RIP

Tom Bower -- the actor famous for his roles in "The Waltons" and "Die Hard 2" -- has died.

The longtime veteran character actor passed away from unknown causes at his L.A. home last week ... this according to his brother Robert Bower, who talked to THR. The exact circumstances of his death have yet to be revealed.

Before hitting the big time, Bower studied acting at John Cassavetes Shadows Workshop ... and then spent 15 years as a private investigator before diving into acting in 1972 with "The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel," alongside Al Pacino.

Rodeo star Spencer Wright's wife Kallie is opening up about the tragedy that led to her 3-year-old son's death ... saying her decisions that day will haunt her for the rest of her life.

Kallie -- who married Spencer in 2018 -- went to Facebook early this morning, just days after young Levi's passing ... where she relived some of the gut-wrenching details.

Wright explained their 24-acre Utah property has a creek that separates their home from the kids' grandparents' house. The creek, according to Kallie, is usually dry ... but it wasn't on May 21, the day of the accident, and Levi was pulled into the water.

Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg paid their respects on D-Day's 80th anniversary -- the Allied invasion of Normandy ... looking on with many prominent world leaders in France.

The actor-director duo appeared in Normandy Thursday ... standing stoically in dark suits alongside numerous onlookers. They understand the gravity of the invasion as well as any -- remember, they've worked on multiple war projects together, including "Saving Private Ryan," which depicted D-Day.

They also created the show "Band of Brothers" -- released back in 2001 -- following an Army unit during WWII. Their work together on this front is clearly why they were there.

A woman suffered a tragic accident in Mexico that ended with her losing her life -- this while trying to capture a photo while a train passed ... which ended up hitting and killing her.

As documented in new harrowing footage that's making the rounds ... a 29-year-old woman in Hidalgo, Mexico recently approached a railway track to take a selfie as the CPKC's Final Spike Steam Tour train plowed ahead at full speed.

While the train blasted its horn near the gathering fans -- who came together to witness the train on its famous journey from Canada to Mexico City, a major attraction for locals -- the woman didn't move far enough out of the way ... and she was struck straight in the head.

Oprah Winfrey paid a heartfelt tribute to her late brother Jeffrey Lee ... marking 35 years since he passed away from AIDS during the height of the country's HIV epidemic.

In a clip shared to Oprah Daily's IG Tuesday in honor of Pride Month, Oprah revealed Jeffrey passed away at just 29 in 1989 -- a time she described as an "extremely cruel place, not just for people suffering from AIDS, but also for LGBTQ people in general."

Oprah poignantly reflected if her brother had lived, he'd be amazed at how much the world has changed -- especially with Pride Month and the progress in legalizing gay marriage.

One of Norway's most famous scenic spots is now connected to a tragic death -- a man fell nearly 2,000 feet off the cliff featured in a 'Mission Impossible' flick.

Law enforcement in the Scandinavian nation confirms the victim -- who was in his 40s -- died Monday after falling from Preikestolen ... the name of the iconic bluff overlooking the town of Lysefjord.

Police officials told CNN they're investigating the death as an accidental fall, and say they "have no assumptions that anything criminal has happened."

Halyna Hutchins' family's attorney is pissed about Alec Baldwin's new reality show ... side-eyeing the timing of the announcement and referring to it as a public relations stunt.

Gloria Allred -- who's repping members of the late cinematographer's family -- tells TMZ ... she's not buying any sort of coincidence in the announcement's release coming just a month before his involuntary manslaughter criminal trial begins.

She says, "This appears to me, to be a calculated and cynical public relations move to try to influence the jury pool in New Mexico to think of him as a sympathetic family man rather than as the killer of Halyna Hutchins, who was the beloved daughter of our clients Olga Solovey, Halyna’s mother, Anatolii Androsovych, Halyna’s father, and Svetlana Zemko, Halyna’s sister."

Kevin Costner was determined to give Whitney Houston a proper sendoff after her death ... and nothing was going to get in his way, not even a major TV network.

