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Tennessee native Russell Sams was in his mid-twenties when he was cast as the cig smoking trouble-maker Dick -- who disrupts the luncheon with Paul and their uptight moms with his loud antics and crude conversations -- in Bret Easton Ellis' 2002 dark drama "The Rules of Attraction."

Russell shared the big screen of the "American Psycho" prequel with a long list of A-List actors including Ian Somerhalder as the bisexual best friend, Paul Denton, Swoosie Kurtz as the flabbergasted mother, Mimi Jared, and Faye Dunaway as Paul's posh mom, Eve Denton.

Robert Downey Sr. -- whose credits included filmmaking, directing, writing, acting and fathering Robert Downey Jr. -- has died at the age of 85.

Sr. died in his sleep at home in NYC Wednesday after a battle with Parkinson's Disease, according to his wife, who spoke to the NY Daily News.

Downey Sr.'s career started back in the '60s with directing and writing smaller projects before moving on to big-budget films in the '70s with "Greaser's Palace." He also appeared in "Boogie Nights," "Magnolia," and other films.

Sr. fathered two children with actress Elsie Ann Ford -- Allyson and Downey Jr. -- but the couple divorced in 1975. He went on to marry two more times ... Laura Ernst, who died in 1994, and 4 years later he married Rosemary Rogers, whom he remained with until his death.

Sr.'s most recent film, "Rittenhouse Square," wrapped in 2005 about the everyday happenings in a park in Philadelphia.

Robert Downey Jr. has not yet commented publicly on his dad's passing.

Robert Downey Sr. was 85.

RIP

Suzzanne Douglas -- best known as the matriarch in the WB sitcom "The Parent 'Hood" and who recently appeared in the Netflix series "When They See Us" -- has died, TMZ has confirmed.

The veteran actress' husband tells TMZ ... Suzzanne died Wednesday at her home in Martha's Vineyard from complications of cancer. Her husband said, "Her energy and creativity will be missed by all."

Suzzanne's cousin Angie Tee posted a heartwarming tribute to her on Facebook. Angie said, "She warmed our hearts on movie screens and television sets all over the world."

She added, "I can remember growing up, there weren't very many black actresses who had starring roles but there was my cousin with the lead role in "Tap" starring alongside great dancers such as Gregory Hines and Sammy Davis Jr."

Angie said Suzzanne "also performed with Angela Bassett and Whoopi Goldberg in 'How Stella Got Her Groove Back.' 'The Inkwell,' 'Jason's Lyric' and so much more the list goes on. The world will miss your talent but your soul will live on forever Rest in Paradise my beautiful cousin Suzzane you will be missed RIP."

Suzzanne starred as Jerri Peterson opposite Robert Townsend on "The Parent 'Hood" ... which ran from 1995 to 1999 on the WB.

She earned an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture in 1989 for her lead role in "Tap."

The Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck reunion tour is making a brand new stop ... this time they're hanging at her place in the Hamptons with her kids.

J Lo and Ben -- now fully rekindled -- were out and about Tuesday, with Ben behind the wheel while they drove around New York's summer vacation hot spot.

In addition to driving Ms. Lopez, BA looked very comfy in potential-future-stepdad mode as the couple took Jen's daughter, Emme, out for a shopping excursion.

East Coast Bennifer's picking up where they left off right before the July 4 holiday ... remember, we last saw them out together Friday at Universal Studios theme park in Hollywood.

J Lo's got a pad mansion in the Hamptons, and as we reported ... her ex, Alex Rodriguez, is renting a $200,000 a month pad about a mile down the road from Jennifer's crib.

Paul Rudd once gave Seth Rogen a massage -- which might sound goofy ... but there's a twist that makes it all the more hilarious, the details of which Seth shared to much fanfare.

The actor/director dished on the hilarious story out of nowhere Monday on Twitter, telling the tale of the time his good pal, Paul, cloaked himself as a masseuse at a parlor Seth was at ... which he didn't really realize until well into the back rub.

In Seth's own words, he writes ... "Once I was in the spa in a hotel in Vegas getting a massage. When I finished I turned over and to my shock Paul Rudd was massaging me."

He goes on to give the nitty gritty of how the heck PR might've been able to sneak his way into such a scenario, adding ... "He saw me go in and convinced the masseuse to let him take over, thinking I'd notice immediately. I didn't, and Paul did the entire rest of it."

If that sounds like something Paul Rudd would do in a movie, turns out ... it's actually a stunt he'd pull in real-life as well. As the internet has pointed out, it's very on brand for him (and maybe for Seth too).

