Tattle: Beverly Hills 'Househusband' driven to suicide

REALITY TV has claimed another victim.

Russell Armstrong, 47, the estranged husband of Taylor Armstrong, a "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" housewife, was found dead in his L.A. home Monday.

He apparently hanged himself.

There was no note, but there was plenty of speculation.

TMZ.com, which said Russell was actually staying at a friend's home when he took his own life, also said the former investor was struggling with his impending divorce and a mountain of debt.

His attorney, Ronald Richards, told TMZ, "I feel bad because his credit cards weren't working. . . . He had tremendous financial problems."

Richards added: "He was also extremely bummed out about the divorce with Taylor. As far as a will, even if he does have a will, they don't have any assets, so I'm not sure what there would be left to leave. I am extremely saddened. . . . I had no idea he was depressed."

TMZ said Russell made millions during the dot-com boom of the 1990s but filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2005. At the time he said he had less than $50,000 in assets . . . and debt in the millions.

Russell's relationship with Taylor was a big part of the melodrama on the first season of "Housewives," one in a series of incredibly annoying shows celebrating opulence and boorish behavior.

Taylor often discussed the couple's relationship troubles with the other women on the show - and America.

In February, she wrote on her website that she and Russell "are working on our communication and spending more time together without our Blackberrys" and that "the show gave us a wakeup call and for that, we are thankful."

In her last interview before Russell's death, Taylor went to the opening of the Kendra Scott jewelry store and told Life & Style that she and Russell were trying to keep life as normal as possible for their 5-year-old daughter, Kennedy, through their divorce.

"We've been working hard to say really positive things about each other to her and to share her as best we can. We've had a very amicable separation," she told Life & Style. "The proceedings are going smoothly, and right now - fingers crossed - I don't anticipate anything different."

As of yesterday, Taylor had not told Kennedy what happened to Daddy.

The second season of the show is set to begin Sept. 5. In the opener, filmed months ago, Taylor tells the other housewives that she and Russell are going to therapy.

Later, she bursts into tears at a dinner party when she's told that therapy is a sign of weakness.

She also shops for lingerie.

Court records show that Taylor filed for divorce on July 15. Russell had not yet responded.

The Armstrongs' relationship troubles were set to be part of the show's second season.

Now widowhood can be a part. We're sure designers are lining up to create something black - but wow! - for the funeral.

TMZ reports that production is going to restart . . . today.

Mississippi judge Tomie Green threw out a lawsuit yesterday in which Ablene Cooper alleged that author Kathryn Stockett used her likeness without permission in The Help, a book about relationships between white families and their black maids in the segregated South of the 1960s.

Green dismissed the case because a one-year statute of limitations elapsed between the time when Stockett gave Cooper a copy of the book and when her suit was filed.

* Caroline Gonzalez, the 11-year-old "mayor for a day" of Forney, Texas, knows her first major act in office will be renaming part of Main Street "Justin Bieber Way."

With legislation like that, Caroline might be presidential material.

Gonzalez 2036?

Daily News wire services contributed to this report.