Brittany Murphy's husband, Simon Monjack, found dead

The husband of actress Brittany Murphy was found dead Sunday night in the couple’s Hollywood Hills home, according to reports.

Just five months after the death of his wife, British screenwriter Simon Monjack, 39, was pronounced dead after the Los Angeles Fire Department responded to a medical emergency call at his home Sunday night. According to our sister blog, L.A. Now, officials have ruled out foul play and are looking into Monjack's medical history.

The Los Angeles Fire Department responded to a 911 call for an “unspecified medical aid request” at 9:24 p.m. Sunday.

In January, Monjack's mother, Linda Monjack, told People.com that her son was "unwell, and the doctors are carrying out tests. On whether he has a heart problem, it is not really for me to say, you must ask him, but yes, there have been health problems in the past. ... He had a slight heart attack a week from Brittany's death coming back from Puerto Rico." 

Murphy, 32, went into cardiac arrest at her home in the Hollywood Hills in December.  The actress, who appeared in such films as "Clueless" and "8 Mile," died due to pneumonia, an iron deficiency and multiple-drug intoxication. Coroner's officials said Murphy had gone into sudden cardiac arrest because of "drug intake," and her Dec. 20 death was classified as an accident.

The couple, who married in 2007, had no children. 

-- Yvonne Villarreal

Related:

Brittany Murphy and Simon Monjack: Crazy in love

PREACH IT! Coroner's reports are in for Brittany Murphy and Casey Johnson

Brittany Murphy's death certificate released; cause of death deferred

Brittany Murphy and the USO: an exclusive appreciation [PICTURES]

Photo: Simon Monjack and Brittany Murphy in the fall of 2008. Credit: Bryan Bedder / Getty Images for IMG

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PREACH IT! Nothing like a dead celebrity to bring out the classy best in mankind

Shady charities. Fake "tribute concerts." Super-obnoxious stadium funerals at taxpayer expense -- what is it about a celebrity’s death that seems to bring out the tacky behavior in everybody else?

The above examples come via the families of the late Brittany Murphy and Michael Jackson, of course. But now comes word that Corey Haim, who died March 10, also has inspired cringe-worthy activity among the folks he left behind. Right after Haim’s death, word got out that the late actor’s family had fallen on hard economic times. A memorabilia company called Startifacts stepped in -- quite publicly -- and offered to pay $20,000 toward the actor’s memorial service.

Well played all around. Until Startifacts reportedly learned that a funeral home already had picked up the costs of the memorial and that Haim’s mother intended to use the $20,000 to cover her own cancer treatments. Startifacts got this info from Mark Alexander, the late actor’s brother-in-law. The memorabilia company, which had no trouble paying to lionize a star but apparently had all kinds of issues with a poor lady’s cancer medicine, issued a stop payment on the check.

The dodgiest part of all this? According to a rep for Judy Haim, Corey’s mom, her medical bills are completely covered, and she has no idea what Alexander thought he was doing ...

PREACH IT! Coroner's reports are in for Brittany Murphy and Casey Johnson

Brittany Murphy’s mom and her widower have both said the late actress didn’t do drugs; instead, they insisted in recent interviews, she was merely "high on life." But now the coroner’s report is in, and it connects Murphy's death to prescription drugs.

According to the report,  the beautiful actress died Dec. 20 because of a combination of factors, including pneumonia, iron deficiency, anemia -- and intoxication from multiple prescription drugs.

Doubtless widower Simon Monjack will have some new spin on this in a matter of hours; she had never done drugs before Dec. 20, her heartbreak over Hollywood’s cruelty drove her to take the drugs, everyone light a candle. Since Murphy’s death, Monjack has practically made a second (or maybe first) career out of parading his sadness in the media, slinging painfully self-important tropes about how Hollywood broke Murphy’s heart, and soliciting thousands of dollars for tickets to a barely-planned, and now, apparently, postponed, charity memorial. One can only wonder why his screenwriting career hasn’t taken off into the stratosphere.

Conversely, the cause of socialite Casey Johnson’s death was also released today. Johnson had a widely reported drug problem at times, but according to the L.A. county coroner, she died from complications linked to her diabetes. Specifically, she suffered from diabetic ketoacidosis; the Mayo Clinic describes the condition as a serious complication of untreated diabetes. There’s no reaction from the Johnson family at this hour; confoundingly, they are, with few exceptions, choosing to endure their loss in private.

-- Leslie Gornstein

Photo credit: Associated Press

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Related Ministry of Gossip dispatches:

Brittany Murphy's death certificate released; cause of death deferred

Brittany Murphy and the USO: an exclusive photo appreciation

Brittany Murphy and Simon Monjack: crazy in love

Brittany Murphy dies at 32; young Hollywood reacts

Beyond Casey Johnson: Socialites we don't worry about

Heiress Casey Johnson dead at 30

Heiress Casey Johnson to be buried on East Coast; questions over death remain

Coroner to perform autopsy; determining Casey Johnson's cause of death could take weeks

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The Ministry presents: Underappreciated articles of 2009

It's hard to tell which stories will catch the public's eye -- or its heart, or mind, or burning-with-rage-and-ready-to-spew-venom gut -- and in the course of doing business, a few of our favorite posts seem to have gotten lost along the way.

These have earned a soft spot with us for many reasons: We had them exclusively, they were funny, there was an interesting story behind them, or they were simply articles we thought you, dear readers, would appreciate.

Alas, as if they were tiny baby kittens trapped in a storm drain, mewling too quietly to be heard, the Web world passed them by.

