The following is a list of celebrated notables who took their leave of us in 2012 -- as well as one very personal loss.
- Bob Anderson, fencing champion/fight choreographer "Star Wars", "Lord of the Rings"
- Herb Clarke, weatherman "WCAU-TV"
- Richard Threlkeld, journalist "CBS News"
- Johnny Otis, singer
- Etta James, singer "At Last"
- James Farentino, actor
- Robert Hegyes, actor "Welcome Back, Kotter"
- John Rich, director "All In the Family", "Dick Van Dyke Show", "Good Times"
- Anthony Bevilacqua, cardinal
- Simon Marsden, photographer
- Don Cornelius, TV Host "Soul Train"
- Cindy Johnson-Barr, dear friend
- Ben Gazzara, actor "Anatomy of a Murder"
- Bill Hinzman, actor "Night of the Living Dead"
- Whitney Houston, singer/actress
- David Kelly, actor "The Italian Job", "Fawlty Towers - The Builders"
- John Severin, comic book artist "Cracked"
- Dory Previn, singer "Mythical Kings & Iguanas"
- Davy Jones, singer "The Monkees"
- Sheldon Moldoff, comic book artist "Hawkman", "Batman"
- Ralph McQuarrie, artist/designer "Star Wars"
- Ronnie Montrose, guitarist "Montrose"
- Joan Taylor, actress "Earth Vs. the Flying Saucers"
- Robert B. Sherman, songwriter "Mary Poppins", "The Jungle Book"
- Philip Madoc, actor "Doctor Who - The Brain of Morbius", "Doctor Who - The War Games", "Doctor Who - The Power of Kroll"
- Jimmy Ellis, singer "The Trammps"
- Peter Bergman, comedian "Firesign Theater", "J-Men Forever"
- Jean Giraud, comic book artist "Moebius"
- Sid Couchey, comic book artist "Richie Rich", "Little Dot", "Little Lotta"
- Michael Hossack, drummer "The Doobie Brothers"
- Robert Fuest, director "The Abominable Dr. Phibes"
- Paul Bogart, director "House Without a Christmas Tree", "All In the Family"
- Tonnino Guerra, screenwriter "Blow-Up", "Amarcord"
- Warren Stevens, actor "Forbidden Planet"
- Earl Scruggs, musician
- Jim Marshall, founder of Marshall amps
- James S. Herr, businessman "Herr's Potato Chips"
- Thomas Kinkade, artist
- Mike Wallace, TV journalist "60 Minutes"
- Steve Fredericks, radio host "WIP Sports Radio"
- William Finley, actor "Phantom of the Paradise"
- Dick Clark, TV host "American Bandstand"
- Levon Helm, musician "The Band"
- Jonathan Frid, actor "Dark Shadows"
- Greg Ham, saxophonist "Men at Work"
- Charles Coulson, White House Counsel in Nixon Administration
- Adam Yauch, musician "Beastie Boys"
- George Lindsey, actor "The Andy Griffith Show"
- Maurice Sendak, author "Where the Wild Things Are"
- Everett Lilly, musician "The Lilly Brothers"
- Nicholas Katzenback, US Attorney General
- Vidal Sasson, stylist
- Tony DeZuniga, comic book artist "Jonah Hex", "Black Orchid"
- Donald "Duck" Dunn, bass guitarist "Booker T. & the MGs", "The Blues Brothers"
- Doug Dillard, musician "The Dillards"
- Chuck Brown, singer
- Donna Summer, singer
- Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, conductor/baritone
- Ernie Chan, comic book artist "DC Comics"
- Peter Jones, musician "Crowded House"
- Robin Gibb, singer "The Bee Gees"
- Doc Watson, musician
- Kaneto Shindo, director "Onibaba", "Kuroneko"
- Ray Bradbury, author
- Richard Dawson, actor "Hogan's Heroes", "Family Feud"
- Herb Reed, singer "The Platters"
- Bob Welch, singer "Sentimental Lady"
- Frank Cady, actor "Green Acres", "Petticoat Junction"
- Ann Rutherford, actress "Gone With the Wind"
- Henry Hill, mobster "Goodfellas"
- Victor Spinetti, actor "A Hard Day's Night"
- Richard Lynch, actor "Star Trek: The Next Generation"
- Andrew Sarris, film critic/author
- Caroline John, actress "Doctor Who"
- Don Grady, actor "My Three Sons"
- Nora Ephron, director "Sleepless in Seattle"
