RIP

Joe Alaskey, who voiced legendary cartoon characters like Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Tweety and Sylvester the Cat has died.

Alaskey's family members announced the news of the NY native's death Wednesday night.

Alaskey voiced other Looney Tunes characters as well, including Marvin the Martian and Foghorn Leghorn.

Joe -- who was a successor of voice actor Mel Blanc at Warner Brothers -- voiced many of his famous characters from 1990-1995. Alaskey did some non-Warner Bros' work too, he voiced Grandpa Pickles on Rugrats and was most recently featured on Investigation Discovery's "Murder Comes To Town."

Joe was 63. RIP ... Doc.

Celine Dion is about to take center stage for the first time since husband Rene Angelil died, but not to sing.

We're told Celine's back in Vegas where she'll honor her late husband Wednesday with a celebration of life service. The venue is the Caesars Palace Colosseum ... the site of her Vegas residency.

Celine will speak at the event ... but we're told there's no plan for her to sing.

Rene was laid to rest in Montreal at an elaborate funeral in the Notre-Dame Basilica. A day later, Celine buried her brother ... so it's been a rough start to 2016.

As we previously reported ... she's canceled her Vegas shows until February 23.

Howard Stern Wack Packer "Crackhead Bob" was hospitalized 2 days before his father found him dead ... TMZ has learned.

Bob -- real name George Harvey -- had been "feeling weak" according to his father ... who told cops his son had long suffered with high blood pressure and seizures. He also said Bob had previous strokes and a heart attack ... all symptoms consistent with someone recovering from crack abuse.

He was admitted to a hospital on January 18, and was supposed to have a follow-up doctor's visit on January 20. His father told cops ... when Bob didn't show up at the doc's office, that's when he went to his apartment.

Scott Weiland's ex-wife needed cops to keep the peace after going nuclear when she was barred from taking some of his instruments.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... officers were called to a recording studio in Burbank, CA last week -- where Scott's ex, Mary Forsberg, was causing a scene while trying to make off with a keepsake.

Mary showed up with her and Scott's teenage son -- we're told he wanted one of his dad's guitars -- but an employee of the recording studio refused to give them access.

An argument ensued ... and cops were called to calm everyone down.

Mary was told it was a civil issue ... and would need her lawyer to work out any division of property.

The tension's been building -- as we first reported, Mary filed docs stating Scott wanted her, not widow, Jamie Weiland, to be executor of his will.

Start the countdown to a lawsuit.

"Crackhead Bob" ... one of Howard Stern's Wack Packers, is dead ... the latest in a bizarre string of deaths for the show.

Howard announced the death Monday morning ... saying Bob's father had found him in his apartment in Texas. The cause of death is still unclear at this point.

Bob, whose real name was George Harvey, was a regular on the Stern Show from 1995 to 2001. He'd admitted that smoking crack messed up his speech and left him partially paralyzed.

He made a surprise return to the show in October 2005 with improved speech. 'Crackhead' was 56.

In the last 18 months ... Eric the Actor, Riley Martin and Johnny Fratto have also died.

Keep your head low, Beetlejuice.

The family of a 19 year old USC Berkeley soccer player who died in March claims he was illegally served booze at a USC frat party hours before his death ... this according to a lawsuit obtained by TMZ Sports.

The freshman soccer player, Eloi Vasquez, was killed as he tried to run across the 10 freeway sometime after 2 in the morning on March 28th ... and now his family is pointing the finger at the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity.

In the lawsuit, Vasquez's family says he was allowed into a party at the TKE house even though he had no I.D. -- but the people at the door knew he was likely under 21.

Still, the family claims he was not only served a ton of booze -- but the frat and other party organizers failed to take care of Vasquez when it was obvious he was hammered and unable to care for himself.

Vasquez reportedly left the party around 1:30 AM and somehow got to the 10 freeway -- where he was struck by a car and killed.

The family is suing the entire student executive board of TKE -- from the president to the social chair and even the treasurer -- along with USC and others they believe had a role in the party.

Paris Hilton arrived at LAX Wednesday dressed to pay her last respects to her uncle Monty Brinson.

Paris flew in from Switzerland especially for the funeral of Brinson, who used to be married to her aunt Kim Richards. Monty died Sunday after a long battle with cancer ... and the loss is obviously hitting Paris hard.

She posted a picture collage with Monty calling him an "incredible man with such a huge heart."

R.I.P.

Here's video of the moment Def Leppard had to think their cruise was cursed -- when the host broke the news one of the rockers on board had died.

The deceased was Jimmy Bain, the famed bassist for classic metal groups Dio and Rainbow. He was on the cruise to perform with his new group, Last in Line ... but they never took the stage.

Bain's rumored to have died from pneumonia, but his official cause of death has not been determined.

The whole cruise was filled with mishaps -- including Def Leppard singer Joe Elliott losing his voice! We got Brian Forsythe from the band Kix, also on the cruise, and he explained how the rock show turned into a memorial at sea.

