set to play a small role in Sylvester Stallone's upcoming film "The Expendables," due out in August. Earlier this month, she abruptly left the Puerto Rico set of "The Caller."

Twitter was abuzz with tributes from stars, like old squeeze Ashton Kutcher, her co-star in 2003's "Just Married."  "See you on the other side kid," Kutcher tweeted. 

               The house of last breath

Screenwriter and director Kevin Smith referred to the actress' oft-quoted line in "Clueless": "G'night, Ms. Murphy; hope you're rollin' with the homies someplace nice."

In a statement, her family called Murphy's death a "terrible tragedy. She was ... a shining star."  Funeral arrangements have not been announced.

Brittany Murphy's husband says he was devastated by the 32-year-old's untimely death and that the actress had suffered from laryngitis in the days before she died.

"My world was destroyed," an emotional Simon Monjack told the television entertainment news program "Access Hollywood."

The British screenwriter spoke a day after the "Clueless" star died on Sunday after suffering cardiac arrest at her home.

Recalling how Murphy's body was found, Monjack said her mother "Sharon went into the bathroom because she had been in there a long time. Her mom screamed for me and I ran. Then called 911."

Monjack acknowledged his wife had been sick in the days leading to her death but that none of the symptoms seemed serious.

"She had laryngitis," he said, noting she had seen a doctor. "She had been tired at the end of the year. She had made a couple movies."

He also welcomed the outpouring of support from the Hollywood community, noting: "I couldn't have said it better," when it comes to the message actor Ashton Kutcher wrote via his page on micro-blogging site Twitter.

"2day the world lost a little piece of sunshine. My deepest condolences go out to Brittany's family, her husband, & her amazing mother Sharon," wrote Kutcher, who dated Murphy before she married Monjack in 2007 and co-starred with her in "Just Married."

"See you on the other side kid."

World around you, mourns your tour to eternity. We LOVE you.......