RIP

Seems Brian Griffin won't get a shot at a 3rd novel ... 'cause the martini-swigging, chick-bangin' family dog DIED on "Family Guy" last night.

Brian -- who's been on the show for all 11 seasons -- was hit by a car in last night's episode ... and died from his injuries.

Stewie tried to save his pal by going back in time and preventing the accident -- but he had JUUUST taken apart his time machine, and was unable to rebuild it before Brian croaked.

Brian was replaced by a new dog, Vinnie -- voiced by "Sopranos" star Tony Sirico.

Unclear if Brian will somehow come back to life in future episodes -- but we wouldn't be surprised if he did.

Brian was a good dog. He was an Iraq war veteran. a porn director, coke addict, police dog and (of course) a passionate writer.

Brian was 7ish ... or 49ish in dog years.

Dr. Conrad Murray says he and Michael Jackson were so tight, he would hold his penis for him.

In a bizarre, rambling interview with The Daily Mail, Murray says, "You want to know how close we were? I held his penis every night to fit a catheter because he was incontinent at night."

Murray went on to say, "He wore dark trousers all the time because after he went to the toilet he would drip for hours."

And there's this mystery ... Murray says, "Michael didn't know how to put a condom on, so I had to do it for him."

Murray also discloses some of the things TMZ revealed years ago -- that Murray believes Michael killed himself. Murray claims when he walked out of Michael's bedroom the day he died, "I believe he woke up, got hold of his own stash of Propofol and injected himself. He did it too quickly and went into cardiac arrest."

And, Murray suggests, MJ's kids have 3 different fathers, and Michael isn't one of them. Murray says, "Michael told me he never slept with Debbie Rowe."

And, Murray insists, Michael told him he had been sexually assaulted by one of his doctors while under sedation.

The daughter of the late legendary jazz singer Nina Simone fleeced her mom's Estate and FLAGRANTLY ignored Nina's last wish -- to fund schools for poor kids in Africa ... this according to law enforcement.

Lisa Simone Kelly siphoned more than $2 million that the California Attorney General claims should have been earmarked for music schools in South Africa, Liberia and Ghana. Lisa had access to the money because she was the trustee of her mom's Estate.

The A.G. claims the most flagrant violation is funneling $1.5 mil to Lisa's personal company ... something her mom never approved.

WWE superstar Daniel Bryan's dog died last week ... and the wrestler says he's having a tough time dealing with the loss.

The bearded athlete revealed the tragic news during an interview promoting WWE's Survivor Series pay per view on Sunday ... and said Asparagus the Wonder Dog was his legitimate "best friend."

It's unclear how Asparagus passed away ... but the yellow lab was 11 years old.

A.T.W.D. is survived by an equally cute pooch named Josie.

"Simpsons" star Marcia Wallace's family denied breast cancer had anything to do with the actress' death ... but according to her death certificate, the disease played a significant role.

TMZ obtained a copy of Wallace's death certificate ... which lists pneumonia, sepsis (inflammation due to infection), and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) as the primary causes of death.

The report also says breast cancer was a "significant condition" contributing to her death ... despite the fact Marcia's son initially downplayed reports mentioning cancer.

Billy Ray Cyrus asked a room full of people to quiet down and pay respect to JFK on the 50th anniversary of his death today ... but none of them did ... and it got weird.

The whole thing happened during an interview with Ali Fedotowsky for Will Calder & Lucy Lopez's WPOW Miami show at a crowded press junket in L.A.

B.R.C. is being interviewed at the table next to them ... when suddenly he leaps out of his chair and calls for everyone to quiet down and pay respect to JFK.

Only problem ... there's a whole bunch of interviews going down ... and nobody listens.

Rodney King's family just proved ... death is not a buzzkill in the real estate market ... 'cause they sold the house Rodney died in for a fat profit.

As you may recall ... King was found dead in the home's backyard pool last year in Rialto, California -- and now ... just a year later, his fam unloaded the house for over $100k more than he paid.

Our real estate sources say the realtor who sold the house did what the law requires ... disclose the death, but it had no negative impact on the sale.

Rodney bought the 2,084 square foot home in '01 for $156k ... and it was sold last month for $260k.

It has 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and well ... a swimming pool.

Hopefully they used a lot of chlorine.

Khloe Kardashian is returning fire after her ex-stepmom sued her for defamation -- claiming the woman married her dying father at his weakest moment ... when he could barely stand on his own two feet.

Khloe filed the declaration in Ellen Pearson's lawsuit, describing her experience during Ellen and Robert Kardashian's 2003 wedding ... back when Khloe was just 19.

Khloe says her dad was extremely ill at the ceremony, suffering from severe mental, emotional and physical fatigue, unaware of his surroundings. She says her dad's mental state had been "compromised" due to his stage IV esophageal cancer.

It was so bad ... Khloe claims, "Several ceremony guests assisted my father from his bedroom to the couch and helped to sit him up straight for the ceremony, which took place at my father's couch." Khloe says her dad could only stand for a few minutes.

It's the latest shot fired in the endless legal war between Ellen and the Kardashian family, a fight that also involves Robert Kardashian's diaries ... which allegedly describe Kris Jenner as an abusive mom.

The psychic community is mourning the loss of clairvoyant Sylvia Browne ... including the legendary Miss Cleo who tells TMZ, "I did not see this coming."

Cleo says she hadn't seen Browne in a while -- but says, "Sylvia did much for people while she was here. She was on the top of her game."

When asked if she predicted Sylvia's death, Cleo said ... "I did not see this coming. People seem to think that’s how we operate. Sylvia and I had very different perspective. I have respect for her."

We also asked about how the psychic community felt when Sylvia incorrectly said she could sense kidnapping victim Amanda Berry had died after her abduction.

"I remembered I felt bad for her when the media made a big deal about Amanda this year. It was poor information. People don’t understand that no one is perfect. I don’t believe in absolute predictions."

World famous psychic Sylvia Browne -- who appeared on all sorts of TV shows including "Montel" "Larry King Live" and "Unsolved Mysteries" -- has passed away .. TMZ has learned.

Browne specialized in psychic detective work, and attempted to help on several missing person cases ... with varying results.

Browne's son, Chris, tells TMZ ... Sylvia passed away this morning in San Jose, surrounded by family and friends. She was 77.

Browne most recently took heat after famously announcing that Amanda Berry had died after she went missing in 2003 ... because, as we all know now, she wasn't dead. Sylvia chalked up the misinformation as a simple mistake.

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.