List of Famous people who died in 2012

Natina Tiawana Reed was an American singer-songwriter, rapper, and actress. She was born in New York City and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, where she pursued a career in music beginning in her early teens. Discovered by rapper Lisa Lopes, she worked as a writer for the girl group TLC. Reed gained notice in the late 1990s as a member of the girl group Blaque. They released two albums: their 1999 eponymous debut album that peaked at number 53 on the Billboard 200, and Blaque Out (2001).

Miguel Ángel Calero Rodríguez was a Colombian footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He played 50 times for the Colombia national team between 1995 and 2007.

Van Thomas Barfoot was a United States Army officer and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration—the Medal of Honor—for his actions in World War II.

Larry Donnell "Donnie" Andrews was an American stick-up artist, murderer, and anti-crime advocate. He was the inspiration for the character Omar Little on the HBO series The Wire.

Aleksandr Shalvovich Porokhovshchikov was a Russian film and theatre actor and film director, People's Artist of Russia (1994). He died of diabetes and other illness at age 73 in Russia.

Arfa Abdul Karim Randhawa was a Pakistani student and computer prodigy who became the youngest Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP) in 2004. She was submitted to the Guinness Book of World Records for her achievement. Randhawa kept the title until 2008 and went on to represent Pakistan on various international forums, including the TechEd Developers Conference. She received Pakistan's highest literary award, the Presidential Pride of Performance, from General Pervez Musharraf in 2005. A science park in Lahore, the Arfa Software Technology Park, was named in her honour. At the age of 10, Randhawa was invited by Bill Gates to visit Microsoft's headquarters in the United States. She died on 14 January 2012, aged 16, from a cardiac arrest.

Eugene Luther Gore Vidal was an American writer and public intellectual known for his epigrammatic wit, patrician manner, and polished style of writing. Vidal was openly bisexual and his novels often dealt with LGBT characters, which was unusual at the time. Beyond literature, Vidal was heavily involved in politics. He twice sought office—unsuccessfully—as a Democratic Party candidate, first in 1960 to the United States House of Representatives, and later in 1982 to the U.S. Senate.

Richard Dawson was an English-American actor, comedian, game show host and panelist in the United States. Dawson was well known for playing Corporal Peter Newkirk in Hogan's Heroes, as a regular panelist on Match Game (1973–1978) and as the original host of Family Feud.

Burgess Neil Reed was a college basketball player at Indiana University and the University of Southern Mississippi. He was noted for an incident during which he was choked by controversial Indiana coach Bob Knight in 1997.

Kevin Malcolm Curran was a Zimbabwean international cricketer.