Elisa Donovan Had No Surprise at Brittany Murphy's Death, Cites Drug Problem

Elisa Donovan, who starred alongside Brittany Murphy in the 1995 film "Clueless," has stated that she was not surprised by the late actress's death in 2009. Murphy died at the age of 32, with the official cause of death later determined to be untreated pneumonia, anemia, and intoxication from prescription and over-the-counter medications.

In a recent appearance on the "Still Here Hollywood" podcast, Donovan recounted receiving the news of Murphy's passing. "My first thought was, I wasn't surprised," Donovan admitted. She noted that Murphy's hairdresser had previously expressed concerns about the actress's well-being to her.

Donovan recalled an incident at the 2005 GLAAD Awards where she observed Murphy exhibiting signs of distress. "Her knees were buckling. Her legs were shaking," Donovan said, adding that she questioned Murphy's health at the time. "I looked at her and I was like, 'She is not healthy. She is not okay. And why is no one helping her?'"

Donovan expressed her belief that Murphy was struggling with both an eating disorder and a drug problem. "That's what I thought and I knew it," she stated, but felt she was not close enough to Murphy to intervene, especially with so many people surrounding the actress.

The actress also observed a decline in Murphy's career, noting that the once A-list star was no longer booking significant film roles. "So when I heard about this, I was just so sad for her, but I also, like I said, I wasn't surprised," Donovan reiterated.

Murphy was found unresponsive in her Hollywood Hills home on December 20, 2009. She was transported to a hospital where she was pronounced dead. Her husband, Simon Monjack, died in the same home just five months later from pneumonia. Concerns about severe mold in the residence were raised by Monjack's mother, though this theory was ruled out by the medical examiner's office.