RIP

William Clay Ford, owner of the Detroit Lions, has died from pneumonia. He was 88.

Ford was the last surviving grandson of Ford Motor Co. founder Henry Ford.

Lions team president Tom Lewand said in a statement, "It is with profound sadness that we mourn the loss of Mr. Ford and extend our deepest sympathies to Mrs. Ford and to the entire Ford family. No owner loved his team more than Mr. Ford loved the Lions."

Sheila MacRae -- who played Alice Kramden on "The Honeymooners," has died.

MacRae did not appear in the original episodes in 1955. She appeared on the wildly popular "Jackie Gleason Show" from 1966 - 1970. The show recreated "The Honeymooners" in featured segments.

The original Alice was played by Audrey Meadows. She died in 1996.

As for MacRae ... she reportedly died in an actor's nursing home in New Jersey. Sheila was 93 years old.

The doctor who invented "Tommy John Surgery" ranks up with Jackie Robinson when it comes to people who changed baseball forever ... so says Tommy John himself.

TMZ Sports spoke with the iconic MLB pitcher after the passing of Dr. Frank Jobe -- the man who pioneered the elbow surgery that saved Tommy's pitching career ... and countless others.

The surgery, which Jobe first performed on Tommy in 1974, was revolutionary ... in which a torn tendon in the elbow is replaced with a healthy tendon from somewhere else in the body.

John was the first major athlete to undergo the procedure ... and went from considering retirement to winning 164 GAMES following the surgery.

But Tommy says Dr. Jobe wasn't 100% confident it was going to work before he went under the knife.

"Before the surgery, Frank said to me 'do you have something else to do? I'm not sure this is going to work.' He knew my wife was pregnant."

Fortunately, the whole thing worked out ... now more than 1/3 of active MLB pitchers have undergone the "Tommy John surgery."

John says ... "Three people changed baseball more than anyone: Jackie Robinson, who broke the color barrier. Marvin Miller who changed the players union. And Frank Jobe, who revolutionized the medical side of baseball."

Tommy says he was surprised when he learned of Jobe's passing this week ... explaining, "I sent Frank an email a few weeks ago and I told him 'if I get into the Hall of Fame, I want your butt standing next to me.' He was one of the most important people in my career."

Elizabeth Taylor is causing strife in the gay world 3 years after her death ... a portrait of the late icon is allegedly being held HOSTAGE by a famous gay club, and a lawsuit is brewing.

Jesse Davis -- who worked as a VIP manager for The Abbey in West Hollywood for years -- tells TMZ, ET personally gifted the painting to him in 2009 ... and he thought The Abbey would be the perfect place to display it.

Jesse says the painting quickly became a fixture in the club -- with tourists flocking there for a glimpse -- but when he left in 2011 ... the club would not release the portrait.

The painting hangs on The Abbey's wall to this day, and Jesse's patience has worn out ... either the Abbey returns it or it will be on the receiving end of a lawsuit.

Tragedy struck on the set of the "Entourage" movie today -- TMZ has learned, a crew member's dog got hit by a car and died.

Sources tell us, Tucker -- a 1-year-old Aussie Shepherd -- somehow escaped from a production trailer and darted onto busy Wilshire Blvd near downtown L.A.

We're told Tucker was immediately taken to a nearby vet, but it was too late. The dog passed away from his injuries. Tucker was surrounded by friends and family at the time of his death.

Olympic sprinter Oscar Pistorius arrived to court in South Africa for Day 1 of his murder trial Monday -- and it's already getting intense ... with a neighbor saying she heard "bloodcurdling screams" the night of the shooting.

Pistorius -- aka "Blade Runner" -- shot his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine's Day 2013 -- and he's been charged with premeditated murder. Oscar pleaded not guilty to the shooting -- and claims it was accidental because he thought Reeva was an intruder who got inside the house.

Today, Oscar's neighbor recounted what she remembered from that night -- "Just after 3, I woke up from a woman's terrible screams. Then I also heard a man screaming for help. Three times he yelled for help."

The neighbor said her husband immediately called authorities.

The notes from Mickey Mantle's emotional farewell address -- scribbled from his deathbed in 1995 -- is about to hit the auction block ... TMZ Sports has learned.

The speech is legendary ... televised from the Baylor University Medical Center on July 12, 1995 ... when a dying Mantle begged his fans, "Please don't do drugs and alcohol. God only gave us one body."

Now, we're told Grey Flannel Auctions will be opening up bidding on the handwritten notes for the speech that Mick had earlier scribbled on the back of a PGA tour score card in his hospital room.

One of the most memorable lines from the speech -- "I didn't know how Lou Gehrig could here [sic] at home plate knowing he was going to die and say he was the luckiest man on the face of Earth [sic]. Now I think I know."

GFA tells us the item will hit the auction block at the end of April. There will not be a starting bid.

Mick died just 4 weeks after the speech after suffering from liver cancer, cirrhosis and hepatitis.

He was 63.

Michael Jackson's pianist could have been huge -- hauling in nearly half a million bucks -- if Conrad Murray didn't kill MJ ... so now he's threatening to sue Murray for all the money he lost.

Morris Pleasure was in the band for the "This Is It" tour, and last fall -- while Conrad was still in jail -- he fired off a letter accusing the doctor of robbing him out of what would have been his "highest-paying job."

