RIP

1980s girl group Mary Jane Girls should be as dead as the Walkman ... but 2 ex-members have resuscitated their careers, much to the chagrin of Rick James' Estate, which has now sued the chicks.

Here's the problemo. Kimberly "Maxi" Wuletich and Cheri "Candy" Wells-Chez have been hitting the circuit recently, performing as the Mary Jane Girls at small venues. As you know ... Rick founded the group and now, the people managing Rick's Estate claim when the group broke up Rick kept the name and the music for himself.

James' Estate wants a judge to stop the music ... STAT. What's more, the Estate wants all the profits the girls made from their appearances.

Thomas Howard – an NFL linebacker who was cut by the Falcons last week – killed himself and another person this morning when he slammed into a big rig truck at more than 100MPH ... officials say.

Witnesses told the CHP ... Howard -- a 2nd round pick in the 2006 NFL Draft -- was blazing down a highway in Oakland, CA when he lost control of his BMW 750Li and smashed into the back of a semi.

Howard's car went airborne and flew across the center median -- and eventually collided with a Chevy Monte Carlo AND a Honda CR-V.

The collision was bad, both Howard and the driver of the Honda -- a 55-year-old man -- died at the scene.

The driver of the Chevy was transported to a nearby hospital. The condition of the semi driver is unknown.

30-year-old Howard was drafted by the Oakland Raiders and blossomed into a star. He also played for the Bengals and most recently the Falcons. He was cut by ATL on November 12.

The 24-year-old woman who said Andy Kaufman was still alive -- and that she was his daughter -- is sticking to her story ... but her eyes say otherwise.

Andy Kaufman is dead as a doornail and he's NOT coming back, so says his last girlfriend -- who tells TMZ, she watched him die ... and the self-proclaimed "daughter" who revealed herself this week is a big fat phony.

56-year-old Lynne Margulies tells us, she was present inside the West Hollywood hospital room when Kaufman passed away in 1984 from a rare form of lung cancer. She was there, and she insists she saw him die with her own eyes.

She says, "I was in the hospital room. I was there. They would have had to switch bodies."

Lynne is convinced the 24-year-old woman who claimed she was Kaufman's daughter this week at the Gotham Comedy Club is just "pulling an Andy" and trying to perpetuate the myth that the comic's still alive.

Lynne believes Andy's brother Michael -- who was hosting the 9th Annual Andy Kaufman Awards when the mystery woman stepped forward -- is in on it too.

If that's not enough, we've also obtained Andy's official L.A. County death record, which lists his date of death as May 16, 1984.

So now we'll ask again ...

Andy Kaufman is still alive and his death in 1984 was a HOAX ... so says a 24-year-old woman who claims to be his daughter ... and here's the thing -- her claim is NOT without some evidence.

It all went down Monday at the 9th Annual Andy Kaufman Awards at the Gotham Comedy Club in NYC. The event was hosted by Andy’s brother Michael ... and during his closing speech, the unidentified 24-year-old woman approached the stage.

You have to see it for yourself -- but the woman explained Kaufman has secretly been living as a stay-at-home dad with a wife and daughter after faking his own death from cancer 29 years ago.

The story goes that Andy faked his death to escape the spotlight and live in solitude.

The woman's account dovetails eerily with a story Michael told during the ceremony about a letter he found while going through Andy's stuff -- a letter Andy wrote explaining a plan to fake his death.

As for the evidence, here's what we found:

1. When you look up Andy on the Internet database of record, there is no date of death listed.

2. In 2001, the database shows Andy lived in Cook County, Illinois.

3. There's another address indicating he lived in Westchester County, NY later in 2001.

As for when Andy plans to reveal himself, the woman said he had considered coming out that night -- but backed out at the last minute.

So we gotta ask ...

Shirley Mitchell, the actress who played Marion Strong, Lucy Ricardo's cackling friend on "I Love Lucy" has died.

Mitchell is the last-surviving adult castmember. She died at age 94 of heart failure in her Westwood condo.

Marion Strong has this distinction -- she set up Lucy and Ricky on their first date.

Mitchell was no stranger to sitcoms. She also appeared on the hit show, "Bachelor Father," playing John Forsythe's secretary.

Mitchell also played Opal Clampett on "The Beverly Hillbillies." She also appeared on "Petticoat Junction."

Mitchell was married to pop composer Jay Livingston, who co-wrote "Mona Lisa," and won an Oscar for best song.

Suge Knight says he's on a mission to get Tupac Shakur enshrined on the Hollywood Walk of Fame ... and tells us, if his demands aren't met -- there will be SERIOUS consequences.

Knight was getting his truck washed in Malibu yesterday when he issued his threat -- "If they don't hurry and put Tupac on the Walk of Fame, all the Tupac fans and all the homies are gonna start going down there and just scratching all the other names off."

Knight says no celebs will be off-limits when his boys start destroying the stars -- including Elvis.

He even took a shot at Diddy while making his argument -- ya gotta hear it.

