'She Was a force of Nature'

FAMILY AND FRIENDS REMEMBER THE BOLD FOOD NETWORK STAR AS THEY SEARCH FOR ANSWERS REGARDING HER SHOCKING DEATH AT 55

- BRIANNE TRACY, SARAH JONES, EMILY RELLA and GILLIAN TELLING

On June 16 Food Network star Anne Burrell put her comedic chops on display as she closed out her Second City “Improv for Actors” course with a final performance in Brooklyn. “She was having the best night,” says actress Jane Margolis, a member of Burrell’s improv troupe. “She’d come up with these one-liners out of the blue that were just hysterical. She really was so into it.”

That made it all the more shocking when, just hours later, Burrell’s family announced her death at 55. “Anne was a beloved wife, sister, daughter, stepmother and friend—her smile lit up every room she entered,” they said in a statement. “Though she is no longer with us, her warmth, spirit and boundless love remain eternal.” The New York Police Department confirmed that officers had found Burrell “unconscious and unresponsive” in her Brooklyn apartment after receiving a 911 call at 7:50 a.m. on June 17 reporting that she’d suffered a possible cardiac arrest. EMS responders pronounced Burrell dead at the scene.

Many questions remain about the circumstances of Burrell’s death, which The New York Times reports is being investigated by authorities as a possible drug overdose. Citing an internal NYPD document it reviewed, the outlet claims Burrell was “discovered in the shower unconscious and unresponsive surrounded by approximately [100] assorted pills.” Says a source close to Burrell: “We're all shocked and confused.”