Notable deaths of 2012
From legendary singers to legendary actors, take a look back at the notable deaths of 2012.
You may not know his name, but anyone who watches movies and television knows the squat, tough-faced character actor Charles Durning, who died on Christmas Eve, according to his family.
You may not know his name, but anyone who watches movies and television knows the squat, tough-faced character actor Charles Durning, who died on Christmas Eve, according to his family.
Jack Klugman, best known as the messy sports writer Oscar Madison in TV's "The Odd Couple," died Dec. 24, his son Adam said. He was 90.
Jan. 17: Johnny Otis, R&B singer
Jan. 19: Sarah Burke, Canadian freestyle skier
Jan. 20: Etta James, singer
Jan. 22: Joe Paterno, former Penn State football coach
Feb. 1: Don Cornelius, "Soul Train" founder
Feb. 11: Whitney Houston, singer
Feb. 16: Gary Carter, Baseball Hall of Fame catcher
Feb. 29: Davy Jones, lead singer for The Monkees
March 1: Andrew Breitbart, conservative blogger
March 12: Michael Hossack, Doobie Brothers drummer
March 28: Earl Scruggs, bluegrass musician
April 6: Thomas Kinkade, artist
April 7: Mike Wallace, newsman
April 18: Dick Clark, longtime "American Bandstand" host
May 2: Junior Seau, former NFL player
May 4: Adam Yauch (MCA), rapper, member of Beastie Boys
May 6: George "Goober" Lindsey, actor known for roles on "The Andy Griffith Show" and "Hee Haw"
May 8: Maurice Sendak, author of "Where the Wild Things Are," other children's books
May 13: Donald "Duck" Dunn, bassist
May 14: Mictchell Guist, reality star on "Swamp People"
May 16: Mary Kennedy, estranged wife of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
May 16: Chuck Brown, musician, "Godfather of Go-Go"
May 17: Donna Summer, disco legend
May 20: Robin Gibb, one of three brothers who made up the disco group the Bee Gees
May 29: Doc Watson, bluegrass music legend
June 2: Kathryn Joosten, actress
June 3: Richard Dawson, host and actor known for "Family Feud" and "Hogan's Heroes"
June 4: Eduard Khil, viral Web's "Mr. Trololo"
June 5: Ray Bradbury, author ("Fahrenheit 451")
June 12: Henry Hill, former member of the Lucchese family of mobsters and the man immortalized by Martin Scorsese's film "Goodfellas."
June 16: Nayef bin Abdulaziz, Saudi crown prince
June 17: Rodney King, victim of a police beating in 1991. The officers' acquittal in 1992 sparked riots in Los Angeles.
June 26: Nora Ephron, novelist, filmmaker and screenwriter
June 30: Yitzhak Shamir, former Israeli prime minister
July 03: Andy Griffith, actor, director, producer
July 8: Ernest Borgnine, film, television actor
July 10: Maria Cole, widow of singer Nat "King" Cole and mother of singer Natalie Cole.
July 15: Celeste Holm, actress
July 16: Stephen Covey, author ("The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People")
July 16: Jon Lord, Deep Purple's keyboard player
July 16: Kitty Wells, country legend
July 23: Sally Ride, first American woman to fly in space
July 24: Sherman Hemsley, actor
July 31: Gore Vidal, author
Aug. 7: Marvin Hamlisch, composer
Aug 13: Helen Gurly Brown, Cosmopolitan magazine publisher
Aug 13: Johnny Pesky, Boston Red Sox player, manager, announcer
Aug. 14: Actor Ron Palillo (left)
Aug. 19: Tony Scott, film director
Aug. 20: Actress comedienne Phyllis Diller
Aug. 25: Neil Armstrong, NASA astronaut, test pilot, aerospace engineer, first man to walk on the moon
Sept. 1: Hal David, song lyricist
Sept. 2: Rev. Sun Myung Moon, founder of the Unification Church
Sept. 3: Michael Clarke Duncan, actor
Sept. 6: Art Modell, owner of Baltimore Ravens
Sept. 11: J Christopher Stevens, U.S ambassador to Libya
Sept. 25: Andy Williams, singer and Emmy-winning TV host
Sept. 29: Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, former publisher of The New York Times
Oct. 10: Alex Karras, former NFL player and actor
Oct. 13: Gary Collins, actor, TV and radio host
Oct. 14: Arlen Specter, former senator from Pennsylvania
Oct. 25: Emanuel Steward, boxing trainer (his pupils included Sugar Ray Leonard, Julio Cesar Chavez, Leon Spinks, Evander Holyfield and Wladimir Klitschko)
Nov. 23: Larry Hagman, actor known for his role in "Dallas"
Nov. 24: Hector "Macho" Camacho, boxer
Dec. 5: Dave Brubeck, jazz composer and pianist
Dec. 9: Jenni Rivera, singer
Dec. 12: Ravi Shankar, sitar player
Dec. 17: Daniel Inouye, senator from Hawaii
Dec. 19: Robert Bork, former Supreme Court nominee
