The British screenwriter husband of Brittany Murphy has said that the actress was ill in the days leading up to her death and had seen a doctor.

"She had laryngitis. She had been tired at the end of the year. She had made a couple movies," Sam Monjack told Access Hollywood.

Speaking for the first time since the loss of his wife, the screenwriter said: "My world was destroyed yesterday."

He added that he had been touched by the messages of support he had received, particularly a Twitter post from Ashton Kutcher.

"It was comforting to me. I couldn't have said it better," he said.

Police have ruled there was no foul play in Brittany's death – she appears to have died from natural causes.

However there have been reports that a number of prescription drugs were found in the star's house in the hills of West Hollywood.

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