List of Famous people who died in 2002

Jacob "Jack" Kruschen was a Canadian character actor who worked primarily in American film, television and radio. Kruschen was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Dr. Dreyfuss in the 1960 comedy-drama The Apartment.

Lionel "Rusty" Bernstein was a Jewish South African anti-apartheid activist and political prisoner. He played a key role in political organizations such as the South African Communist Party (SACP) and the African National Congress (ANC). He helped form the Congress of Democrats to bolster white participation in the ANC, and he brought its allies together to establish a Congress of the People, working closely with Nelson Mandela.

Louis-Marie Billé was a French clergyman, archbishop of Lyon from 6 September 1998 and a cardinal until his death in office.

Samuel Joseph Dolin was a Canadian composer, music educator, and arts administrator. An associate of the Canadian Music Centre and a founding member of the Canadian League of Composers (CLC), he served as the CLC's vice president from 1967 to 1968 and president from 1969 to 1973. He was also vice-president of the International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM) from 1972 to 1975 and chairman of the ISCM's Canadian Chapter from 1970 to 1974. From 1945 to 2001 he taught music composition, music theory, and piano at The Royal Conservatory of Music where he trained dozens of notable Canadian composers.

Gene S. Ruggiero was an American film editor. Originally a golf caddy at an exclusive New York country club, Ruggiero was fired from his job and later went to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer where he was assigned the job of editing. He was initially unhappy with his job and would often skip working to play golf, demoted to assistant editor due to this.

Otto Eisenmann was a German politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) and former member of the German Bundestag.