The actor recalled his "The Bodyguard" costar's 2012 funeral during an appearance on Dax Shepard's "Armchair Expert" podcast, revealing an unfortunate moment he had while preparing for his friend's farewell.

Costner, who was one of 8 people to speak at the singer's funeral, was asked ahead of the ceremony to shorten his speech ... so CNN and other networks could air commercials during the broadcast.

A neighborhood dispute turned deadly in Costa Rica after a man opened fire on another guy ... and the horrific moment was caught on video, which shows the killing.

In the harrowing surveillance footage from earlier this week that's making the rounds, 2 neighbors and their respective wives are seen getting into an argument, yelling at one another from their adjoining homes in the city of Escazú. The disagreement moves to the front yard, where the 2 parties continue to hurl words back and forth.

As the argument heats up, Otoniel Orozco Mendoza -- the man who ended up getting shot, and later identified by local media -- makes the quarrel a physical one ... throwing punches at his neighbor, Eduardo Ramírez Zamora. Unfortunately, Zamora pulled a gun out in response.

"American Idol" alum and Grammy-winning singer Mandisa died earlier this year -- and now, we know how ... as we've obtained her autopsy report.

TMZ obtained a copy of the document which lists Mandisa's official cause of death as "complications of class III obesity," with the medical examiner noting she weighed 488 pounds at the time of her death.

Per the report, the singer's friends found her in a state of decomposition in her residence on April 18. Emergency medical services arrived at the scene, where she was pronounced dead.

A man who attended a recent comic convention in China wore a Kobe Bryant helicopter crash costume to the event ... and, as you can imagine, it's sparked a ton of outrage here in the States.

The unidentified person created the crass and offensive ensemble for the festival in Hangzhou ... using plastic bottles, cardboard and a No. 24 Bryant Lakers uniform for the piece. He also capped it off with a Kobe Bryant mask.

Somehow, as he walked through the venue with it all strapped to his person ... other attendees seemed OK with it.

World Cup Skier Jean Daniel Pession, along with girlfriend Elisa Arlian, tragically died after the couple fell 2,300 feet off of a mountain in Italy.

The Italian Winter Sports Federation confirmed the awful incident happened June 1 on Mount Zerbion, a popular peak for skiers in Aosta Valley ... where the couple went for a hike.

When Pession, 28, and Arlian, 27, did not return, their families panicked and contacted authorities who sent three helicopters to search for them.

Actor Erich Anderson, best known for his roles in "Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter" and "Felicity," has died.

Erich's devastated wife, Saxon Trainor, confirmed the tragic news over the weekend ... revealing in a social media post, he had passed away Friday following a brutal struggle with cancer.

She wrote, "I am sharing my brother-in-law Michael O'Malley's words as I am too bereft now to write anything."

Rodeo star Spencer Wright's three-year-old son tragically passed away on Sunday ... two weeks after he was left in critical condition following a toy tractor accident.

A friend of the Wright family confirmed the heartbreaking news to People ... saying they had to make the impossible decision to let Levi go.

Wright's wife, Kallie, said on Sunday the family spoke with the top neurologists and came to the conclusion he would not survive the accident ... and it was time to face their biggest fear.

Jayla Allen -- the daughter of Dallas Cowboys legend Larry Allen -- said in a social media post Monday night she's stunned over her dad's death ... writing in an emotional message, "I feel like this is a nightmare and I can't [wake] up."

Larry -- a Pro Football Hall of Famer and one of the greatest interior offensive linemen the NFL's ever seen -- died on Sunday while on vacation in Mexico ... and his daughter seemed to indicate he had shown no signs of being in poor health prior to the tragedy.

Jayla said Larry's death left her "in complete shock," and now, she's not quite sure how she's going to pick up the pieces he left behind.

Brother Marquis -- a longtime member of 2 Live Crew -- has died ... TMZ has learned.

The rapper passed away Monday -- this according to the group's official social media accounts ... which noted he "went to the upper room." 2LC's manager confirmed his death to us, but didn't have any further details on the cause or manner.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ however that the death appears to be natural, and there isn't foul play suspected.