By Rohan Mascarenhas/The Star-Ledger
December 20, 2009, 9:45PM
LOS ANGELES — Brittany Murphy, a former Edison resident who attained worldwide fame for her roles in "Clueless" and "8 Mile," died in Los Angeles yesterday. She was 32.
The Hollywood star died at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center at 10:04 a.m., a hospital spokeswoman said. She was taken to the facility after the Los Angeles Fire Department responded to a call at 8 a.m. at the home Murphy shared with her husband, British screenwriter Simon Monjack, in the Hollywood Hills.
Brittany Murphy as Shellie in Frank Miller's Sin City.
The cause of Murphy’s death "appears to be natural," said Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter.
He said Murphy apparently collapsed in a bathroom Sunday morning, and authorities are looking into her medical history. An autopsy is planned for either today or tomorrow.
Before moving to California, Murphy lived in Edison.
Born Nov. 10, 1977, in Atlanta, Murphy moved to New Jersey as a child and attended Herbert Hoover Middle School, according to the Internet Movie Database website.
She honed her acting skills in regional theater before leaving to Burbank, Calif., to pursue a Hollywood career, the website said.
Angelo Orlando, president of the Edison Arts Society, last night said Murphy never forgot her Jersey roots, returning to the Middlesex County township in 2005 for a Christmas tree lighting ceremony.
"She was just a young, beautiful, vivacious lady," said Orlando, who attended the proceeding. "She seemed to have such a long future in front of her then."
Former mayor George Spadoro, who handed Murphy a key to the township during the event, said his staff had little trouble in getting the actress to return to the state.
"It was one of those very happy occasions where a hometown girl comes home," Spadoro said. "I remember her being really overwhelmed with coming back to Edison at that time of the year."
Murphy’s breakthrough role came in 1995, when she starred in "Clueless," still months away from her 18th birthday. The surprise hit went on to gross more than $50 million.
She tried to branch away from comedies after that, starring in dramas like "Girl, Interrupted" and "8 Mile" and voicing animated characters in Fox’s "King of Hill" and the movie "Happy Feet."
Murphy also attracted off-screen attention when she dated actor Ashton Kutcher.
Kutcher tweeted yesterday about her death: "2day the world lost a little piece of sunshine," Kutcher wrote, adding: "see you on the other side, kid."
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