RIP

Best selling novelist Jackie Collins passed away Saturday, she was 77-years-old.

Collins has sold more than 500 million novels globally and all 32 of her books appeared on The New York Times bestsellers list.

Collins' family posted a statement on their Facebook saying, "It is with tremendous sadness that we announce the death of our beautiful, dynamic and one of a kind mother, Jackie Collins, who died of breast cancer today."

Jackie was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer six-and-a-half years ago.

Ex-Laker Ronny Turiaf says the death of Moses Malone at only 60-years-old ... hit very close to home for him ... since he too has dealt with life-threatening heart issues.

Turiaf was in L.A. Sunday night, and he opened up about Malone's legendary game -- and said it immediately reminded him about his 2005 open heart surgery. Seems Ronny assumed Malone had gone by heart attack, since he wasn't that old.

Turns out he was right. We broke the story ... the Medical Examiner says Malone died from heart disease.

On a lighter note -- former NBA star John Salley reminisced about ballin' against the "Chairman of the Boards."

NBA great Moses Malone died due to a severe hardening of his arteries ... TMZ Sports has learned.

8:30 A.M. PST -- It has been revealed the victims are American pilot Alan Purwin and Colombian pilot Carlos Berl. A third passenger, American Jimmy Garind was rushed to the hospital with serious injuries.

Two crew members from Tom Cruise's new movie "Mena" were killed on set Friday after a plane went down in Colombia.

Reports say the small twin-engine plane went down with 2 American pilots and a Colombian citizen on board. It has been used during production to transport crew members.

We do know Cruise was NOT on board. He had wrapped filming earlier in the day. There are reports the plane went down in bad weather near Medellin.

The movie is about a pilot who worked for drug lord Pablo Escobar.

Kerry Simon -- the "Iron Chef" winner known as the "Rock 'n' Roll Chef," has died.

Kerry had battled a rare form of Parkinson's disease called MSA. He went public with his diagnosis in 2013 and his condition deteriorated. He had been confined to a wheelchair.

Simon got his big break when Ivana Trump hired him as a chef at the famed Plaza Hotel in NYC.

He owned several big restaurants in Vegas, including Simon Kitchen and Bar at the Hard Rock, Simon at Palms, and KGB at Harrah's. They were all populated by celebs.

He also owned other restaurants around the country.

Martin Milner, who starred in the huge hit '60s and '70s show "Adam 12" -- which spawned generations of kids who wanted to become cops -- has died.

L.A. Police Chief Charlie Beck tells TMZ, "Milner's depiction of a professional and tough yet compassionate cop led to thousands of men and women applying to become LAPD officers, including me."

Milner also starred in another enormous show -- "Route 66" -- which was a big hit in the '60s.

The actor had roles on several other big hit shows, like "Columbo," "Swiss Family Robinson," "Valley of the Dolls" and "Murder She Wrote."

We're told he died peacefully at home, surrounded by his family.

Carter Lay, an heir to the Frito-Lay potato chip empire, was found dead in his L.A. home Thursday.

Cops tell TMZ they got a call around noon for an unconscious male. When they arrived they found Carter in his bedroom, unresponsive. CPR failed and he was pronounced dead on the scene.

Carter was the grandson of Herman Lay -- the founder of Frito-Lay. The company is valued at $13.1 billion, according to Forbes.

An autopsy is underway. We're told there is nothing suspicious surrounding his death.

A friend of Lay tells TMZ he recently beat leukemia.

Carter, who has 2 kids, was 44.

Amanda Peterson -- who starred in "Can't Buy Me Love" died from an accidental overdose of a deadly combination of drugs.

The 43-year-old disappeared just before the 4th of July and her body was found on July 5th.

According to the Weld County Coroner in Colorado, Peterson had a variety of prescription drugs in her system, including benzodizepines (anti-anxiety meds), opiates and phenothiazines (an anti-psychotic medication). She also had marijuana in her system.

One of the drugs in her system -- Gabapentin -- was prescribed for pain and the medical examiner said she had 6 times the normal level in her system.

The report says Peterson was "naive to opiates."

The toxicology report says a week before her death she told someone she ingested morphine medication she got from friends. The reports says she was self-medicating to control pain.

As for why she died, the report says it was because of a "morphine effect" ... which causes respiratory failure.