- Yitzhak Shamir, Israeli Prime Minister
- Andy Griffith, actor
- Eric Sykes, comedian/actor
- Ernest Borgnine, actor
- Isuzu Yamada, actress "Throne of Blood", "Yojimbo"
- Maria Hawkins Cole, singer/widow of Nat King Cole
- Richard D. Zanuck, producer "Jaws"
- Celeste Holm, actress "All About Eve"
- Jon Lord, pianist "Deep Purple"
- Kitty Wells, singer "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels"
- Bob Babbitt, bass guitarist "The Funk Brothers"
- Tom Davis, comedian/writer "Saturday Night Live"
- Sylvia Woods, restauranteur/author "Sylvia's Soul Food"
- Angharad Rees, actress "Hands of the Ripper"
- Simon Ward, actor "Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed", "Dracula"
- Frank Pierson, director/screenwriter "A Star Is Born", "Dog Day Afternoon"
- Sally Ride, astronaut
- Sherman Hemsley, actor "The Jeffersons", "All In the Family"
- Chad Everett, actor "Medical Center"
- Mary Tamm, actress "Doctor Who"
- Geoffrey Hughes, actor "Keeping Up Appearances"
- R.G. Armstrong, actor "Ride the High Country", "Race With the Devil"
- Norman Alden, actor "Ed Wood"
- Tony Martin, singer
- Gore Vidal, author
- Sir John Keegan, historian
- Marvin Hamlisch, composer "The Way We Were"
- Judith Crist, film critic/author
- Mel Stuart, director "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory"
- Carlo Rambaldi, special effects "E.T.", "Alien", "Close Encounters of the Third Kind"
- Bill Rafferty, comedian/TV host "Card Sharks", "Real People"
- Joe Kubert, comic book artist "Hawkman", "Sgt. Rock", "Enemy Ace"
- Helen Gurley Brown, publisher "Cosmopolitan"
- Ron Palillo, actor "Welcome Back, Kotter"
- Phyllis Thaxter, actress "Adventures of Superman"
- Bob Birch, musician "Elton John Band"
- William Windom, actor "Night Gallery", "Murder She Wrote"
- Scott McKenzie, singer "San Francisco (Where Flowers In Your Hair)"
- Tony Scott, director "Top Gun"
- Phyllis Diller, comedian
- Jerry Nelson, puppeteer "Sesame Street", "The Count"
- Steve Franken, actor "Bewitched", "Angels and Demons"
- Neil Armstrong, astronaut
- Max Bygraves, singer/comedian
- Hal David, songwriter
- Sun Myung Moon, cult leader
- Michael Clarke Duncan, actor "The Green Mile"
- Joe South, songwriter "Rose Garden", "Games People Play"
- Art Modell, football team owner
- Dorothy McGuire, singer "The McGuire Sisters"
- Steve Sabol, filmmaker "NFL Films"
- Andy Williams, singer
- Herbert Lom, actor "The Ladykillers", "Asylum", "The Pink Panther"
- Alex Karras, football player/actor "Blazing Saddles"
- Gary Collins, actor "The Sixth Sense"
- Arlen Specter, US Senator
- Marc Swayze, comic book artist "Captain Marvel"
- Sylvia Kristel, actress "Emmanuelle"
- George McGovern, politician
- Jacques Barzun, historian
- Clive Dunn, actor "Dad's Army"
- Major Harris, singer "Love Won't Let Me Wait"
- Art Ginsburg, TV chef "Mr. Food"
- Deborah Raffin, actress
- Larry Hagman, actor "I Dream of Jeannie", "Dallas"
- Spain Rodriguez, comic book artist "Zap Comix"
- Dave Brubeck, musician "Time Out"
- Ed Cassidy, drummer "Spirit"
- Sir Patrick Moore, astronomer
- Ravi Shankar, musician
- Daniel Inouye, US Senator
- Robert Bork, jurist/Supreme Court nominee
- Jack Klugman, actor "The Odd Couple", "12 Angry Men"
- Marva Whitney, singer "James Brown Revue", "Soul Sister #1"
- Charles Durning, actor "Tootsie", "The Sting"
- Richard Rodney Bennett, composer "Murder on the Orient Express"
- Ray Collins, singer "The Mothers of Invention"
- Gerry Anderson, producer/writer/director "Thunderbirds", "UFO", "Space: 1999"
- Fontella Bass, singer "Rescue Me"
- Norman Schwarzkopf Jr., US general
- Harry Carey Jr., actor "The Searchers"