List of Famous people who died in 2012

David Benjamin Rakoff was a Canadian-born American writer of prose and poetry based in New York City, who wrote humorous and sometimes autobiographical non-fiction essays. Rakoff was an essayist, journalist, and actor, and a regular contributor to WBEZ's This American Life. Rakoff described himself as a "New York writer" who also happened to be a "Canadian writer", a "mega Jewish writer", a "gay writer", and an "East Asian Studies major who has forgotten most of his Japanese" writer.

Alexandro Alves do Nascimento was a Brazilian professional footballer who played as a Striker. He played in Brazil for Vitória, Palmeiras, Juventude (RS), Portuguesa (SP), Cruzeiro, Atlético Mineiro, Vasco da Gama, Boavista (RJ), Fortaleza, Chinese side Shenyang Ginde, in Germany for Hertha BSC, and in Greece for Kavala.

Roman Totenberg was a Polish-American violinist and educator. A child prodigy, he lived in Poland, Moscow, Berlin, and Paris, before formally immigrating to the U.S. in 1938, at age 27. He performed and taught nationally and internationally throughout his life.

Humayun Ahmed was a Bangladeshi novelist, dramatist, screenwriter, filmmaker, songwriter, scholar, and lecturer. His breakthrough was his debut novel Nondito Noroke published in 1972. He wrote over 200 fiction and non-fiction books, many of which were bestsellers in Bangladesh. His books were the top sellers at the Ekushey Book Fair during the 1990s and 2000s. He won the Bangla Academy Literary Award in 1981 and the Ekushey Padak in 1994 for his contribution to Bengali literature.

Biagio Anthony Gazzarra, known as Ben Gazzara, was an American actor and director. His best-known films include Anatomy of a Murder (1959), The Bridge at Remagen (1969), Voyage of the Damned (1976), Inchon (1981), Road House (1989), The Big Lebowski (1998), Buffalo '66 (1998), Happiness (1998), The Thomas Crown Affair (1999), Summer of Sam (1999), Dogville (2003) and Paris, je t'aime (2006). He was a recurring collaborator with John Cassavetes, working with him on Husbands (1970), The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976) and Opening Night (1977).

Maurice André Raymond Herzog was a French mountaineer and administrator who was born in Lyon, France. He led the 1950 French Annapurna expedition that first climbed a peak over 8000m, Annapurna, in 1950, and reached the summit with Louis Lachenal. Upon his return, he wrote a best-selling book about the expedition.

Juan Carlos Calderón López de Arróyabe was a Spanish singer-songwriter and musician.

Beate Sirota Gordon was an Austrian-born American performing arts presenter and women's rights advocate. She was the former Performing Arts Director of the Japan Society and the Asia Society and was one of the last surviving members of the team that worked under Douglas MacArthur to write the Constitution of Japan after World War II.

Antonio "Tonino" Guerra was an Italian poet, writer and screenwriter who collaborated with some of the most prominent film directors in the world.

Sudono Salim, also known as Liem Sioe Liong, was a Chinese-born Indonesian businessman of Fuqing origin. He was the richest individual in Indonesia. He was the founder and chairman of the conglomerate Salim Group before turning over its management to his youngest son Anthoni Salim in 1992.