The first wife of Marlon Brando is turning over in her grave because her dying wish -- to be buried side-by-side with her son, Christian Brando -- was denied by Christian's first wife.

Anna Kashfi was laid to rest Wednesday in Kalama, WA after succumbing to breast and colon cancer. What friends planning her funeral didn't realize ... is that Mary Brando had snatched the prime real estate next to Christian's grave -- even though they'd divorced 21 years before his death.

Funeral organizers went to plan B, and instead buried Anna in the plot directly above Christian -- so they're now head-to-head.

Mary is still alive ... and Brando family sources tell us Anna's estate contacted her to try to buy back the prized plot, but she refused. That's more bad blood than a T. Swizzle video.

Wes Craven ... legendary horror director of "Nightmare on Elm Street" and "Scream," has died.

Craven passed away Sunday at his home in Los Angeles after battling brain cancer.

Along with creating one of the most feared movie monsters of all time -- Freddy Kreuger -- Craven is also known for horror classics like "The Hills Have Eyes" and "Last House on the Left."

He is survived by his wife, three children, and grandchildren. He was 76.

NBA legend Darryl Dawkins -- nicknamed "Chocolate Thunder" for his monster dunks -- has died at the age of 58 ... TMZ Sports has confirmed.

Toby Sheldon -- who became famous for spending more than $100k to look like Justin Bieber -- has been found dead ... TMZ has learned.

We're told Toby's body was found in a Motel 6 in the San Fernando Valley on August 21. He has been reported missing since August 18.

Law enforcement tells TMZ, police found drugs in the room but it's unclear how he died.

When Toby went missing, the LAPD said the disappearance may have been triggered by a breakup with his boyfriend.

The 35-year-old had appeared on the shows "Botched" and "My Strange Addiction."

Anna Kashfi, mother of Marlon Brando's first son, has died in Washington state.

Kashfi married Brando in 1957, not too long after meeting at the commissary at Paramount Studios. She gave birth to Christian Brando in 1958. The next year she and Marlon divorced -- they fought for custody of Christian ... with Marlon eventually winning.

Kashfi said she was born in India, and raised in Great Britain. In the early '50s, she starred in movies with Rock Hudson ("Battle Hymn") and Spencer Tracy ("The Mountain").

She wrote a tell-all book about her life with Marlon in 1979 called, "Brando for Breakfast."

Christian, you may recall, shot and killed his sister's boyfriend, pled guilty to voluntary manslaughter and served 6 years in prison. He died in 2008, and was buried in Kalama, Washington ... the same town where Anna lived.

The LAPD detective who investigated the death of Biggie Smalls died of an apparent heart attack while interviewing an L.A. County Sheriff's captain about Biggie's murder ... TMZ has learned.

Russell Poole was at the Sheriff's Homicide Bureau Wednesday interviewing the captain for a book he was writing about the case. Poole believed LAPD officers who worked off duty for Suge Knight had a hand in Biggie's killing ... as retaliation for Tupac's murder.

We're told Poole was interviewing the captain when he clutched his chest, said "I think I'm having a heart attack," and then keeled over.

Law enforcement sources tell us Poole -- who was 58 -- made it known he believed the LAPD wanted him dead. There's no evidence of foul play, and in fact we're told Poole suffered from chronic high blood pressure.

"Rowdy" Roddy Piper died from a blood clot in his lungs ... TMZ has learned.

We've obtained a copy of the death certificate, which shows the wrestling legend had pulmonary embolism (a blood clot) that triggered a heart attack.

The death certificate helps explain the clot ... Roddy suffered from hypertension for years, resulting in chronic high blood pressure. Clotting can occur as a result of high blood pressure.

And the document reminds everyone how much of a force Roddy was in his profession ... his occupation is listed as "PROFESSIONAL WRESTLER ... 45 YEARS."

51-year-old Lenny B. Robinson, better known as The Route 29 Batman, was fatally struck by a car Sunday night around 10:30 pm.

Robinson was on his way home from a car show in West Virginia after his 'Batmobile' -- a black Lamborghini -- broke down on the I-70 near Hagerstown, MD.

Robinson became the President for “Superheroes for Kids, Inc.” after he sold his commercial cleaning business ... he would regularly visit sick children in hospitals. His site says his mission was to "entertain ill and terminally ill children by appearing to them as Batman."

He gained fame when video of a 2012 traffic stop went viral after he was pulled over in his Batmobile.

#RIP

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