Celebrity Death

The Black Mamba's presence will be felt every time Drake steps foot on his insane home indoor basketball court ... 'cause the rapper has installed a touching tribute for Kobe Bryant.

Drizzy showed off the new artwork while spending some alone time at his "Sanctuary" court Monday night ... displaying a massive #8 and #24 on either side of the scoreboard.

Just like most of the world, it looks like Drake is practicing social distancing due to the coronavirus pandemic ... which means he can work on his J from the comfort of his Toronto mansion.

Of course, tons of celebs and athletes have been honoring the late NBA superstar following the tragic helicopter crash earlier this year -- from tributes like LeBron James' tattoo to Derrick Henry's new chain.

As for Drake's mansion ... the place is insane and even has a singing toilet. So, the whole isolation thing ain't all that bad for Drake.

Stuart Whitman, a staple of '60s, '70s and '80s is dead.

Whitman died Monday morning at his home in Montecito, CA. A longtime friend tells TMZ Whitman was in and out of the hospital recently due to skin cancer that seeped into his bloodstream. He was surrounded by family at the time of his death.

Whitman starred in a number of dramas, but he was most famous for his westerns ... especially with John Wayne. Their 1961 film, "The Comancheros," was a classic.

Stuart's son, Justin, tells us, "Old Hollywood lost another one of its true stars. Stuart Whitman was known for his rugged roles and handsome charm. We were proud of him for his tv, film roles and his Oscar nomination, but what we will really remember is his exuberant love of his family and friends."

In all Whitman has more than 150 credits to his name. He was retried for awhile ... his last credit is the TV movie, "The President's Man" which starred Chuck Norris back in 2000.

Whiteman was married 3 times.

He served in the Army during WWII and was a pretty accomplished boxer.

He received an Oscar nom for Best Actor for his work in "The Mark." He's been married to his third wife since 1993. He had 4 kids with his first wife, and 1 child with his second.

Stuart was 92.

"Modern Family" got some really sad news over the weekend -- Ed O'Neill's TV dog Stella has died.

The French bulldog -- real name Beatrice -- died about a week ago and just days after wrapping the show. It's unclear what led to Beatrice's death. "Modern Family" star Jesse Tyler Ferguson bid her goodbye Sunday ... posting a picture of Beatrice on the set with the caption, "Rest in peace sweet Beatrice. We love you so much," followed by a crying emoji.

Ed's character, Jay Pritchett, reluctantly got a dog in season 2. Beatrice took over the role season 4. Ed ultimately grew to love his Stella ... often showering her with gifts.

Beatrice's owners had said during a 2017 interview that Ed was obsessed with Beatrice in real-life ... often bringing her treats when she was on set and always looking out for her.

The pooch was also no stranger to being on TV. Beatrice also appeared in "Workaholics" and "The Kominsky Method." Beatrice also appeared in commercials for Dunkin' Donuts and Chase Bank.

The news comes just weeks before "Modern Family" -- after 11 glorious seasons -- airs its series finale in April. #RIP #AllDogsGoToHeaven

Lorenzo Brino, who starred in "7th Heaven," has died ... TMZ has learned.

The 21-year-old actor was killed when he lost control of his Toyota Camry and it struck a pole. Brino was the only occupant of the vehicle and was pronounced dead.

The accident occurred last Monday around 3 AM in San Bernardino County, but the name of the victim was not confirmed ... until now.

One of Brino's friends made a tribute video, calling him a "beautiful soul."

Brino was part of a quadruplet ... and all of them appeared on the show on a rotating basis as infants. They were on the show from 1999 to 2007. When Lorenzo first appeared on the show -- when Annie Camden gave birth -- it was one of the most-watched episodes of the series.

Lorenzo's aunt, Janet Brino, said, "To my dear sweet nephew, your loss left a hole in my heart. God needed another Angel and he took you. Please watch over your mom and dad.  You sister Mimi, brothers, Antonio, Zachary and Nicholas ... You got a big job up there."

Lorenzo was 21.

Beloved "Good Times" star Ja'Net DuBois died from cardiac arrest ... according to her death certificate.

Ja'Net was suffering, silently apparently, from peripheral vascular disease and chronic kidney disease for years, according to the document. It also says hypertension was a contributing factor in her death.

TMZ broke the story ... Ja'Net died unexpectedly in her sleep last month. She was found unresponsive at her daughter's home in Glendale, CA. According to the death certificate, she was cremated. Some of her ashes were scattered at sea and the family is keeping the rest.