Future is a total dead-end for cops looking for a lead on who gunned down his former bodyguard, Michael Phillips.

Sources close to Future tell us he's devastated by Big Mike's sudden death but hasn't worked with him since 2012.

We're told Future has no information about what went down in the moments leading up to Mike's death. But at the same time we're told he refuses to talk to cops ... even to say he knows nothing.

As we previously reported, the police have several leads but no suspects. They're opening up the Rolodex, hoping Big Mike's contacts might provide some clues.

Legendary actor Abe Vigoda -- who starred in "The Godfather" -- died under hospice care at the age of 94 ... TMZ has learned.

Abe's death had been falsely reported countless times, dating all the way back to 1982.

Abe played Tessio in "The Godfather" and also "The Godfather Part II." In fact, he was still doing the voice for Tessio in 'Godfather' video games as late as 2007.

His most famous role on TV was as Detective Phil Fish on the '80s sitcom "Barney Miller" ... which once worked the infamous hoax reports of Abe's death into a storyline.

He was also the grandfather in "Look Who's Talking."

Abe is survived by his daughter, Carol Vigoda Fuchs. He was married to Beatrice Schy from 1968 until 1992 ... when she passed away.

Police in Georgia want to talk to Future to see if he can help them find whoever killed his former bodyguard.

Michael Phillips was shot and killed Monday at his home in Jonesboro, Georgia ... outside Atlanta. Cops say they don't have any suspects in custody yet, but they have several leads. They're interested in talking to all of Phillips' friends, including Future, to see if they have info that could narrow the search for the gunman.

Investigators tell us they don't think it was gang-related, and Phillips wasn't shot in a high crime area.

Freebandz paid his respects on Twitter, after the news broke:

The estate of 'Simpsons' co-creator Sam Simon wants to unload 2 handfuls worth of his Emmys, but the people at the Emmys ain't havin' it ... TMZ has learned.

Simon passed away last year and his foundation listed 10 Emmys -- which he won for "The Simpsons" and "The Tracey Ullman Show" -- through the Abell Auction Company.

They could go for $2,500 - $6,000 each ... however, the Academy of Television says it's the rightful owner of those awards. A rep for the Academy tells us a winner's heirs or successors must "return the statuette to the Academy, and we hold it in storage in memory of the recipient.” Those are the rules.

The Academy broke that news to Simon's estate, and as of Monday morning ... the Emmys have been pulled off the block.

The auction's still going down February 21 and will include pieces from Sam's art collection, like Picasso lithographs and a mini "Thinker" -- but your shot at a 'Simpsons' Emmy is officially dead.

Monty Brinson, the ex husband of Kim Richards, has died from lung cancer .... TMZ has confirmed.

Kim and Monte were married for only 3 years -- from 1985 - 1988 -- but they remained close after their split and even lived together in past few years when he was battling cancer.

Kim was very open ... Monty's struggle sometimes pushed her over the edge in her own battle with addiction -- something well-chronicled on "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills."

Rick Hilton says, "We have lost Monty Brinson after a brave battle of cancer. His heart was as big as the moon and he was loved by all he met. He will be sorely missed. I love YOU always."

Monty was 58. RIP.

Celine Dion endured her second funeral in as many days ... this time burying her brother.

Celine, her mother and sister arrived at a chapel in Quebec to bury Daniel Dion, who died one week ago today from cancer.

Multiple people connected to Lawrence Phillips -- including his criminal attorney -- tell TMZ Sports the suicide note found with his body was NOT in the NFL star's handwriting ... adding more doubt to claims he took his own life.

As we previously reported, Phillips' family says they aren't buying the explanation from Kern Valley State Prison -- that Phillips committed suicide in his cell last week.

Now, Phillips' attorneys say the key to the case could be the handwriting in the note found in Phillips' sock on the day of his death.

Lawrence's lawyer paraphrased the letter to USA Today Sports:

"Did you hear the one about the football player who hung himself from the TV mount in his cell?" the letter read.

The lawyer explained, "And where it said football player, it looked like somebody after the fact put the letter 'X' before 'football,' so it said 'X-football player.'"

Phillips had hand penned dozens of letters during his time behind bars -- he definitely had a distinct style to his handwriting.

Lawrence's attorney says the ex-NFL star's family is now in the process of hiring an independent investigator to look into Phillips' death ... believing he may have been murdered.

Thousands of people showed up for the funeral of Celine Dion's husband, Rene Angelil.

The funeral was held at Notre-Dame Basilica in Montreal, where the couple married in 1994. Guests included friends, family and French Canadian politicians. Dion's 14-year-old son gave the eulogy.

Lines stretched around the block of the cathedral Thursday for the public viewing, where Celine stoically greeted a number of mourners.

The funeral started at noon Pacific Time and wrapped up around 2 PM PT.