Of course, it'd be remiss of us not to mention that these two guys have some famous history with massage/beauty parlors ... perhaps most notably from "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" -- when they watched Steve Carell get his chest hair waxed off, a majority of which was real.

Shortly before Tom Holland and Zendaya were smooching in a car for the whole world to see -- they were breaking bread on what appears to be a date ... and TMZ's got the photos.

Check out these pics we obtained of Spider-Man and MJ themselves playing out their onscreen romance in real life just 5 days ago  ... when they hit up a Thai joint near Universal Studios -- on the outskirts of Central L.A. -- for a little late-night snack mid-week.

Eyewitnesses tell us the newly-announced couple -- who made their public debut Friday, when photos surfaced of a steamy make-out sesh from Thursday -- rolled into the place around 9ish, separately at first, one after another ... both wearing masks, which we're told they removed once seated near the very front of what appeared to be a pretty empty dining room.

That worked out great for them ... as it seems they were trying to maintain a somewhat low profile. Still, they got spotted by what few people were there -- and it seems the cat was almost out of the bag, which may very well have prompted their loose lips the following day.

Up until now ... it was only rumored Tom and Zen were an item -- something they've constantly denied over their filming career together -- but now, it's official ... the comic book movie chemistry we've all seen in the last two flicks is, indeed, real. Shippers can rejoice!

Anyway, as for this outing here ... no word yet on what they might've chowed down on exactly. We're also told they didn't show any obvious signs of PDA in the restaurant itself -- but they did appear to be engrossed in quite a stimulating conversation ... which you can probably tell from Zendaya's big hand gestures and Tom's focused look on his boo.

Maybe they were talking about how awesome it's gonna be when the world finally realizes Tobey Maguire AND Andrew Garfield both appear in the multi-verse sequel coming out later this year ... and that Tobey hits Tom with an Uncle Ben reference that causes waterworks.

Richard Donner -- one of the most famed and prolific directors of all time, known for flicks like "Superman," "Lethal Weapon," "The Goonies" and countless others -- has reportedly died.

The legendary filmmaker recently passed away -- this according to his production company, The Donner's Company, who confirmed the news to Variety. No word on when exactly he passed, or under what circumstances -- we've got calls in to his reps to figure it out.

At any rate ... it's a tragic update, as the guy was absolutely beloved in Hollywood -- and rightly so. He's responsible for some of the most iconic films to grace the big screen over the years -- including an incredible run of pictures from the late '70s throughout the '80s.

Donner got his first big directing break with the cult classic horror film "The Omen" (the original one), which catapulted him into stardom and led to his next major studio film, "Superman" (also the original) ... which paved the path for countless other flicks, including 'Goonies,' and ALL of the "Lethal Weapon" movies, starring Mel Gibson and Danny Glover.

Other notable film directing credits of his include staple movies, such as "Scrooged," "The Toy," "Maverick," "Ladyhawke," "Assassins," "16 Blocks," "Timeline" and more. His EP credits are even more impressive.

Donner shepherded films like "The Lost Boys," "Free Willy," "X-Men" ... this list goes on. His death is actually quite shocking, and seemingly sudden -- just last year, he announced a desire to direct the 5th installment of "Lethal Weapon," and it seemed that was in the works.

We even congratulated Rich on that news a full year ago, when we ran into him out and about in Hollywood ... and chatted him up about the controversy (at the time) surrounding Amazon's new show, "Hunters," which was catching flak for its portrayal of the holocaust and the fallout that followed. In his mind, he said producers were to blame ... not directors.

At any rate ... very sad to hear. Donner is survived by his wife, Lauren. He was 91.

Stephen Dorff came out swinging against Marvel and its latest big screen offering, "Black Widow," as well as its lead star in Scarlett Johansson ... for whom he says he feels sorry.

The veteran actor straight-up bashed ScarJo's newest flick in an interview with the U.K.'s Independent outlet ... saying, in part, "I still hunt out the good shit because I don't want to be in Black Widow. It looks like garbage to me. It looks like a bad video game. I'm embarrassed for those people. I'm embarrassed for Scarlett!" Tell us how you really feel!

Steve went on to add this for good measure ... "I'm sure she got paid five, seven million bucks, but I'm embarrassed for her. I don't want to be in those movies. I really don't. I'll find that kid director that's gonna be the next [Stanley] Kubrick and I'll act for him instead."

SD continued on with his diatribe, expanding the scope to include the film industry at large -- which he characterized as a "big game show" -- but his main gripe seems to be with what he considers selling out to the big studios ... and maintaining some sense of artistic integrity.

That's interesting coming from Steve ... seeing how he's been in superhero movies himself -- including a Marvel fan fave, 'Blade' -- but also another superhero film that many considered "garbage" ... his 2015 appearance in "American Hero," which was like a farce of the genre.

