RIP

Sad news for famed golf commentator David Feherty ... who revealed his son, Shey, passed away from a drug overdose on his 29th birthday.

"My first born son is gone from me, dying from an overdose on his 29th birthday," Feherty posted on social media ... "Bless his sweet heart, I will fight on."

Shey died on July 29th. Funeral services are set for Tuesday.

The former PGA golfer has also battled substance abuse himself and previously said alcoholism and mental illness run in his family.

In lieu of flowers, the family is asking mourners to donate to the Center for Addiction and Recovery Studies.

Sam Shepard -- the brilliant playwright who won a Pulitzer Prize and also was nominated for an Oscar -- has died.

Sam had been battling with ALS and reportedly died Sunday peacefully in his Kentucky home. The website Broadway World reported he was surrounded by his children and sisters.

Sam won the coveted Pulitzer Prize back in 1979 for the play "Buried Child." He penned 44 plays and was nominated for an Academy Award for best supporting actor for the 1983 film, "The Right Stuff."

New York Magazine hailed him as the greatest American playwright of his generation. Sam starred in a bunch of movies -- including "Black Hawk Down" and "Swordfish" -- and most recently starred in Netflix's "Bloodline."

He was married to O-Lan Jones for 15 years and was Jessica Lange's longtime partner for over 2 decades. They had 2 kids together.

Sam was 73.

#RIP

Drita D'Avanzo thinks the landlord trying to remove a mural of her late "Mob Wives" friend and co-star Angela Raiola from his building is BS -- literally -- 'cause it's a hit with tourists.

Drita tells us the excuse the landlord's offering of the Big Ang tribute being "offensive" doesn't hold water ... since she has folks from all over the globe tell her otherwise everyday.

She gets pretty emotional talking about the mural -- which is in jeopardy of being removed entirely. It's been almost 18 months since Big Ang died from cancer, but Drita still gets choked up talking about her.

Still, Drita admits saving the mural will be an uphill battle. The guy owns the place, after all.

Chester Bennington's family and closest friends gathered for a private funeral near his home in Palos Verdes, CA.

A couple hundred people attended the service Saturday afternoon at South Coast Botanic Garden -- many of the guests were musicians who'd played or toured with Chester and Linkin Park. A full stage, including a drum kit, was set up for musical tributes to be performed.

Police provided tight security at the event. As TMZ first reported ... the family opted for a private funeral, instead of a massive open service. Instead, fans have organized numerous memorials around the globe for the frontman, who hanged himself just over a week ago.

Fittingly, all funeral attendees had to have wrist bands and an access pass -- similar to most concert VIP passes.

Chester was 41. #RIP

Chester Bennington will be celebrated far and wide by Linkin Park fans who want to pay their final respects ... and the band's completely on board.

Linkin Park's Mike Shinoda tweeted a link telling fans about a monumental effort to pay tribute to Chester all over the world -- in L.A., NYC, Vancouver, Paris, Copenhagen, Japan and beyond.

TMZ broke the story ... Chester's family wants a private memorial, but is fully aware fans also want to properly say goodbye. And now they can. LPFanCorner is spearheading the public memorial.

The group put together a full list of memorials around the world. In fact ... some will be held at venues where the band was supposed to play before canceling its tour.

Still unclear if band members will attend any of the events.

Chester Bennington's wife, Talinda, says her family's life went from "fairytale" to "sick Shakespearean tragedy" since her husband's suicide a week ago.

Talinda released a statement, saying ... "How do I move on? How do I pick up my shattered soul? The only answer I know is to raise our babies with every ounce of love I have left. I want to let my community and the fans worldwide know that we feel your love. We feel your loss as well. My babies are so young to have lost their daddy."

Chester, who has 3 kids with Talinda, hanged himself in the family's new Rancho Palos Verdes Estates home.

Talinda says she lost her soulmate and her kids lost their hero. Talinda also asks that fans help keep his memory alive as he's now "pain free singing his songs in all of our hearts."

She also asks fans to turn to one another when they're in pain, and adds, "Chester would've
wanted us to do so."

Marty Sklar, legendary Imagineer and designer of Disney parks, died Thursday at his home in the Hollywood Hills.

Sklar was one of the company's last remaining links to Walt Disney. He started with Disney in 1955 and helped Walt market Disney World and Epcot Center. He went on to become the Mouse House's top Imagineer -- supervising the design of its parks in Paris, Tokyo and Shanghai.

He officially retired in 2009 as an Imagineering ambassador and, officially ... a Disney Legend.

Sklar was 83.

Martin Landau died at UCLA Medical Center when he suffered severe internal bleeding which led to his organs shutting down.

According to his death certificate, obtained by TMZ, the Hollywood icon's immediate cause of death is hypovolemic shock -- which is what happens to the body when you lose massive amounts of blood.

The document also lists metabolic acidosis, intra-abdominal hemorrhage and diffuse atherosclerotic vascular disease. Translation: his organs shut down due to internal bleeding, and he also had hardening of the arteries.

TMZ broke the story ... Landau died nearly 2 weeks ago at the age of 89.

Police quickly informed Venus Williams she was "at fault" in her fatal car accident, but also explained why she wasn't being cited -- namely that she got "caught in the middle."