As we first told you, Ja'Net was in good spirits and seemed healthy during a "Good Times" meet-and-greet in early February, where she looked happy next to costars Johnny Brown, Ralph Carter, Bern Nadette Stanis and Jimmie Walker. Looks can be deceiving.

Ja'Net's family also said she had no known ailments or illnesses before her passing -- but the coroner's autopsy clearly showed otherwise.

Ja'Net was famous for playing the Evans family's sassy neighbor Willona Woods on the classic '70s TV series. She also composed and sang the theme song, "Movin' On Up," for "The Jeffersons."

Josie Harris -- who has 3 children with Floyd Mayweather -- was found dead at her home in Valencia, CA on Tuesday night ... TMZ Sports has confirmed.

Law enforcement sources tell us ... officials were called to the home around 9:30 PM and when they arrived, they found 40-year-old Harris unresponsive in her car.

She was pronounced dead at the scene. We're told there does not appear to be any foul play and the case is being treated as a death investigation as opposed to a homicide probe.

Josie had a tumultuous relationship with Mayweather. He was convicted of attacking her back in a 2010 domestic violence incident and later served 2 months behind bars.

Harris claims she was abused on 6 different occasions. But, the criminal case was centered around a Sept. 2010 incident when Harris claimed Floyd entered her Vegas home while she slept, pulled her hair and then attacked her in front of their children.

Harris claimed their oldest son, Koraun, snuck out of the home and alerted a security guard to call police.

Years later, Mayweather denied the violent allegations during an interview with Katie Couric ... saying, "Did I restrain a woman that was on drugs? Yes, I did. So if they say that’s domestic violence, then, you know what? I’m guilty. I’m guilty of restraining someone."

Harris was outraged by the interview and later sued Mayweather for more than $20 MILLION for defamation. The case is still ongoing.

Max von Sydow -- the Swedish actor best known for his notable roles such as the priest in "The Exorcist" and the Three-Eyed Raven on "Game of Thrones" -- has died ... according to his family.

His wife, Catherine, says ... "It is with a broken heart and with infinite sadness that we have the extreme pain of announcing the departure of Max von Sydow." The family has not released a cause of death at this time.

Max was born in Sweden in 1929 and acted in European films until he was 20, before landing his first major role as Knight Antonius Block in the 1957 film, "The Seventh Seal."

He would go on to appear in over 100 movies and TV shows, playing characters ranging from Jesus Christ in "The Greatest Story Ever Told" and Father Merrin in "The Exorcist" to the emperor, Ming, in "Flash Gordon," Dr. Naehring in "Shutter Island" and The Renter in "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close."

Sydow earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for the latter, along with an Oscar nom for Best Actor for "Pelle the Conqueror" in 1987.

His more recent credits include playing Klaus Ziegler on "The Simpsons," Lor San Tekka in 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' and 'GoT' ... for which he earned an Emmy nom as the Three-Eyed Raven.

Max was 90.

Ex-Knicks player Chris Childs says ever since Kobe Bryant's death, fans have been bringing up their fight from back in the day ... but those fans need to chill --- 'cause Chris says he and Kobe were cool!!!

"Nah, it was never a beef," Childs says, "It was just something that happened. We let bygones be bygones."

If you don't remember this epic fight ... back in April 2000, Childs and Bryant threw hands during a Knicks vs. Lakers game --- and Childs got the best of Kobe with a 2-piece to the grill.

Since Bryant's death on Jan 26, Childs tells us Mamba fans have been going at him on social media about the fight ...  but he just tries to stay calm and hit 'em back with some positive vibes!

"I just told them let's just pray for the family. Let's not get into the that part of the basketball side. Let that rest right now."

"Let's not be ignorant and continue to talk about something that at that moment, doesn't matter."

In fact, Childs says he and Bryant were fine after that fight -- they would run into each other at UCLA during workouts and there's was NEVER any smoke.

"We always gave each other the head nod, ya know, acknowledging the other person."

Of all the murals dedicated to Kobe Bryant and Gianna, Vanessa Bryant seems to have found one she adores ... 'cause she just snapped a pic of her oldest daughter in front of it.

Vanessa posted a sweet tribute Sunday to her late husband and daughter, showing off 17-year-old Natalia in front of a gorgeous piece of art depicting Kobe and Gigi. Natalia is beaming in a beautiful dress -- apparently, her high school winter formal is upon us.

