Coroner: Pneumonia killed Murphy

Los Angeles — Brittany Murphy, the star of “Clueless” and “8 Mile,” died from pneumonia, with prescription drugs and anemia also playing a role, a coroner’s official said Thursday.

The Dec. 20 death of the actress was accidental and likely could have been prevented if Murphy had seen a doctor sooner, Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter said.

He noted, however, that she did have an appointment scheduled with a physician a few days after she died.

Winter declined to specify what types of drugs were involved in her death and said further details would be released in several weeks when the report was completed.

He also said there was no evidence of wrongdoing.

Winter said Murphy’s community-acquired pneumonia was serious and proved lethal when combined with the medications and iron deficiency anemia.

Murphy died at age 32 after collapsing in her Hollywood Hills home. Her mother and husband have said the actress didn’t abuse prescription medications or have an eating disorder.

‘Days of Our Lives’ star Frances Reid dies at 95

New York — NBC says Frances Reid, who played matriarch Alice Horton on “Days of Our Lives” for four decades, has died in Los Angeles. She was 95.

The network says Reid died Wednesday.

She was among the original cast of the daytime soap opera, which premiered in 1965. Reid starred opposite Macdonald Carey, who played her husband until his death in 1994.

Her final appearance as a regular was in 2007.

Reid made appearances on episodic TV and other soaps including “As the World Turns.” In the 1950s, she performed on anthologies such as “Studio One” and “Philco Television Playhouse” during what is recalled as TV’s Golden Age.

Reid received the Daytime Emmys’ Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004.

She was born in Wichita Falls, Texas, in 1914.