Palm Beach Gardens PD released the full bodycam footage from officers on the scene of the June 9 accident. One officer approached Venus and asked her to describe what happened.

She was totally upfront with the officer ... explaining how she had entered the intersection, but stopped when another vehicle made a left in front of her.

The cop told Venus he believed she had violated the right of way of Jerome and Linda Barson -- the couple who T-boned her -- but she would not be getting a ticket. The explanation? "I think you got stuck in the middle of the intersection. It's one of those situations where you had the right way, but you lost the right of way."

His advice to Venus ... let the insurance companies sort it all out.

The bodycam footage also includes the Barsons sitting in their Hyundai, waiting for treatment. Their airbags had deployed and they were clearly shaken up. As we reported ... Linda suffered several broken bones, while her 78-year-old husband, Jerome, was hospitalized for 2 weeks before he died from his injuries.

3:00 PM PT -- A company spokesperson has just responded to the PRN lawsuit, telling TMZ, "These claims are entirely meritless and completely ridiculous. We will vigorously defend ourselves with regard to this matter."

There's a fortune teller in "Grand Theft Auto: Vice City" that looks and sounds WAY too much like the late TV psychic Miss Cleo ... at least according to Miss Cleo's estate which just sued the game makers.

Psychic Readers Network -- which holds the rights to Miss Cleo -- just filed suit against Rockstar Games and others who helped make and distribute the 'GTA' classic ... for allegedly jacking her image and Jamaican accent and slapping it on their character, Auntie Poulet.

In the suit, obtained by TMZ, PRN claims it's spent well over $100 million creating and promoting Miss Cleo's persona over the years, and that Rockstar and co. have gone on to make more than $500 mil exploiting it's character.

They also say Rockstar even hired the actress who used to play Miss Cleo in real life, Youree Harris, and had her voice the character of Auntie Poulet, which is true. We broke the story ... Harris died from cancer last July.

One funny thing about this ... 'Vice City' came out like 15 years ago -- but PRN says Rockstar continues to make money off the game due to reissues and bundle 'GTA' packages that are being sold to this day.

We've reached out to Rockstar for comment ... so far, no word back.

The moment an Ohio State Fair ride turned deadly in a horrific accident -- which hurled riders through the air -- was captured on video.

At least 1 person died Wednesday night and seven others were injured when part of the Fire Ball ride broke off its hinges ... violently ejected people from their seats and sent them flying to the ground.

Officials said the fair will be open Thursday, but no rides will be running until they're deemed safe.

Moose and Squirrel very sad ... June Foray, the voice of Rocky, and also Natasha Fatale, died Wednesday.

A close friend of June's confirmed her death with a post on Facebook, saying ... "With a heavy heart again I want to let you all know that we lost our little June today at 99 years old."

June was a legendary voice actress, working in Hollywood for more than a decade before she landed "The Bullwinkle Show" roles in the late 1950s. She worked steadily on tons of animated TV shows and feature films -- more than 300 credits -- right up until 2014.

She won a Daytime Emmy in 2012 for "The Garfield Show" and a Grammy in 1968 for her role as Cindy Lou Who in "How the Grinch Stole Christmas."

Chester Bennington's family wants to keep his funeral a close family and friends affair.

Sources close to the late Linkin Park frontman tell TMZ ... the family wants to keep the memorial intimate -- and while they're aware fans want to pay their respects ... the plan, for now, is a private ceremony. We're told the family just hasn't figured out how to give fans their moment to honor Chester.

As for Chester's final resting place -- we're told the family's not jumping at the offer to take the plot next to Chris Cornell at Hollywood Forever Cemetery because it's in such a public space.

Chester Bennington's death investigation has turned up no obvious signs of drug use ... TMZ has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell us investigators found no illegal drugs or prescription drugs while searching the home following Chester's suicide. As we reported ... there was a partially drunk bottle of alcohol in the bedroom where he was found hanging.

The Linkin Park frontman was open about his drug abuse issues -- acid, meth, crack and more. His bandmates were well aware of his demons, and he credited his bandmates for staging an intervention.

It's unclear if Chester had any drugs in his system at the time of death. Toxicology results are pending.

Frank Sinatra's fourth and final wife, Barbara Sinatra, has died ... almost 20 years after her famous husband passed.

Barbara died Tuesday at her Rancho Mirage home in California after months of declining health ... according to a rep for her org, the Barbara Sinatra Children's Center Foundation.

The rep told the Desert Sun ... "She died comfortably surrounded by family and friends at her home."

Barbara married Frank in 1976 and remained his wife for nearly 22 years -- the longest of his 4 marriages. She made a name for herself as an advocate for victims of child abuse, building up her foundation with Frank's help.

The Barbara Sinatra Children's Center Foundation provided counseling to child abuse victims, among other services. Barbara and Frank did not have any children together.

Kyara, the last orca born in captivity at SeaWorld, has died at just 3 months old.

The female killer whale died Monday at SeaWorld's San Antonio park from an infection, likely pneumonia. Trainers had been treating her over the weekend, but her condition continued to deteriorate.

Kyara was born in April, and although the park announced the end of its breeding program back in March 2016 ... SeaWorld says she was conceived before that. Orcas are pregnant for up 18 months.

The breeding program was 86'd after immense public pressure following the airing of the 2013 documentary, "Blackfish" ... which focused on the plight of Tilikum.