Brittany Murphy, the actress who got her start in the sleeper hit "Clueless" and rose to stardom in "8 Mile" before her movie roles declined in recent years, died yesterday in Los Angeles of what appeared to be natural causes, a Los Angeles County coroner's official said. She was 32.

Murphy was taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center after the Los Angeles Fire Department responded to a call at 8 a.m. at the home she shared with her husband, British screenwriter Simon Monjack, in the Hollywood Hills.

An official cause of death may not be determined for some time, since toxicology tests will be required, but "it appears to be natural," said Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter.

DANIELS SPEAKS AT MICHIGAN U. GRADUATION

Actor Jeff Daniels has received an honorary degree from the University of Michigan.

Daniels spoke at the university's December graduation yesterday. The Michigan Daily reported that Daniels told graduates to pursue something they are passionate about.

He and veteran journalist Helen Thomas were among the honorary degree recipients at the graduation ceremony on the Ann Arbor campus. Others receiving honorary degrees were labor and civil rights activist Grace Lee Boggs and insect expert Edward Osborn Wilson.

POLANSKI FINISHING EDIT ON LATEST FILM

Roman Polanski is finishing the edit of his latest movie "Ghost" from his house arrest in Switzerland, surrounded by family and bombarded by telephone calls of support, French philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy said yesterday.

Levy, a friend of the 76-year-old director, told the Lausanne-based weekly Le Matin Dimanche that he visited Polanski in his chalet in the Swiss resort of Gstaad about 10 days ago and found him like "a rock," working and confident, even though his family is worried about the U.S. extradition request hanging over him.

Swiss authorities have said they will decide early next year whether to extradite Polanski to the U.S. where he is wanted in Los Angeles for sentencing for having sex in 1977 with a 13-year-old girl.

$400M 'AVATAR' RECOUPS $232.2M ALREADY

James Cameron launched his science-fiction epic "Avatar" into a safe orbit as the costly film soared to No. 1 with $73 million domestically and $159.2 million overseas, for a $232.2 million worldwide total.

With that big a start, distributor 20th Century Fox was quick to proclaim it made a good investment with the estimated $400 million spent to make and market the film, which is Cameron's first narrative feature since 1997's "Titanic," the king of modern blockbusters.

The previous weekend's No. 1 movie, Disney's animated musical "The Princess and the Frog," slipped to second place with $12.2 million.

— Advertiser News Services