Pleasure's no stiff -- he's performed with Earth, Wind & Fire, Christina Aguilera, Janet Jackson, and Natalie Cole, Roberta Flack and many more -- but the MJ gig would have been his pinnacle of his career.

We're told Mo P stood to make about $400,000 over 2 years of touring with Michael.

Philip Seymour Hoffman was killed earlier this month by a deadly mixture of heroin, cocaine, and several other drugs -- this according to the NYC medical examiner.

The medical examiner just released the official cause of death -- listing "acute mixed drug intoxication" as the reason PSH passed away suddenly on February 2nd.

According to the medical examiner, the drugs in the actor's system at the time of his death were heroin, cocaine, benzodiazepines (anti-anxiety) and amphetamines (uppers like Adderall).

Mixing heroin and cocaine is often termed "speedballing." It's the same mixture that killed Chris Farley, River Phoenix, and John Belushi.

Legendary "Dating Game" host Jim Lange shared his stage with some huge Hollywood types back in the day ... Ahnald, Farrah, even Michael Jackson!

Sure the occasional serial killer found victims love with Jim's help. But he was just that good.

R.I.P. big guy.

Ex-WWE superstar Big Daddy V's body was cremated earlier this week ... and his widow has slightly eerie plans for the ashes ... TMZ has learned.

Cassandra Frazier tells TMZ ... the ashes of her husband Viscera -- a.k.a. Nelson Frazier Jr. -- will be put into 500 pendants and placed on necklaces, and then she's going to gift them to his loved ones.

Cassandra says for now she's storing BDV's ashes in an urn at home until their she's ready to hand out the keepsakes.

Jim Lange -- host of "The Dating Game" -- one of the biggest game-type shows in the history of TV -- is dead.

Lange was a huge presence on the show ... which pitted 3 bachelors against each other to impress a girl ... and the end game was a date. Lange was spectacularly charming and very funny.

Among the bachelors who appeared on the show -- Michael Jackson, Steve Martin and Arnold Schwarzenegger. And get this ... Farrah Fawcett was one of the girls who had to choose, and she was introed as "an accomplished artist and sculptress."

The MJ show is hysterical. Michael -- who was a teenager -- says, "I've never been out on a date before. What do two kids like us do on a date?"

Lange died from a heart attack. He was 81.

And get this ... One of the most notorious serial killers ever -- Rodney Alcala, was not only a contestant on "The Dating Game," he won.

James Jacks -- who produced "The Mummy" and dozens of other movies -- believed he could buy immortality ... because he gave a bloody fortune to his church "to pray for [his] immortal soul."

Jacks' handwritten will is bizarre. In addition to giving $500K to The St. Charles Borromeo Church of Toluca Lake, he directed that his good friend give party favors to people who attended his wake.

The party favors are movies ... and lots of them. Under the will Jacks left his entire collection to his mom, who gets to pick her favorite 300. The rest of the movies were to be given away to friends and family at the wake. But wait, there's more. Anyone who took a movie on laser disc also got one of his laser disc players! ... because no one has laser disc players anymore.

And there's this. Jacks gave his gun collection to his brother and nephew, with one string attached. They had to take a gun safety course.

And the nicest part ... Jacks gave his longtime housekeeper $15,000.

Former University of Miami football star Jojo Nicolas has died ... days after suffering severe injuries in a horrific car crash involving an 18-wheeler ... his family has confirmed.

Nicolas was driving a silver Lexus that plowed into the back of a big rig on a Miami highway early Tuesday morning. Emergency responders raced to the scene and transported Jojo to a nearby hospital in critical condition.

But Jojo's condition took a turn for the worse Wednesday and he passed at 5pm.

Officials are still investigating the cause of the crash -- and have not ruled out alcohol.

Nicolas was 24.

The Discovery Channel robbed a 15-year-old girl of her father ... when he perished in a helicopter crash while filming a reality show for the network -- this according to a new lawsuit.

Sonya Joubert -- the mother of 15-year-old Sofia Donatelli -- just sued Discovery on her daughter's behalf ... claiming the 2013 chopper accident that killed 45-year-old Michael Donatelli was the result of Discovery's shocking lapse of judgment for allowing a very dangerous flight plan.

Michael Donatelli -- a Special Forces veteran -- was a passenger in the helicopter when it inexplicably crashed just north of L.A. a year ago.

He was starring in an unnamed military-themed reality project for Discovery at the time. The helicopter pilot and a cameraman were also killed in the crash. The show never made it to air.

Aside from the flight plan ... the suit claims Discovery allowed the chopper to fly at low altitudes, over hilly terrain, with low light, poor visibility, and in frost conditions. The lawsuit also claims Discovery should have known the pilot was "unfit" to operate the helicopter.

Ernie Hudson was shaken as he met our photog outside a terminal at LAX, having just learned his "Ghostbusters" co-star Harold Ramis had died.

Ernie is emotional and what he says is clearly heartfelt. He humbly confesses he probably wouldn't have had a career without Ramis ... and then goes on to explain why he was such a legend in the movie business.

And on a sad note ... Hudson says any possibility of a new "Ghostbusters" movie is now out of the question.