RIP

Seven months after Irons died in a Dallas hotel room, Andy's family released a statement today explaining Irons died from a heart attack caused by the hardening of his coronary arteries. The family says they spoke with a prominent forensic pathologist who explained Irons had a genetic predisposition to early development of heart disease ... which was SOLELY responsible for the heart attack.

However, the toxicology report and the autopsy from the Tarrant County Medical Examiner note a second cause of death -- "acute mixed drug ingestion."

Leona Helmsley's famous dog inherited $12 million when the Queen of Mean died in 2007. Although a judge slashed that amount to $2 million, which was placed in a trust, that was enough to provide the pooch with $8,000 a year for grooming, $1,200 for food and a full-time security guard -- something that became necessary after Trouble received dozens of death threats.

According to the New York Daily News, what remains in the trust will now go to the charitable trust Leona and her hubby left behind. Turns out the dog's death was a secret for months -- she died in December, 2010.

Leona loved the dog more than many of her own flesh and blood. She cut several grandchildren out of her will entirely.

According to his lawyer, Kevorkian passed away at Beaumont Hospital in Michigan, where he had been hospitalized for the past two weeks because of kidney and heart problems.

Kevorkian was believed to have assisted in 130 suicides and was convicted of second-degree murder in 1999. He was sentenced to 10-25 years in prison, but was released in 2007.

Barbara Sinatra dropped the info in her new memoir: "Lady Blue Eyes: My Life with Frank" -- saying Frank "always smelled like lavender" and "made [her] feel special."

She also recounts the singer's alcohol use -- writing, "Gin, I think, made him mean. So when I'd come out of my room and see the gin bottle on the bar, I'd turn right around, go back in my room, lock the door, because I didn't want to deal with it."

RIP.

The actress gained an Emmy nomination in 1986 for her role as Anne Huxtable on the famous sitcom.

In addition to The Cosby Show ... Taylor also made frequent appearances in the 80's as the country-loving grandmother "Harriet" on "Sesame Street".

According to reports, Scott-Heron became sick after returning from a trip to Europe.

Scott-Heron's work paved the way for modern hip-hop, and several rappers -- including Public Enemy front man Chuck D and Eminem -- expressed their condolences via Twitter (link, link).

Conaway -- a notorious substance abuser -- had reportedly fallen into a coma after suffering an overdose earlier this month ... and doctors were not able to revive him.

Jeff's inner struggles became public when he appeared on "Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew" in 2008 and admitted to being addicted to cocaine, alcohol and painkillers.

CNBC President Mark Hoffman released a statement calling Haines a "building block" of the network's programming ... adding "Mark loved CNBC and we loved him back. He will be deeply missed."

Haines was a fixture on NBC's financial network for 22 years -- co-anchoring the "Squawk on the Street" show and providing commentary on everything from the dot com bubble burst to the current financial crisis.

A cause of death has not been released.

Haines was 65.

As TMZ first reported, Savage died soon after the crash.

Randy's brother tells us the wrestler suffered a heart attack behind the wheel and lost control of the vehicle.

Savage's brother, Lanny Poffo, tells TMZ ... the dog's ashes were spread around Randy's favorite tree several years ago, and after Randy is cremated his ashes will be strewn there as well.

Lanny tells us Randy would always say, "If it's good enough for Herc, it's good enough for me!"

Sources tell us the autopsy was completed yesterday and the cause of death is still "pending." We're told the ME did not notice any "extensive trauma" to his body.

According to our sources, it might take anywhere from 4-6 weeks for toxicology results to be completed.

As TMZ first reported, Savage (real name Randy Poffo) died in a car accident on Friday when his car veered across a concrete median, through oncoming traffic, and "collided head-on with a tree."

Officials tell TMZ ... later today, Randy's remains will be transported to the Pinellas County Medical Examiner's Office ... where doctors are scheduled to perform an autopsy on Savage sometime tomorrow.

A rep for the snack tells TMZ, "We’re saddened by the loss. Randy was a beloved ambassador for the Slim Jim brand for many years and will be greatly missed."

Hulk just went to his Twitter page and wrote, "I'm completely devastated, after over 10 years of not talking with Randy, we've finally started to talk and communicate."

He added, "He had so much life in his eyes & in his spirit, I just pray that he's happy and in a better place and we miss him."

"We miss him a lot. I feel horrible about the ten years of having no communication. This was a tough one."

And Hulk wasn't the only wrestling legend who took to Twitter ...

The baseball legend died in his home in Scottsdale, Arizona with his wife Nita at his side.

Killebrew was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in December.

He announced in a press release last week that he was stopping treatment for the disease -- which had "progressed beyond [his] doctors’ expectation of cure."