One could argue -- as many online are right now -- that Stephen's other film credits aren't necessarily Kubrick-esque either. He's been in a bunch of films that some might consider bullish and not-that-artsy (aka, B-films) ... including "Felon," "Carjacked" and lots of others.

There's a rare piece of movie history going up for auction ... the 1949 Oscar trophy for Best Special Effects for "Mighty Joe Young" ... and it's expected to fetch a fortune.

It's not often you see Oscars on the auction block ... the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences loathes seeing its trophies sold, but this one falls outside of the rules preventing the sale because it's neither personalized nor engraved.

Willis O'Brien won this vintage Oscar trophy for his groundbreaking special effects work in the original "Mighty Joe Young," when he transformed a bunch of wood, tar paper and old toupees into an 80-foot gorilla.

Willis famously turned down the first Oscar the Academy offered him for his work on "King Kong" in 1933 -- he wanted a trophy for everyone in his crew.

When 'Mighty Joe' won for special effects, Academy rules called for the producer, Merian C. Cooper, to receive the statuette and he did. However, Merian never got his name engraved on it, because he really wanted Willis to have the Oscar.

So, he essentially slipped him the award under the table, and since it's not personalized and the award was given before the 1951 rule ... it's able to go up for sale.

The statuette is hitting the auction block July 16 as part of Heritage Auctions' Entertainment Memorabilia sale ... and we're told the Oscar is expected to fetch $500,000.

Matthew McConaughey seems awfully gubernatorial for his 4th of July message to America -- but his message also sounds pretty damn appealing ... let's unite, and maybe sing about it.

The actor -- and rumored Texas Governor hopeful -- just posted a video addressed to these United States ... and it's chock-full of that classic MMC charm, but underneath all the charisma and showmanship, Matt's actually got a great sentiment he's trying to impart.

Check it out ... the guy's talking all about how we, as a country, need to constantly be reminded that we're striving toward an ideal, and that we should be working toward that in harmony with one another. He even suggests what sounds like a new national anthem.

Of course, the backdrop of his remarks here is a lot of renewed chatter on what America means today ... and for whom. Consider Macy Gray's call for a revamped flag, and more recently ... when Olympic hammer thrower Gwen Berry turned her back on the flag/anthem.

In Matt's eyes ... those feelings are not something to shy away from, but to embrace -- and work to get better for everyone's sake. He acknowledges we should be attempting to be as inclusive in our individual pursuits ... because it really benefits everyone, and reminds us -- we're Americans, united as one. We know ... it's got politico prose written all over it.

Speaking of that ... Matt has slipped in favorability of late in a hypothetical run between himself and incumbent Gov. Greg Abbott (a Republican) -- but not by much, just 1 point.

He's still doing a heck of a lot better than actual politicians who are rumored/already set to run as well ... including Beto O'Rourke and Don Huffines. So, all things considered -- he's being eyed as the favorite to go head to head with Abbott.

New Orleans will have fireworks once again this year -- this after almost having to scrap the show because of a lack of dough ... and it's all thanks to Will Smith, who threw down big time.

The actor -- who's filming his latest movie, "Emancipation," down in NOLA right now -- caught wind of the city planning on skipping this year's big firework show due to a lack of funding ... and, of course, they had to refrain from last year's show as well -- due to COVID.

He wasn't about to let that happen though, it seems ... the dude ponied up a whopping a $100,000 -- with the help of his company, Westbrook -- to help pay for the fireworks and for the festivities to carry on as originally planned -- which will come to fruition later tonight.

So, basically ... he's the local hero for this 4th of July, and the gesture didn't go unnoticed. He got tons of thanks from city officials, as well as locals who are more than happy to have their firework display back. The big boom will go down over the Mississippi River at 9 PM ET.

BTW, this movie that Will's working on right now sounds like classic Oscar bait. It tells the story of a slave named Peter on a Louisiana plantation, who escapes and ends up fighting for the Union in the Civil War. It's based on a true story too -- you've probably seen the photo.

"Peter" is also known as Gordon ... and he's the slave who posed for that iconic photo, showing off the whipping scars on his back -- which shed a light on the brutality of slavery.

"I would say a good percentage of professional wrestlers, maybe 69% to be exact, wanna be The Rock by the time it's all said and done."

That's Dean Muhtadi (formerly known as Mojo Rawley in WWE) -- telling TMZ Sports he's getting into acting -- in a way only he could.

Muhtadi landed a role in the upcoming action flick called, "Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins" -- starring Henry Golding -- that's set to be released on July 23.

