Famous People Who Died in 2012

• Armstrong, Neil

  The first human to walk on the moon

• Ben Bella, Ahmed

  Co-founder of FLN and first elected president of Algeria, 1963-65

• Borgnine, Ernest

  The Oscar winning star of the 1955 movie Marty

• Bork, Robert H.

  President Reagan's rejected Supreme Court pick

• Bradbury, Ray

  Author of Fahrenheit 451 and The Martian Chronicles

• Breitbart, Andrew

  The right-wing activist who brought down Rep. Anthony Weiner

• Brubeck, David

  The jazz pianist who did the song "Take Five"

• Clark, Dick

  The host of American Bandstand and New Year's Rockin' Eve

• Colson, Charles "Chuck"

  The jailed Watergate conspirator who became an evangelical Christian leader

• Cornelius, Don

  The creator and host of the musical TV show Soul Train

• Dawson, Richard

  The host of the game show Family Feud

• Diller, Phyllis

  The wild-haired female comedian of the late 20th century

• Ephron, Nora

  The writer and director of Sleepless In Seattle

• Everett, Chad

  Dr. Joe Gannon on Medical Center

• Fuentes, Carlos

  The author of 'The Old Gringo' and 'The Death of Artemio Cruz'

• Gazzara, Ben

  The stage and screen actor who starred in the 1970 film Husbands

• Gibb, Robin

  One-third of the pop group The Bee Gees

• Griffith, Andy

  Star of TV's The Andy Griffith Show and Matlock

• Hagman, Larry

  J.R. Ewing on the TV show Dallas

• Houston, Whitney

  The troubled pop singer of "Saving All My Love For You"

• James, Etta

  R&B singing legend who did "At Last" and "Roll With Me, Henry"

• Jones, Davy

  The good-looking front man for The Monkees

• King, Rodney

  The motorist whose 1991 beating set off the 1992 L.A. riots

• Kinkade, Thomas

  The "Painter of Light" who became a multimillionaire businessman

• Klugman, Jack

  Oscar Madison in TV's The Odd Couple

• Martin, Trayvon

  The Florida teen shot in 2012 while wearing a hoodie

• McGovern, George

  The Democratic candidate for U.S. president in 1972

• Moon, Sun Myung

  Founder of the Unification Church

• Paterno, Joe

  The head football coach at Penn State University, 1966-2011

• Rich, Adrienne

  The feminist-lesbian poet who wrote Diving Into the Wreck

• Ride, Sally

  The first American woman in space

• Rivera, Jenni

  The Mexican-American singer called "La Diva de la Banda"

• Schwarzkopf, H. Norman

  U.S. General during the Persian Gulf War

• Scott, Tony

  The director of the action hit Top Gun

• Sendak, Maurice

  The illustrator who created Where the Wild Things Are

• Shamir, Yitzhak

  Prime Minister of Israel, 1983-1984 and 1986-1992

• Shankar, Ravi

  The sitar virtuoso who influenced The Beatles

• Specter, Arlen

  The Democrat-Republican-Democrat senator from Pennsylvania

• Stevenson, Teófilo

  The Cuban heavyweight who won three Olympic gold medals 

• Summer, Donna

   The Queen of Disco who did "I Feel Love" and "Last Dance"

• Tanning, Dorothea

  The surrealist artist who did Birthday and was married to Max Ernst

• Vidal, Gore

  The smart and sassy author of Burr and Myra Breckinridge

• Wallace, Mike

  The tough TV interviewer who was an original on 60 Minutes

• Watson, Doc

  The blind folk guitarist with the distinctive flat-picking style

• Wells, Kitty

  The Queen of Country Music

• Williams, Andy

   The crooner who sang "Moon River"

• Yauch, Adam

  MCA from the rap group Beastie Boys

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