RIP

We're told Landesberg died of cancer early this morning. He had been battling the disease for a while.

Landesberg played Dr. Rosenbaum -- the pediatrician -- in "Sarah Marshall." But he was more famous for his role as Det. Sgt. Arthur Dietrich on the TV show "Barney Miller," which ran from 1975 - 82.

Blake Edwards -- who was married to legendary actress Julie Andrews -- is famous for directing movies like "Breakfast at Tiffany's," "Victor/Victoria" and the classic "Pink Panther" film series.

In 2004, Blake received an honorary Oscar for his extraordinary body of work.

After Cruz was sentenced on Monday, we decided to track down the three men he tried to hire to kill his wife -- that's when we were told of Big Dave's demise.

Big Dave died back in August after suffering from a brain hemorrhage. One of the other homeless heroes, Shane, tells us Dave had been sick for awhile.

Madoff was found hanging in his SoHo apartment by his father-in-law. His 2-year-old child was also in the apartment at the time.

Mark Madoff, 46, was investigated -- along with his brother Andrew -- as part of his father's Ponzi scheme, but never faced any criminal charges.

An attorney for Mark Madoff released a statement saying, "This is a terrible and unnecessary tragedy. Mark was an innocent victim of his father's monstrous crime who succumbed to two years of unrelenting pressure from false accusations and innuendo."

53-year-old Jeffrey David Kirby was convicted today of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated -- a felony -- for causing the high speed crash that killed TapouT founder Charles "Mask" Lewis back in March 2009.

As we first reported, Lewis' $300,000 Ferrari was ripped in half after it careened off an Orange County road -- hitting a light pole, and killing him nearly instantly.

According to local reports, 61-year-old Elizabeth -- who was married to former presidential candidate John Edwards -- had been surrounded by friends and family in recent days including John himself.

Just yesterday, Elizabeth posted a goodbye message on her Facebook page which read, "The days of our lives, for all of us, are numbered. We know that. And yes, there are certainly times when we aren't able to muster as much strength and patience as we would like. It's called being human."

She continued, "But I have found that in the simple act of living with hope, and in the daily effort to have a positive impact in the world, the days I do have are made all the more meaningful and precious. And for that, I am grateful."

Santo overcame juvenile diabetes to become a nine-time all-star with the Cubs. He is widely regarded as one of the best players not to be in the Hall of Fame.

So how did the careers of Leslie and Kevin intersect?

His agent tells TMZ Nielsen passed surrounded by his wife and friends at about 5:34 PM ET.

Nielsen was best known for his roles in "Airplane" and the "Naked Gun" series. His "Airplane" co-star, Barbara Billingsley, passed away last month.

Ted Striker: Surely you can't be serious.
Rumack: I am serious... and don't call me Shirley.

Elaine Dickinson: A hospital? What is it?
Rumack: It's a big building with patients, but that's not important right now.

Sources tell TMZ the house fire call came in at 11:23 PM on Saturday night -- and six fire trucks and two ambulances responded. It's unclear if Kat was home at the time. We're told it took 30 minutes to extinguish the flames.

Kat tweeted the heartbreaking news about Valentine early this morning, saying, "my house burned down last night with my cat inside."

Kat later tweeted a picture of her charred home (above left) saying, "In order to gain everything, you must lose everything" -- followed by a pic of her cat (right) with the text "R.I.P. My little Valentine."

According to a statement from his family, Dino -- grandfather to "Food Network" star Giada De Laurentiis -- was surrounded by loved ones when he died.

The band posted a message on their website saying, "There were statues of a gargoyle as well as a Buddah that were placed at Paul’s grave by his friends and family that were taken."

The band is now asking for help from their fans -- saying, "We ask that whoever did this please return the items no questions asked. If anyone has any information about the stolen items please let us know."

According to the Riverside County Sheriff's Department, Julien's body was found in such an extremely remote area of the San Bernardino National Forest that detectives had to call in a helicopter to remove the body.

Although they located Julien's body yesterday afternoon -- deputies were not able to recover the corpse until 10AM today.

At the end of last night's episode of the Discovery reality show viewers were told Hughes died in May due to complications from a fatal injury at his home in Kansas.

TMZ confirmed with Valley Center PD ... on May 14 they responded to a suicide call at Hughes' home. According to the police report, officers concluded Matt, who was still breathing, was drinking before the suicide attempt.

We're told Matt was taken to a local hospital -- but passed away 13 days later. The Medical Examiner's report lists "Hanging" as the cause of death.