LOS ANGELES - ACTRESS Brittany Murphy, who starred in such films as 'Just Married' and 'Uptown Girls' but saw her fortunes fade in recent years, died on Sunday after going into cardiac arrest, the Los Angeles Times reported. She was 32.
The Los Angeles Times said Murphy was pronounced dead at Cedars-Sinai after going into cardiac arrest. A spokesman for the Los Angeles City Fire Department said officers responded to an emergency call at her home in West Hollywood at 8am PST (1600 GMT Sunday, 12am Monday Singapore time).
Her death was first reported by online gossip site TMZ which said Murphy's mother, Sharon, found her unconscious in her shower.
Murphy had been reduced to starring in low-budget indie movies in recent years, most recently the thriller 'Across the Hall', which opened in one theater each in New York and Los Angeles two weeks ago.
Earlier this month, reports circulated that she was fired from the movie 'The Caller', which is filming in Puerto Rico. Her publicist said the split was 'creative differences'. When she and her husband, British screenwriter Simon Monjack, returned to Los Angeles, he fell unconscious on the plane and was rushed to hospital.
Murphy had recently been photographed in an emaciated state at public events. She seemed destined for big things in the 1990s, thanks to roles in such films as the satires 'Clueless' (1995) and 'Drop Dead Gorgeous' (1999), as well as in 'Girl, Interrupted', for which Angelina Jolie received an Oscar in 2000.
FOLLOWING are some facts about her life:* Murphy was born in Atlanta and raised in New Jersey, before moving with her mother to California, where she landed a role in the television show 'Blossom' in 1993.
* She was born Brittany Bertolotti on Nov 10, 1977, and changed her name when her parents Sharon Murphy and Angelo Bertolotti split, according to the Internet Movie Database website (imdb.com).
* Her breakthrough role was as Tai in 1995's Jane Austen-inspired hit, 'Clueless', in which she played a 'tragically unhip' high school girl who gets a makeover from Alicia Silverstone's lead character.
* She portrayed a mentally ill teen in 1999 drama 'Girl, Interrupted', which earned star Angelina Jolie an Oscar.
* She was the love interest of Eminem in the $116 million box office hit '8-Mile' in 2002, after which her star soared to new heights on the back of some positive critical reviews of her performance.
* She is a former girlfriend of Ashton Kutcher, who co-starred with her in 2003's 'Just Married'. Following a few broken engagements, she married British screenwriter Simon Monjack in 2007.
* After appearing in 'Sin City' in 2005, she lent her voice to an animated penguin character in 'Happy Feet' in 2006 and was the voice of Luanne Platter in the long-running cartoon TV series 'King of the Hill'.
* Murphy sang on DJ Paul Oakenfold's single 'Faster Kill Pussycat', which hit Number 7 in the UK singles chart in 2006.
* Murphy, who started performing before she was 10, saw herself as more than just an actor or singer - she sang in her own band. Above all, she saw herself as an entertainer, telling Reuters in a 2003 interview: 'I've never really known anything different.'
