Brittany Murphy: Life, interrupted

Brittany Murphy, the actress who broke out with the teen comedy Clueless and gained acclaim for her role as Eminem's love interest in the hip-hop drama 8 Mile, died on Sunday of sudden cardiac arrest, police said. She was 32.

Los Angeles city firefighters responded to a medical call about 8am at the 8,000-square-foot home Murphy shared with her husband, British screenwriter Simon Monjack.

Firefighters tried unsuccessfully to revive Murphy as they transported her to Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre, where she was pronounced dead. Los Angeles police opened an investigation into the cause of Murphy's death, said Officer Norma Eisenman. Investigators and coroner's officials spent Sunday at her home as paparazzi camped outside.

Authorities said that Murphy was taking prescription drugs for a variety of medical ailments but added that preliminary indications were that foul play was not involved.

An autopsy was planned Monday, a coroner's official said.

Reached at his home in northern Florida, Murphy's father, Angelo Bertolotti, said he learned of his daughter's passing on Sunday from his son (Murphy's half-brother), who read it on the internet.

"It's too shocking and too fast," Bertolotti said. "It just doesn't make sense to me. As we speak I am staring at a picture of her. I just can't believe it. Can't convince myself she's gone."

Bertolotti said he and Murphy's mother divorced when his daughter was four years old. He said the last time he saw her was about three years ago.

Bertolotti said his daughter was close to her mother, Sharon Murphy.

"They were inseparable," said Bertolotti, who said Murphy also was survived by three half-siblings.

"She was a wonderful girl. She worked hard to get where she was."

Since getting her start in Clueless, Murphy also appeared in the Michael Douglas thriller Don't Say a Word and the Winona Ryder-Angelina Jolie drama Girl, Interrupted.

A series of lighter roles followed the 2002 film 8 Mile, including a leading actress role in the Ashton Kutcher romantic comedy Just Married, in 2003.

Murphy also briefly dated Kutcher. A source close to Kutcher said: "Ashton is devastated, as you can imagine. He was very close to Brittany and she will always be in his thoughts."

Murphy, who most recently starred in Across the Hall, will be seen in the upcoming Sylvester Stallone action movie The Expendables. 

Tweeting Stars

Stars vent their grief on Twitter: Lindsay Lohan: "My deepest condolences go out to all of Brittany Murphy's loved ones and may she rest in peace. She was a great talent w/a beautiful soul xo."

Alicia Silverstone: "I'm so saddened to hear this news. I loved working with Brittany. She was so talented, so warm and so sweet. I always felt connected to her as we shared a very special experience in our lives together. I feel love in my heart for her-and hope she is at peace."

Denise Richards: "Brittany Murphy was in Drop Dead Gorgeous with me and was the sweetest and most adorable. Tragic, sad & devastating. Her poor family."

Jessica Simpson: "Brittany Murphy was an incredible ray of light to so many people. Her smile was contagious. My prayers are with her family and loved ones."

Ashton Kutcher:"2day the world lost a little piece of sunshine. My deepest condolences go out 2 Brittany's family, her husband & her amazing mother Sharon."

Murphy was ‘vulnerable'

After her success with Clueless, Brittany Murphy found herself specialising in playing disturbed young women in a series of films that had an echo of her own troubled life.

Reacting to her death, celebrity blogger Perez Hilton said it wasn't unexpected and said her death should serve as a warning to other celebrities.

"Absolutely devastating. Especially because this comes as no surprise! We, and those who knew Brittany personally, saw this coming. Lindsay Lohan and Courtney Love take note: that could have been YOU!"Curtis Hanson, who directed Murphy on 8 Mile, said the actress' personal attributes combined easily with her onscreen work.

"She was a very special and vulnerable person," Hanson said.

"The honesty of her emotions made it so that [her lines] didn't feel like scripted dialogue.

"Murphy's Hollywood life sometimes crossed paths with her personal life. In 2004 she broke off an engagement with Jeff Kwatinetz, a principal at the company that managed her career.

Earlier, the actress was accused of having an eating disorder which some believed was tied to a cocaine habit.

But in 2005 she denied the allegations, saying: "Just for the record, I have never tried it in my entire life. My worst vice is caffeine. Can you imagine? My God. I think my heart would explode," she said.

She was also the subject of reports that she left production before ending work on her current project, The Caller, a report that became the target of a parody on a recent Saturday Night Live episode. Her PR agents said she had quit because of "creative differences" but entertainment sites reported she had been dropped from the film because she was difficult to work with.

Last month her husband Simon Monjack was rushed to hospital having been taken ill on a plane. Murphy told medical staff she thought it had been an asthma attack but they were reported to think it more serious.