List of Famous people who died in 2012

Kiyohiko Ozaki (尾崎紀世彦),, of Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, was a Japanese singer. He was noted for his dynamic singing voice and splendid Sideburns. His nickname was "Kieyo".

Fong Fei-Fei, born Lim Chiu-Luan, was a Taiwanese singer, host and actress.

Maria Cole was an American jazz singer and the wife of singer Nat King Cole; mother of the singer Natalie Cole.

Larry Martin Hagman was an American film and television actor, director and producer, best known for playing ruthless oil baron J.R. Ewing in the 1978–1991 primetime television soap opera Dallas and the befuddled astronaut Major Anthony Nelson in the 1965–1970 show I Dream of Jeannie. Hagman had supporting roles in numerous films, including Fail-Safe, Harry and Tonto, S.O.B., Nixon and Primary Colors. His television appearances also included guest roles on dozens of shows spanning from the late 1950s until his death and a reprise of his signature role on the 2012 revival of Dallas. Hagman also worked as a television producer and director. He was the son of actress Mary Martin. Hagman underwent a life-saving liver transplant in 1995. He died on November 23, 2012, from complications of acute myeloid leukemia.

William Thomas Kinkade III was an American painter of popular realistic, pastoral, and idyllic subjects. He is notable for achieving success during his lifetime with the mass marketing of his work as printed reproductions and other licensed products via the Thomas Kinkade Company. According to Kinkade's company, one in every twenty American homes owned a copy of one of his paintings.

Oscar Ribeiro de Almeida Niemeyer Soares Filho, known as Oscar Niemeyer, was a Brazilian architect considered to be one of the key figures in the development of modern architecture. Niemeyer was best known for his design of civic buildings for Brasília, a planned city that became Brazil's capital in 1960, as well as his collaboration with other architects on the headquarters of the United Nations in New York. His exploration of the aesthetic possibilities of reinforced concrete was highly influential in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.

Diana Gwenyth Bliss was an Australian theatre producer.

Miguel de la Madrid Hurtado was a Mexican politician affiliated with the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) who served as the 59th President of Mexico from 1982 to 1988. During his presidency, de la Madrid introduced sweeping neoliberal economic policies, beginning an era of market-oriented presidents in that country. His administration was criticized for its slow response to the 1985 Mexico City earthquake, and the handling of the controversial 1988 elections in which the PRI candidate Carlos Salinas de Gortari was declared winner, amid accusations of electoral fraud.

Ignacio Fernández Sánchez better known as Tony Leblanc was a Spanish actor, director, and comedian.

Elizabeth Catlett was an American and Mexican graphic artist and sculptor best known for her depictions of the African-American experience in the 20th century, which often focused on the female experience. She was born and raised in Washington, D.C. to parents working in education, and was the grandchild of formerly enslaved people. It was difficult for a black woman in this time to pursue a career as a working artist. Catlett devoted much of her career to teaching. However, a fellowship awarded to her in 1946 allowed her to travel to Mexico City, where she worked with the Taller de Gráfica Popular for twenty years and became head of the sculpture department for the Escuela Nacional de Artes Plásticas. In the 1950s, her main means of artistic expression shifted from print to sculpture, though she never gave up the former.