There's more ... Suge also blasted his Interscope Records honcho Jimmy Iovine -- comparing the music mogul to a Ku Klux Klansman (even though Jimmy is now business partners with Dr. Dre).

The woman who called 911 to report the death of "MasterChef" contestant Josh Marks was extremely calm -- considering she just learned there was a dead body in the alley.

TMZ obtained a recording of the 911 call placed after Marks shot himself in an alley in Chicago on October 11.

The woman who calls for help says ANOTHER woman had just rang her doorbell and informed her that she had just discovered a dead body, but she was too afraid to call police.

But the caller, with nerves of steel, calmly explains the situation to the 911 dispatcher -- who sends responders to the scene.

When cops arrived ... they discovered the body was the 7'2" chef -- who shot himself in the head after learning he was suffering from schizophrenia.

Marks was 26.

Michael Jackson would be appalled at the way people are disparaging Conrad Murray .... so says the doctor who just got out of jail for killing the singer.

Dr. Murray -- who clearly uncapped a tube of Just for Men since his release from jail -- says unequivocally -- "I never harmed him [Michael]."

Mrs. Krabappel WILL be written off "The Simpsons" in the wake of the death of the actress who voiced the character ... but it's not going to happen for a while, TMZ has learned.

TMZ spoke with "Simpsons" E.P. Al Jean who tells us ... no one could possibly fill Marcia Wallace's shoes as the voice of Ned Flanders' 2nd wife -- so they're not even going to try.

Al says producers do plan to write Edna off the show -- but there's no rush, because the series is produced so far in advance, Marcia had a year's worth of episodes recorded when she passed away.

TMZ broke the story ... Edna is NOT the mystery character that producers had planned to kill off the show this coming season. Al wouldn't say how Edna will leave Springfield.

As for Marcia, we're told the legendary comedy actress will be laid to rest in the next few days in a private ceremony.

Jason Aldean's tour bus ran over and killed a man early this morning in Indiana ... TMZ has learned.

The accident occurred around 1:30 AM when Aldean's bus ran into a man who walked into the middle of the road ... law enforcement officials tell us.

Cops say Aldean was on the bus when the crash occurred.

We're told the bus driver was not at fault. In fact, cops tell us the driver did everything he could in an effort to minimize impact.

Sheriff Michael Morris tells us the victim was often seen walking around town ... but it's unclear why he walked into traffic.

Rock legend and Velvet Underground frontman Lou Reed died this morning at the age of 71 ... according to reports.

Details surrounding Reed's death are unclear, but he underwent a liver transplant back in May. As TMZ first reported ... complications from the surgery landed him in the ER in late June.

Lou wrote a majority of the Velvet Underground hits, and went on to have success in his solo career -- with 1972's "Walk on the Wild Side" being his most commercial hit.

Rolling Stone first reported Reed's death.

Although VU never achieved pop success ... the band is widely considered one of the most influential bands in punk and glam rock history.

We know you're singing it right now -- "Doo do doo, doo do doo, doo do doo"

1:45 PT -- Marcia's son Mikey tells us the actress passed away due to pneumonia complications ... and that reports saying breast cancer played a role are completely false.

Marcia Wallace -- who voiced Edna Krabappel on "The Simpsons" -- died last night in Los Angeles ... TMZ has learned.

Marcia's caregiver tells us ... the actress passed away at home with her family by her side. We're told she had been sick for the past few months ... but the caregiver couldn't go into specifics.

Wallace has been on TV since the 70's -- and spent 3 decades on various game show panels like "Hollywood Squares", "The $25,000 Pyramid" and "Match Game" ... as well as receptionist Carol Kester on "The Bob Newhart Show."

The actress was also a huge activist for breast cancer ... after being diagnosed with the disease in 1985.

She was 70.

Michael Jackson is KILLING IT in the graveyard ... making more money than any other dead celebrity in Hollywood, including Liz Taylor and Elvis, this according to Forbes.

The mag just released its annual list of top-earning dead celebrities ... and this year, MJ took back the crown from his good friend and fellow dead-person Liz Taylor, last year's top-earner.

Here's the breakdown according to the mag:

1) Michael Jackson, $160 million
2) Elvis, $55 million
3) Charles Schulz, $37 million
4) Liz Taylor, $25 million
5) Bob Marley, $18 million

MJ was #2 last year, but two successful Jacko-inspired Cirque du Soleil shows have shot the King of Pop back to the top.

Besides Liz Taylor's drop, the rest of the list contains the usual suspects ... Einstein, Marilyn Monroe, Bruce Lee ... but there is one notable new name -- Mexican singer Jenni Rivera, who died in a plane crash back in 2012.

The man who allegedly beat Adrian Peterson's 2-year-old son to death was just charged with second degree murder ... TMZ has learned.

Joseph Patterson was charged with second degree murder and 2 counts of first degree manslaughter, as well as aggravated battery of an infant. He was also charged with felony child abuse.

Patterson, who was dating Adrian's baby mama at the time, was supposed to be caring for the child while she was away.