(Muhtadi's fighting the guy with the chain in the trailer above.)

Dean -- who says he plans on getting back into pro wrestling in the future -- also had a cup of coffee with the Green Bay Packers ... and Muhtadi says acting in action scenes are super hard, physically.

"I'm not gonna lie. I felt like I just had a pay-per-view match or a big football game. But, man, what a blast we had," Dean tells us.

"Henry was absolutely unbelievable, great guy to work with, very down to the Earth, humble guy."

'Snake Eyes' was Dean's first big-time acting gig ... but he doesn't plan on it being his last.

"It was such a cool experience. I'm looking forward to more in the future."

So ... watch your back, Dwayne!!!

George Jung -- the prolific cocaine smuggler portrayed by Johnny Depp in the film "Blow" -- died of kidney failure due to advanced liver disease, and as you'd probably imagine ... his hard-living played a major role.

According to George's death certificate ... George's immediate cause of death is listed as hepatorenal failure due to alcoholic cirrhosis. In other words, his organs succumbed to his chronic alcohol abuse. The manner of death is listed as natural causes.

George died on May 5 in Lowell, MA, and he was cremated 2 days later. Interestingly, his occupation is listed as storyteller/teacher/education. If you've seen the movie, that's not entirely inaccurate.

TMZ broke the story ... George had been experiencing kidney and liver problems before his death. He had been in home hospice care and died with his wife, Ronda, and friend, Roger, by his side.

George served 20 years in prison for running drugs for the Medellin Cartel. He was known as "Boston George" and infamously helped notorious drug lord Pablo Escobar smuggle planeloads of coke into the U.S.

At the time, Escobar's cartel was reportedly responsible for 80% of the world's cocaine.

Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck let it ride Friday ... taking in all the cool stuff at Universal Studios.

The freshly re-minted couple were joined by 2 young girls -- unclear whose kids -- as they meandered around the amusement park.

This wasn't your average day pass to the park ... they had security follow them around. When they got to the Jurassic World ride, park security told the normies in line they would be joined by some "special guests." That they were.

They spotted Ben first, followed by Jen and the 2 girls. They arrived at the ride through a side door and immediately climbed into their own personal car.

Ben and J Lo have been shuffling between coasts for the last few months after their romance re-ignited. They've been anything but secretive about it, showing up at places where celebs are routinely photographed.

It seems they'll settle for the Left Coast. As we reported, J Lo has been checking out schools in L.A. It's unclear if they'll move in together but the relationship seems as intense as when they were engaged back in the day, so that seems like more than a possibility.

A super team of celebs showed up for LeBron James' big night -- with the NBA superstar hosting a bash to celebrate "Space Jam: A New Legacy."

King James showed up at Six Flags Magic Mountain Tuesday night for the huge event ... with names like Don Cheadle (who stars in SJ2), G-Eazy, Tiffany Haddish, MGK, Megan Fox and Olivia Rodrigo coming through to party.

Of course, the flick is set to release on July 16 after YEARS of hype ... so it's only right to kick things off with a fun time.

Chris Brown and Tyga even took part in a hoops shootout challenge ... and while Breezy had no issue finding the bottom of the net, the "Splash" rapper was definitely not making it splash on the court.

Hey, we're just playing with ya, Tyga ... we're all trying to have a good time.

Bron's family also popped up for the party -- with the 4-time champ and his wife, Savannah, cuddling up as they watched the action on the court.

BTW -- Bronny is looking TALL!!

Other stars like Diplo, Zedd and Duckwrth were there ... so in case the aux cord gave out, there woulda been plenty of options to keep the music going.

Chris Kattan allegedly pulled an anti-masker moment onboard an American Airlines flight, frightening other passengers and prompting airline staff to order him off the plane ... TMZ has learned.

Sources with direct knowledge tell us ... the ex-'SNL' star had boarded the flight Monday from Dallas/Fort Worth to LAX, but his appearance startled several passengers who were seated near him in first class.

We're told Chris was stumbling and seemed sick, at least to other passengers ... partially because he had mucous hanging out of his nose when he leaned over. He was not wearing a mask at that point, and we're told passengers alerted flight attendants ... who brought him paper towels and ordered him to put on a mask.

We're told Chris did put one on -- the federal mask mandate is still in effect for air travel -- but left it below his nose ... and by now his behavior had other passengers on edge. Witnesses say he begged flight attendants not to boot him, and even asked if they'd seen him on 'SNL.'

Staffers asked him multiple times to pull up his mask, and warned if he didn't do it immediately their next call would be to the cops. At that point, he finally got up and left.

We've made calls to Kattan's team to get his side of the story, but so far ... no word back.