So here, in no particular order, are 10 posts (OK, technically, 11) that we at the Ministry consider some rather underappreciated items from 2009: 

Secret to Bradley Cooper's 'Hangover' success? That hair: With "The Hangover," Bradley Cooper cut his leading man teeth. He'll be chomping through 2010 with his buzzed-about update to "The A-Team." "Hangover" director Todd Phillips told us he was the one who thrust Cooper into top billing with one simple command: Grow out that hair. Take note, because I suspect those long locks will be waving atop the A-list in the coming months. -- Matt Donnelly

Chelsea Handler, Jay Leno and Playboy, a magazine with naked people in it: This post is silly. The concept of the post is silly. I felt silly writing it. If you don't get it, you don't get where I'm coming from. Face it, this ain't rocket science. -- Christie D'Zurilla

'Hangover' Heather Graham: I want to be a pregnant stripper! Another tidbit from "The Hangover" ...

Brittany Murphy's death certificate released; cause of death deferred

The Los Angeles County coroner released Brittany Murphy's death certificate Tuesday and, as expected, no underlying cause of death was listed for the actress who passed away Dec. 20.

Cause of death was listed as "deferred."

That's not unusual -- it's the same situation we saw after singer Michael Jackson's death, and it's the same thing that happens as well when any non-celebrity person dies suddenly in the jurisdiction of the L.A. County Department of Coroner.

No special celebrity treatment here, just a lot of heightened celebrity interest.

"Toxicology is just one part of a bigger puzzle that has to come in," said Capt. John Kades of the coroner's office, speaking in general about what happens in L.A. County after a person dies suddenly -- with no obvious cause of death, such as a gunshot. This is "par for the course," he said, in the case of a 32-year-old woman, or any young person, famous or not.

Brittany Murphy and the USO: an exclusive appreciation [PICTURES]

Actress Brittany Murphy's funeral is today, Christmas Eve -- a "strictly private" service reportedly to be held at Forest Lawn Memorial-Park in the Hollywood Hills.

With that in mind, and in the spirit of the holiday as well, we'd like to celebrate Brittany's life a bit, with exclusive photos from her 2003 and 2004 USO tours that show the "sweet soul, with a lot of talent and heart"  described by Alyssa Milano  on Sunday on Twitter.

Alyssa's Twitter followers saw a couple of Twitpics of her and Murphy hanging out on the carrier Nimitz -- and through the magic of the interwebs (with an assist from Twitter user Dustin P. Jones), the Ministry has more, courtesy of Les Martines, the original photographer.

Alyssa and Les were both eager that the images reach Brittany's fans.

The shots of Alyssa and Brittany "were taken aboard the USS Nimitz about 100 miles out to sea on a USO tour in 2003," Martines said.

The closeups of Brittany singing were taken in 2004 at a Ft. Irwin, Calif., USO show that was also part of a Wayne Newton TV special.

Please click on the "photo gallery" image of Brittany and country singer Neal McCoy, to the left, if you'd like to see the pictures and let them speak for themselves. Otherwise, read on -- we're going to go long with a few quotes after the jump, because the sentiments are uniformly heartfelt.

Martines is road manager for Neal McCoy, who was on those tours too, along with USO stalwart  Newton (he's performed during every conflict since the Vietnam War), Air Force and USO veteran Paul Rodriguez, and of course the lovely ladies. McCoy is about to set out on his 14th USO tour come January.

Brittany Murphy and Simon Monjack: Crazy in love

I suppose Brittany Murphy always seemed a bit unhinged -- the "Clueless" star had issues with fluctuating weight, a loopy persona and a whispered-about marriage to British screenwriter Simon Monjack. 

The rumors that had plagued the pair since their 2007 nuptials were varied and salacious: Monjack's visa had conveniently expired around their wedding; rumors of infidelity abounded on both ends; allegations that Monjack had bad debts and a worse business reputation. 

Neither would elaborate on these claims, consistently dismissing them through publicists or lawyers. Still, doubts lingered in the media and show business over the legitimacy of their love. 

In January 2008, I spent an afternoon with the couple at the Sundance Film Festival, where Monjack had been hired to photograph a series of celebs, including his wife, for a Rock the Vote campaign.

I was working for the New York Post at the time, and Murphy wasn't short on humor: When I introduced myself, she told me that her lawyer Martin Singer was quite familiar with the publication.

Still, she played ball. We had the kind of ice-breaking talk that's specific to an actress ... 

Brittany Murphy dies at 32; young Hollywood reacts

Hollywood expressed its condolences Sunday after the death this morning of actress Brittany Murphy. Public wishes came from the likes of ex-beau and costar Ashton Kutcher, Eliza Dushku, Lindsay Lohan, Jessica Simpson (who called her "an incredible ray of Light"), Alyssa Milano, Fred Durst, Soleil Moon Frye and Kim Kardashian, among others. 

Her "Clueless" costar Alicia Silverstone told People that although the two hadn't stayed in close touch, "I feel love in my heart for her -- and hope she is at peace. This is truly sad."

Murphy, 32, had just recently talked to "Access Hollywood," touching on her return to work after a three-year break and on spending time with her family, and sharing her New Year's resolution: "I'd love to have a child next year -- but that's kind of a large one."

Though foul play is not suspected, TMZ reports, Brittany's death is being investigated, which means that despite screenwriter husband Simon Monjack's wishes to the contrary, an autopsy will be performed. Toxicology reports won't be back for several weeks.

Keep reading ...