American actress Brittany Murphy who died yesterday at age 32, was reportedly very ill and had been experiencing flu-like symptoms for several days before she suffered a cardiac arrest, celebrities blogging site TMZ.com reports citing anonymous sources.

The actress was taking prescription drugs for flu-like symptoms. She began vomiting early Sunday morning and told her family members she was feeling very ill. Sources said a lot of prescription drugs were found in the home, TMZ.com reported.

On Sunday paramedics responded to an emergency call at 8:00 a.m. from the house Murphy shared with her husband Simon Monjack. According to reports the actress collapsed in the bathroom. She was pronounced dead at the hospital at about 10:00 a.m.

The Los Angeles County coroner's office said she apparently died of natural causes.
Murphy was born in Atlanta, Georgia in 1977 but grew up in New Jersey.

In 1991 Murphy and her mother moved to Burbank, California where she would pursue stardom. Her major breakthrough film appearance was in the 1995 comedy Clueless starring with Alicia Silverstone, according to the International Movie Data Base.

She also starred on 8 Mile with rapper Eminem; Just Married, with Ashton Kutcher, and recently on Across the Hall, a lower budget film released early December.