Deaths in 2012

The following is a list of notable deaths in 2012.

Entries for each day are listed alphabetically by surname. A typical entry lists information in the following sequence:

Name, age, country of citizenship and reason for notability, established cause of death, reference (and language of reference, if not English).

January 2012

Harry Fowler, 85, British character actor. [1]
Kerry McGregor, 37, British singer and reality contestant (The X Factor), bladder cancer. [2]
Bobby McKenzie, 83, Australian football player. [3]
Carmen Naranjo, 83, Costa Rican novelist, poet and essayist, cancer. [4] (Spanish)
Hisako Ōishi, 75, Japanese politician. [5]
Mitch Shirota, 78, American racehorse trainer and jockey. [6]

Gene Bartow, 81, American college basketball coach (UAB, UCLA), stomach cancer. [7]
Robert L. Carter, 94, American civil rights activist (Sweatt v. Painter) and judge, complications from a stroke. [8]
Willi Entenmann, 68, German football player and coach, heart attack. [9] (German)
Gatewood Galbraith, 64, American lawyer and author, complications from chronic emphysema. [10]
Enrique de Melchor, 61, Spanish flamenco guitarist, cancer. [11]
Stepan Oshchepkov, 77, Russian canoeist, Olympic gold medalist (1964). [12] (Russian)
Josef Škvorecký, 87, Czech writer and publisher, cancer. [13]
Vicar, 77, Chilean cartoonist. [14] (Spanish)
Yadid Rubin, 74, Israeli painter. [15] (Hebrew)

Ian Bargh, 76, British-born Canadian jazz pianist, lung cancer. [16]
Ivan Călin, 76, Moldovan politician, Acting President of the Moldovan Parliament (2009). [17] (Russian)
William P. Carey, 81, American businessman (W. P. Carey & Co.) and philanthropist. [18]
Ioan Drăgan, 46, Romanian footballer (FC Brașov), colorectal cancer. [19] (Romanian)
Odin Fottoh, 73, Tajik composer. [20] (Russian)
Vivi Friedman, 44, Finnish film director. [21]
Yoshihiro Hayashi, 89, Japanese golfer. [22] (Japanese)
Gordon Hirabayashi, 93, American civil rights activist (Hirabayashi v. United States). [23]
Jim Huber, 67, American sports commentator (CNN, TNT). [24]
Anatoly Kolesov, 73, Russian wrestler, Olympic gold medalist (1964), after long illness. [25] (Russian)
Larry Reinhardt, 63, American rock guitarist (Iron Butterfly, Captain Beyond). [26]

Gary Ablett, 46, English footballer (Liverpool, Everton, Birmingham City), non-Hodgkin lymphoma. [27]
Bob Anderson, 89, British Olympic fencer (1952), film fight director and choreographer (Star Wars, The Lord of the Rings). [28]
Alfredo Battisti, 86, Italian Roman Catholic prelate, Archbishop of Udine (1972–2000). [29] (Italian)
Jorge Andrés Boero, 38, Argentine motorcycle racer, Dakar rally crash. [30]
Anders Frandsen, 51, Danish singer and television presenter. [31] (Danish)
Jean-Marc de Grijs, 41, Belgian football official, after short illness. [32] (Dutch)
Kiro Gligorov, 94, Macedonian politician, President (1991–1999). [33]
Hermann Guggiari, 87, Paraguayan engineer and sculptor. [34] (Spanish)
Frank Horwill, 84, British athletics coach. [35]
Ed Jenkins, 78, American politician, Representative from Georgia (1977–1993). [36]
Fred Milano, 72, American doo-wop singer (The Belmonts, Dion and the Belmonts), lung cancer. [37]
Nina Miranda, 86, Uruguayan tango singer and composer. [38] (Spanish)
Carlos Soria, 62, Argentine politician, Secretary of Intelligence (2002), Governor of Río Negro (since 2011), shot. [39]
Yafa Yarkoni, 86, Israeli singer. [40]