VB captioned the post, "💖 my babies. Natalia. #winterformal." The artwork behind Natalia is stunning -- it shows Kobe kissing Gigi on the head with a halo above. They're both drawn in with black and white against a sky blue backdrop. Looks to be in a public space too.

We did a little digging and weren't able to locate this specific mural among the many that have popped up over the past two months since Kobe and G's tragic deaths.

Marnie the Dog -- the Internet-famous pooch who was known for her tongue-out expression -- has died.

The Shih Tzu's owner, Shirley Braha, announced the tragic news Saturday on Instagram, writing ... "It is with much grief I share the news that Marnie passed away painlessly & peacefully in my home on Thursday afternoon at the age of 18."

She continued, "Her comfort had been notably declining over the past few days with little hope for improvement and she let me know she had had enough. She enjoyed her chicken until the very end." Braha goes on to thank everyone for embracing Marnie, explaining how her dog put her on the journey of a lifetime and how grateful she was for the love.

Braha ends her tribute post with a bit of info, and somewhat of a forewarning too ... saying Marnie will be buried at a pet cemetery in L.A., adding there'll hopefully be a public memorial for her whenever it's safe to hold one, in light of the coronavirus and all.

Marnie was adopted from an animal shelter in 2012 at the ripe age of 11 years old. Soon after, she went on to achieve viral fame because of her freakishly long (but super cute) tongue, which inexplicably hung out of her mouth at almost all times.

Marnie has posed with countless celebs over the years, including Jonah Hill, Tina Fey, Demi Lovato, James Franco, Betty White, Ed Sheeran, Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, Larry King, Aaron Paul, Usher, Selena Gomez, Lena Dunham, Riff Raff, Jason Schwartzman and more.

She once shot down an invitation to the "Wolrd Dog Awards" because, apparently, Marnie and co. felt she was too big for it. She might've been right -- Marnie got her own book deal at one point.

The doggo was 18 years old.

Henri Richard -- one of the greatest hockey players of all time -- has died at the age of 84, the Montreal Canadiens announced Friday.

Richard holds the record for most Stanley Cup victories by an individual player (11) ... and played his entire 20-year career with the Canadiens.

"The Montreal Canadiens are saddened to learn of the passing of one of the organization's greatest legends and ambassadors, Henri Richard, this morning," the Canadiens said in a statement.

"Our thoughts and sincere condolences go out to the Richard family."

Richard -- nicknamed the Pocket Rocket -- holds the record for most games played in franchise history (1,258). He was also named in the NHL's 100 Greatest Players of All Time list, released in 2017.

Henri is the younger brother of Maurice "Rocket" Richard, whom the NHL named the goal-scoring leader trophy after.

"The family would like to sincerely thank the staff at CHSLD Résidence Riviera for their wonderful care," the team said.

"They demonstrated incredible professionalism and humanity. The family would also like to thank the public for their heartfelt condolences and kindly requests that its privacy be respected during this difficult time."

Pop Smoke's most ardent fans are out in droves in Brooklyn ... giving the late rapper one final, emotional sendoff.

The funeral procession is going down Thursday afternoon in the Canarsie neighborhood of the borough. Two horses are pulling the carriage and hearse, decorated with white curtains ... and Pop Smoke's casket can be seen through the glass.

The carriage made its way past a mural honoring Pop Smoke, and his good friend and mentor 50 Cent's Lamborghini was part of the procession as well ... though it doesn't look like Fiddy was behind the wheel.

There were barricades set up in the mostly residential neighborhood to keep fans on sidewalks. NYPD is also on hand to keep things under control.

TMZ broke the story ... 20-year-old Pop Smoke was gunned down last month in the Hollywood Hills in what appeared to be a targeted hit.

He was taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, but doctors couldn't save him, as he died from a gunshot wound to his chest, according to his death certificate.

Pop Smoke's family held a private ceremony last weekend for close friends and family. After today's procession ... he'll be laid to rest in a Brooklyn cemetery.

Chris Cornell's widow is spilling more bad blood in her legal war with Soundgarden ... she says the surviving band members didn't so much as text her after her husband's tragic death.

Vicky Cornell just blasted the band in legal docs -- obtained by TMZ -- saying Soundgarden never reached out to her in any fashion after Chris committed suicide.

In the docs, Vicky also says the surviving band members charged her private flight to Chris' memorial as a tour expense instead of paying for it out of their own pockets.

