Los Angeles cops are investigating the 32-year-old's sudden death, but a coroner official said it "appears to be natural."

An autopsy is pending - over the objections of her British screenwriter husband, Simon Monjack, who told hospital staffers he didn't want one, according to the gossip Web site TMZ.

The screen siren and singer was in full cardiac arrest and could not be revived after her beloved mother - who told paramedics the actress was diabetic - found her unconscious in the shower, TMZ reported.

Five paramedics who arrived after the 8 a.m. 911 call feverishly administered CPR as Monjack wandered around in his pajama bottoms, a witness told RadarOnline. Murphy was pronounced dead at 10:04 a.m. at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

The troubled starlet rose to fame in 1995 as the sidekick Tai in "Clueless," who went from awkward wallflower to snotty hottie. She has appeared in more than 25 movies since then, including 1997's "Bongwater," "Girl, Interrupted" in 1999, "8 Mile" and "Sin City."

Murphy, whose gravelly voice rocked the animated film "Happy Feet," even broke into the dance club world with the hit single "Faster Kill Pussycat."

Murphy lived in Edison, N.J., before moving to California when she was 13 and landing her first television role in "Blossom."

She underwent a transformation from a too-pudgy-for-Hollywood brunette to a bone-thin blond - with cleavage ample enough to land her in Maxim's 100 hottest women in 2006.

Speculation over her weight loss haunted her for years, and in 2005, she was dropped by her agent and publicist, fanning the gossip flames. At the time, she dismissed reports that her weight was connected to drug use or an eating disorder.

"I have never tried [cocaine] in my entire life. I've never even seen it," she told Jane magazine. "I am also way too high-strung ...Can you imagine? My God. I think my heart would explode."

Friends openly worried that she'd become addicted to the prescription painkiller Vicodin after undergoing plastic surgery.

"Brittany has been living life on the edge," one source told Britain's Daily Mail.

She was set to play a small role in Sylvester Stallone's upcoming film "The Expendables," due out in August. But she had been mainly reduced to low-budget indie flicks, including "Across the Hall," which opened two weeks ago in only two theaters.

Earlier this month, she abruptly left the Puerto Rico set of "The Caller" amid reports she'd been fired. Her publicist called it "creative differences."

Yesterday, Twitter was abuzz with tributes from stars, including an old squeeze, Ashton Kutcher, her co-star in 2003's "Just Married." "See you on the other side kid," Kutcher tweeted.

Screenwriter and director Kevin Smith referred to her oft-quoted line in "Clueless": "Sad to hear about Brittany Murphy. G'night, Ms. Murphy; hope you're rollin' with the homies someplace nice."


/NY Daily News/