Brittany Murphy’s sudden death came as little surprise to those familiar with the “Clueless” star’s ugly, drug-fueled descent over the past few years.
A Hollywood insider told The Post yesterday that substance abuse and oddball behavior had sadly become par for the course for the once-promising “8 Mile” and “King of the Hill” star, who went into cardiac arrest and died Sunday at her home.
Her death at age 32 “wasn’t a surprise” at all, the source told said. “I’m not psychic, and I could have predicted it.”
One filmmaking executive told the Web site The Daily Beast that Murphy’s hard-partying reputation was similar to that of actress Lindsay Lohan.
“This is like Lindsay Lohan dying,” the studio suit said. “It really doesn’t come, unfortunately, as a shock.”
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A makeup artist said Murphy dabbled too much in heroin and cocaine and referred to the star’s reputed eating disorder, which left her shockingly skinny toward the end.
“She had too many drugs and too little food,” the makeup artist said.
Coroners completed an autopsy yesterday, but refused to release any findings until results of the toxicology exams come back.
TMZ, citing notes from an investigator with the coroner’s office, said there were “large amounts of prescription medication” on her bedroom nightstand — and empty med bottles in the names of her husband, mother “and unidentified third-party names.”
They included anti-seizure drugs, an anti-inflammatory, Prozac, anti-anxiety meds, an antibiotic and painkillers Vicobrofen and Hydrocodone.
According to the notes, mom Sharon Murphy called 911 and Brittany’s husband — screenwriter Simon Monjack — “attempted to revive the decedent by placing her in the shower and running the water.”
“The decedent remained unresponsive and purged her stomach contents prior to the arrival of the paramedics.” When they arrived, Murphy was “without signs of life.”
Paramedics tried to revive Murphy at her Hollywood Hills home before she was pronounced dead at nearby Cedars-Sinai Medical Center on Sunday.
The investigator spoke with police at the scene, who told him “foul play is not suspected,” TMZ reported.
“Clueless” director Amy Heckerling — who had once been close with Murphy but admitted she’d fallen out of touch with her — said “there’s been rumblings” that the troubled star had been having problems.
“It’s a small town to a certain degree — people who know people on crews said that her last picture, that wasn’t a happy situation,” Heckerling said.
“There have been rumblings that she’s not the same girl I worked with — as for her health — for a while. Obviously, I can’t say that I know this for sure. But when you hear of a 32-year-old girl dying of natural causes, then you know, health-wise, she just wasn’t in the same place.”
Ed Winter, of the LA coroner’s office, said its probe was just beginning — but conceded that he had heard the same whispers of drug abuse.
Still, no on-the-record sources have come forward to tell coroner’s investigators that Murphy did illicit drugs, Winter said.
“They’ve been saying that there were issues, but we haven’t had it firsthand yet,” he said. “We’re trying to gather all the information.”
LA County coroner’s Capt. John Kades said he didn’t know whether Monjack had requested that there be no autopsy, as had been reported.
TMZ said last night that Murphy’s will, written before she met Monjack, leaves everything to her mother. It wasn’t known if the star amended the will after marrying.
One of Murphy’s final public appearances was on Dec. 3, as she walked the red carpet for the opening of design brand Tt Collection’s Pop-Up shop in Los Angeles.
Although some in the crowd thought Murphy looked emaciated, Tt designer and founder Tiffany Saidnia insisted otherwise.
Saidnia said Murphy wore a size 2 when they first met eight years ago and donned a size 2 again when she attended the recent opening.
“She was in great spirits [Dec. 3] and happy as can be,” Saidnia told The Post.
Additional reporting by Tori Richards in LA and Post Wire Services