Famous deaths of 2012

TORONTO – From disco-era music stars to beloved Canadian politicians, 2012 saw the passing of many famous individuals. Here is a chronological walk-through of some of this year’s most notable deaths.

Sarah Burke

Born in Barrie, Ont. in 1982, Sarah Burke became a renowned superpipe skier, winning four Winter X Games gold medals. Her career came to an end in January, after injuring herself while skiing in Park City, Utah, ahead of the Winter X Games. Burke went into cardiac arrest after rupturing one of four major arteries. She was rushed to hospital, had surgery and put on life support, but died a week later, on Jan. 19. Burke had successfully lobbied to include superpipe as an event in the 2014 Winter Olympics, and was considered the favourite to take home the gold medal.

Joe Paterno

Joe Paterno won more football games than any other college coach in history, but by the time he died, his image was forever tarnished. Paterno was fired as coach of the Penn State football team in the days following the 2011 season, when news broke of his complicity in a child sexual abuse scandal. The team’s defensive coordinator, Jerry Sandusky, was charged with multiple counts of sexual abuse, and Paterno allegedly knew about one such incident, and passed the information through the university, but didn’t report it to police. He died of lung cancer at the age of 85 on Jan. 22.

Whitney Houston

On Feb. 11, the night before the Grammy Awards, Whitney Houston was found dead in a bathtub at a Beverly Hills, Calif. hotel. The six-time Grammy-winning songstress rose to fame with the track “I Will Always Love You,” recorded for the soundtrack of the 1992 film The Bodyguard, which she also starred in. But Houston was equally known for her drug habits; cocaine, marijuana and prescription drugs were in her system when she drowned in the bathtub at the age of 48.

Dick Clark

Dick Clark passed away April 18 at the age of 82 from a heart attack. Clark entered the television world as host of American Bandstand in 1956, a position he held until 1989. The show was targeted at teenagers, and featured many up-and-coming musical acts. In 1972 he began hosting “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve,” a yearly special on ABC that attracted millions of viewers. Following a stroke in 2004, he began co-hosting the show with Ryan Seacrest. ABC has announced a special tribute to Clark will air as part of their new year’s coverage Dec. 31.

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Donna Summer

Donna Summer, a disco-era music star, passed away May 17 at the age of 63. Her hits included songs such as “Hot Stuff,” “Bad Girls” and “Love to Love You Baby.” She won five Grammy Awards and left an indelible mark on the music industry. She will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame posthumously in 2013. Summer believed http://rt.com/usa/news/donna-summer-cancer-singer-627/ dust particles from the 9/11 attacks caused the cancer that took her life.

Robin Gibb

Like Summer, Robin Gibb was a star from the disco era, reaching worldwide fame as a member of the Bee Gees. Their 1977 hit “Saturday Night Fever,” hit number one on the Billboard charts and was featured in a movie of the same name starring John Travolta. Gibb died three days after Summer on May 20, also of cancer, at the age of 62. He was the third of four Gibb brothers to pass away.

Rodney King

When video footage of Rodney King getting beaten by two white police officers was made public, it sparked the 1992 Los Angeles riots, which left 53 people dead. King, a black man, became the face of growing racial tensions in the Los Angeles area and across America. During the riots, King made a television appearance, proclaiming to everyone: “Can we all get along?” The cops were eventually sentenced to jail time, and King received a $3.8 million settlement. But he struggled with addiction later in life, and accidentally drowned to death in a swimming pool this year. Alcohol, marijuana, cocaine and PCP were found in his system. He was found dead on June 17, at the age of 47.

Andy Griffith

Even if you didn’t grow up with the sitcom, you’ve probably heard the theme song for The Andy Griffith Show. Andy Griffith was the star of the show, which ran for 8 seasons and was set in the fictional town of Mayberry, North Carolina. Griffith himself was born in small-town North Carolina, and passed away quietly at his home in the state on July 3, at the age of 86.

Neil Armstrong

Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon, passed away Aug. 25 at the age of 82. The astronaut’s footsteps and famous words, “one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind,” were seen and heard in living rooms across the world on July 20, 1969. The achievement was the pinnacle of the Cold War space race, and a mark of pride and optimism for many Americans.

Peter Lougheed

Former Alberta premier Peter Lougheed died Sept. 13 at the age of 84. Lougheed became leader of the province’s Progressive Conservative party in 1965, and served as premier from 1971 until 1985. Following his death everyone from prime minister Stephen Harper to former prime minister Jean Chretien to opposition leader Thomas Mulcair offered their condolences. Lougheed is in part remembered for his work to give Alberta greater voice on the federal stage, and his protection of the province’s oil interests. Earlier this year a panel selected Lougheed as Canada’s greatest premier over the last 40 years.

Arthur Sulzberger

Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, or “Punch” as many called him, took over as publisher of the New York Times in 1963, following in his father’s footsteps. He held the position for 34 years, playing a big role in the Times’ expansion from a circulation of 714,000 in 1963 to 1.1 million in 1991. His biggest decision as publisher was perhaps deciding to publish the “Pentagon papers”– secret government documents about the Vietnam War. Sulzberger died Sept. 29, at the age of 86, after a long battle with an illness.

Lincoln Alexander

Lincoln Alexander became Canada’s first black member of Parliament in 1968, after being elected as the Progressive Conservative candidate in the Hamilton West riding. Alexander served in this role until 1980, and in 1985 became the lieutenant governor of Ontario. After his term ended, Alexander went on to become the chancellor of the University of Guelph, a job he did for 16 years. He passed away peacefully in his sleep on Oct. 19, at the age of 90.

George McGovern

Most famous for his brutal defeat to Richard Nixon in the 1972 presidential elections, 90-year-old George McGovern passed away in his home state of South Dakota on Oct. 21. After his loss in the 1972 elections, McGovern continued on as a senator, a position he held for 18 years until 1981. He was an advocate for hunger issues and a staunch opponent of the war in Vietnam. In a statement released after McGovern’s death, President Obama called him a “champion for peace.”
 

Richard Rodney Bennett 

Sir Richard Rodney Bennett, a British composer, pianist and arranger who was nominated three times for Academy Awards, died on Dec. 24 in New York City following a brief illness. He was 76.

Bennett was nominated for Oscars for the scores for “Far from the Madding Crowd” in 1967, “Nicholas and Alexandra” in 1971 and “Murder on the Orient Express” in 1974.

A student of Pierre Boulez in 1957-58, Bennett’s work evolved from the avant-garde to a more tonal style. As a pianist, he performed with singer Claire Martin and he recorded music by George Gershwin, Jerome Kern and Harold Arlen.