And, get this ... in the docs, Vicky says Chris never signed a written partnership agreement with the band because he "was tired of others unfairly capitalizing on his creative talents, or in his words, 'the stupid communist bulls***.' "

Vicky's explosive filing, prepared by legal pit bull Marty Singer, is part of her ongoing legal dispute with Soundgarden.

As we reported ... Vicky is suing Soundgarden for unpaid royalties, but the band claims she filed her lawsuit in the wrong court -- a federal court in Florida -- because Soundgarden is actually based in Seattle.

Vicky claims that's nonsense because the songs were created in Florida by Chris.

We reached out to Soundgarden ... so far, radio silence.

Touching tribute from Devin Booker to Kobe Bryant ... the Phoenix Suns superstar immortalized an autograph he got from the Mamba with a tattoo on his forearm.

Here's the deal ... back in March 2016, Devin -- a rookie at the time who grew up idolizing Kobe -- played Bryant in one of legend's final NBA games.

And afterward, Kobe had a long talk with the budding All-Star ... and gave him a pair of signed shoes with two messages on them.

One read, "To The Young Gun!" The other? "To Book Be Legendary"

Devin took the advice to heart ... and Tuesday, just over a month after Kobe tragically died in a helicopter crash, he got Bryant's "Be Legendary" autograph tatted on his arm.

"Somethin to live by," Booker said of the ink.

A bunch of NBA guys loved the tribute -- which appears to be Devin's first-ever body art -- with Kobe's former teammate, Matt Barnes, writing, "Killer."

Devin was one of the NBA players hit hardest by Bryant's death ... in the Suns' game against the Grizzlies hours after the chopper accident, he had to fight back tears on the court.

NASCAR driver Daniel Suarez felt the best way to honor Kobe Bryant was to give back ... so he's auctioning his personalized Kobe racing gear and donating the money to all the victims of the tragic accident.

"I became a Kobe Bryant fan not for everything he did in the basketball world, but for everything he did on the outside," Suarez tells us.

The 28-year-old says he admired the work Kobe did for the community and other athletes ... so when the tragedy happened on Jan. 26, he decided to honor him the way Mamba would want.

"I really wanted to do something to honor him," Suarez says, "in a way to give back, like how he used to do it."

Suarez hit up artist Salvador Amezcua to make the one-of-a-kind race gear ... and Amezcua tells us it only took 4 1/2 hours to make 'em that AWESOME!

Suarez put the gloves and shoes up for auction after the Auto Club 400 race Sunday in California ... and the bids started rackin' up, with almost $5,000 in 48 hours!!!

"I think the gloves and shoes were the perfect toast to do it and it's really great," Suarez added.

"The auction is still going on, we still have a few more days and it's doing amazing. Way better than what we were expecting!"

FYI -- the names of the nine victims were also displayed on his No. 96 Toyota Camry.

After the auction ends on March 6, all the money will go to MambaOnThree -- a fund for all the victims' families.

Tyler Cameron looks devastated in the wake of a family emergency that has reportedly claimed his mother's life.

TMZ got photos of the former 'Bachelorette' star out Sunday with people we're told looked like close family members. They were dining in Jupiter, Florida at a restaurant called Brass Ring Pub. As you can see ... he appears to be distraught, with a lot on his mind.

At one point, he had his face buried in the palm of his hand. It was a small gathering -- we're told he wasn't drawing attention, and not too many people around even recognized him.

According to reports ... Tyler's mom, Andrea, passed away after being rushed to the hospital Thursday. The ex-reality TV star announced a "family emergency" Friday on social media, saying he'd have to cancel a 'GMA' appearance ... and asked for prayers.

It appears friends of the family are also mourning her apparent death on Facebook, with a few different people sending their condolences to Tyler, his father and his two younger brothers.

He hasn't commented on her status himself just yet. That said, we've been hearing Andrea has indeed passed, but have to yet to definitively confirm it. His rep had no comment.

Tyler and Andrea were incredibly close -- which was well-documented on his social media feed. While she lived in Florida, it looks like she made the trek out to New York back in November to support her son while he ran the NYC Marathon.

At the time, he wrote ... "So grateful for all of the support that I got from my family, friends, and BN! Couldn’t have done this race with out all of y’all." Andrea herself was a huge supporter of her boy -- and appeared to keep tabs on him during Hannah B's season.

In one photo of them two together, she said of her son ... "I love you Tyler! You are America’s sweetheart!! Thank you for that wonderful experience!!"

She was 55. RIP