Notable deaths from 2012

Thunderbirds creator Gerry Anderson  (Rob Monk/SFX Magazine via Getty Images)

Charles Durning in Oct. 2010 in New York City.   (Michael N. Todaro/Getty Images)

Jack Klugman, the TV star beloved for playing the sloppy, working-guy half of “The Odd Couple” and a regular in American homes as the crime-solving coroner in “Quincy M.E.,” died at age 90.   (Reuters/Handout)

Reagan nominee for the Supreme Court, Judge Robert Bork, testifies on the fourth day of his Supreme Court confirmation hearing in Washington D C. on Sept. 18, 1987. Bork was rejected by the Senate.  (CNP/Getty Images)

Motivational speaker Zig Ziglar died on Nov. 28. He was 86 years old.  (Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times)

Former Puerto Rican welterweight boxing champion Hector “Macho” Camacho passed away at age 50 after being shot in Puerto Rico.  (Stringer/Reuters)

Actor Larry Hagman, who won international fame with his portrayal of villainous oilman J.R. Ewing in the television series “Dallas,” died at the age of 81 from complications of cancer.  (Jason Merritt/Getty Images)

Composer Elliott Carter, shown at his New York home in 2008.  (Jennifer S. Altman / For The Times)

Former Senator George McGovern, whose anti-Vietnam War stance in his 1972 presidential race against Richard Nixon led to one of the worst electoral defeats in U.S. history, died at the age of 90.  (Fred Prouser /Reuters)

Arlen Specter, former U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania, passed away at age 82.  (Jason Reed/Reuters)

Famed New York Times publisher Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, right, pictured with former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger in 1990, passed away at age 86. Sulzberger oversaw the Times for 34 years, including during its controversial publishing of the Pentagon Papers.   (Ron Galella/Getty Images)

Andy Williams, the singer best known for his version of the Oscar-winning song “Moon River” from “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” died at the age of 84 after a battle with bladder cancer.  (Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

John Ingle, who played Edward Quartermaine in over 450 episodes of “General Hospital,” died Sept. 15. He was 84 years old.  (Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)

Neil Armstrong, commander of Apollo 11 and the first man on the moon, died at age 82.   (NASA/Handout)

Pioneering female comedian Phyllis Diller passed away at age 95.  (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Actor Ron Palillo, best known for his role as Arnold Horshack on the ABC sitcom “Welcome Back, Kotter,” passed away at age 68.   (Chris Pizzello/Reuters)

Helen Gurley Brown, the legendary editor of Cosmopolitan magazine who helped usher in the sexual revolution, died on Aug. 13 at age 90.  (Photo by Evan Agostini/Getty Images)

Mel Stuart, left, the director of beloved family film “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory,” has died. He was 83 years old. Stuart was best known for his work on the film adaptation of the Roald Dahl novel, but he spent the bulk of his career as an award-winning documentary filmmaker.  (Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images)

Marshall Tucker Band guitarist Stuart Swanlund died at age 54.  (Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images)

Marvin Hamlisch passed away at age 68 after suffering from a brief illness.   (Gary Gershoff/Getty Images)

Tony Martin, the last of the big-name singer-actors from the golden age of Hollywood musicals, died. He was 98 years old.  (Fred Prouser/Reuters)

Actress Lupe Ontiveros, known for her roles in numerous films including “Selena,” died at age 69.  (Michael Bezjian/WireImage)

Austrian artist Franz West passed away at age 65.  (Herwig Prammer/Reuters)

Actor Sherman Hemsley, best known for his role as George Jefferson on the CBS television series “All in the Family” and “The Jeffersons,” died at age 74.  (Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)

Tom Davis, right, former ‘SNL’ writing partner of Al Franken, died July 19 of cancer at 59 years old.  (Ron Galella, Ltd./WireImage)

Levon Helm performs at the 2011 Life is Good Festival at the Prowse Farm on Sept. 25, 2011 in Canton, Mass.  (Douglas Mason/Getty Images)

Kitty Wells, the long-reigning “Queen of Country Music” and the first woman to reach No. 1 on the country chart with her attitude-changing hit “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels,” died on July 16 at 92.  (Photo by Rusty Russell/Getty Images)

Jon Lord, keyboardist and co-founder of British rock group Deep Purple, died in a London hospital at age 71.  (Marcus Brandt/Reuters)

Robin Gibb of The Bee Gees performs prior to an exhibition match between Steffi Graf and Gabriela Sabatini at the Max Schmeling Hall, on September 25, 2004 in Berlin, Germany.  (Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

Controversial conservative writer Andrew Breitbart died of an apparent heart attack March 1. He was 43. Full obituary  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Maria Hawkins Cole, widow of Nat “King” Cole, died at 89.  (Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

Former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir passed away at age 96.  (Yaakov Sa’ar/GPO via Getty Images)

Doris Singleton, an actress who played one of Lucy and Ricky Ricardo’s neighbors on “I Love Lucy,” died June 26. She was 92.  (Valerie Macon / Getty Images)

Tony Award winning composer and lyricist Richard Adler, left, best known for his Broadway hits “Damn Yankees” and “The Pajama Game,” died at age 90 in New York.  (Photo by Peter Kramer/Getty Images)

Richard Lynch, best known for starring in Rob Zombie’s “Halloween” and “Battlestar Galactica,” has died at age 76.  (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/Getty Images)

American film critic Andrew Sarris passed away at age 83.  (Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images)

Vidal Sassoon, famed fashion hairstylist, died at 84 years old.   (Ben Hider/Getty Images)

Actress Susan Tyrrell died at 67. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in John Huston’s 1972 cult hit “Fat City.”   (Columbia Pictures/Getty Images)

Maurice Sendak, author of ‘Where the Wild Things Are’, passed away at age 83.   ((Jemal Countess/Getty Images))

Adam Yauch of Beastie Boys attends the 35th anniversary of the Addidas superstar sneaker honoring the life of Jam Master Jay at Skylight Studios on Feb. 25, 2005 in New York City.   (Paul Hawthorne/Getty Images)

American comedian and actress Yvette Wilson died at age 48.  (Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)

Music industry pioneer Frances Preston died at age 83 from congestive heart failure.  (Paul Hawthorne/Getty Images)

Elinor Ostrom, winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2009, passed away at age 78.  (John Sommers II/Reuters)