brittanymurphydead.jpgBrittany Murphy, 32, was pronounced dead upon arrival today at Cedars-Sinai medical center after her husband called 911 this morning around 8 a.m. from the couple's Los Angeles home.

Initial reports cite cardiac arrest as the cause of death -- the same cause as was attributed to Michael Jackson's death earlier this year.

Murphy stared in films like Clueless, 8 Mile, Sin City and Spun, in which she played a heroin addict. Reports followed that the actress herself may have had problems with illegal drugs, to which she responded in a 2005 interview with Jane magazine. Rumors said her weight loss was due to cocaine use .... she said this:

    "Wow. No, just for the record I have never tried it in my entire life, I've never even seen it, and I don't leave the house too much, except to go to work. My worst vice is caffeine. [The rumor is] really pretty darn far-fetched -- it couldn't be further from the truth. I have known people over the course of my life that have bad problems with drugs, and it's something really serious.

    I am also way too high-strung. I can't even take a Sudafed. Can you imagine? My God. I think my heart would explode. I mean, literally something terrible. That's awful."


Murphy's husband, Simon Monjack, was rushed to the hospital less than a month ago after falling ill on a flight to LA from Puerto Rico. Monjack was incoherent when EMTs boarded the plane after Murphy had feared he was having an asthma attack but airline medical personal felt is was something more serious.

That was the flight Murphy and her husband hopped after the actress left the set of The Caller, filming on the island. Murphy's reps cited "creative differences," but reports said she was fired.