Mickey Rourke Dead? NO! Internet Celebrity Death Hoax Claims Infamous Actor, Boxer Died in Tragic Snowboarding Accident, FALSE

The latest celebrity to fall victim to the infamously morbid internet death hoax - none other than "The Wrestler" star and former amateur boxer Mickey Rourke. To be clear, such death rumors are NOT true. The bogus report that began circulating on the web earlier this week claims that 60-year-old Rourke died in a tragic snowboarding accident on the icy slopes of Switzerland. If fans remember, this exact same report (originally posted by the pranksters over at Global Associated News) has falsely claimed the lives of several other Hollywood big-names including Adam Sandler, Jim Carry, and Sylvester Stallone. Although "R.I.P. Mickey Rourke" quickly began trending on popular social networking sites including Twitter and Facebook, Mstarz is here to confirm that the "Angel Heart" actor is indeed still alive and well.

Here is the bogus Mickey Rourke obit originally posted by the prank website Global Associated News earlier this week, which sent many "Iron Man 2" fans into a mournful viral tizzy:

"Actor Mickey Rourke is reported to have died shortly after a snowboard accident earlier today - January 25, 2013 (obviously the website generates false up-to-the-date deaths).

The actor & novice snowboarder was vacationing at the Zermatt ski resort in Zermatt, Switzerland with family and friends. Witnesses indicate that Mickey Rourke lost control of his snowboard and struck a tree at a high rate of speed.

Mickey Rourke was air lifted by ski patrol teams to a local hospital, however, it is believed that the actor died instantly from the impact of the crash. The actor was wearing a helmet at the time of the accident and drugs and alcohol do not appear to have played any part in his death."

But if fans continued on to the bottom of the webpage, they would realize that the report is a total hoax. A miniature "disclaimer" states:

"About this web site. FAKE... THIS STORY IS 100% FAKE! This is an entertainment website, and this is a totally fake article based on zero truth and is a complete work of fiction for entertainment purposes! This story was dynamically generated using a generic 'template' and is not factual. Any reference to specific individuals has been 100% fabricated by web site visitors who have created fake stories by entering a name into a blank 'non-specific' template for the purpose of entertainment. For sub-domain info, name removal requests and additional use restrictions: FakeAWish.com, Copyright © 2012 FakeAWish.com All rights reserved."

When fans click on the link for FakeAWish.com, they are taken to a site with a headline that exclaims, "Celebrity Fake News Hoax Generator." From there, anyone who has access to the web can generate a fake celebrity death hoax story. The template only carries six stories, which is why many of the same phony death reports continue circulating on the internet.

So the wise guys over at Global Associated News admit that their reports are completely bogus, but that doesn't stop the "R.I.P." hashtags from trending on Twitter...

@mujah: "F##k. Mickey Rourke is dead. I'm glad that he managed to come back from some serious depths and make some great movies before he went. RIP"

@phojojanel: "What? Mickey Rourke is dead???"

@MelvvillaiN: "Is Mickey Rourke really dead, or is this another hoax?"

So to reiterate, Mickey is still alive and kicking (and so are celebs including Shaggy, Adam Sandler, etc...). As Mstarz suggested before, fans should make sure that they get all their info from credible sources before going crazy on social media... spreading fake celebrity death rumors are exactly what the hoaxsters want!

And in honor of Rourke's still being alive, check out his "Inside the Actors Studio" interview: