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Notable deaths of 2012

Thomas Austin 'Amarillo Slim' Preston Jr., a poker champion whose brash style, fast talking and love of the spotlight helped broaden the professional game's appeal and made him one of its most recognizable characters, has died. He was 83.

Thomas Austin "Amarillo Slim" Preston Jr., a poker champion whose brash style, fast talking and love of the spotlight helped broaden the professional game's appeal and made him one of its most recognizable characters, has died. He was 83.

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  • Larry Hagman
  • Andy Griffith died early Tuesday, July 3, 2012, in his North Carolina home. He was 86.
  • In this Aug. 5, 1985 file photo shows George “Goober” Lindsey, the jovial persona on “The Andy Griffith Show” and “Hee Haw.' Lindsey, who spent nearly 30 years as the grinning Goober Pyle, died early Sunday, May 6, 2012. He was 83. (AP Photo, File)
  • This undated file photo provided by NASA shows Neil Armstrong. Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, died Saturday, Aug. 25, 2012, at age 82. Armstrong commanded the Apollo 11 spacecraft that landed on the moon July 20, 1969. He radioed back to Earth the historic news of 'one giant leap for mankind.' (AP Photo/NASA)
  • FILE - In this undated file photo released by ABC, Dick Clark hosts the New Year's eve special from New York's Times Square. Clark, the television host who helped bring rock `n' roll into the mainstream on 'American Bandstand,' has died. He was 82. Spokesman Paul Shefrin says Clark died but did not provide further details. Clark had continued performing even after he suffered a stroke in 2004 that affected his ability to speak and walk. (AP Photo/ABC, Donna Svennevik, File)
  • In this Oct. 28, 2006, file photo, musician Whitney Houston arrives at the 17th Carousel of Hope Ball benefiting the Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes in Beverly Hills, Calif. Houston died Saturday, Feb. 11, 2012, she was 48. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles)
  • Donna Summer died on Thursday, May 17, 2012. She was 63.
  • Former NFL star Junior Seau was found dead on May 2 of an apparent suicide.
  • In this 1989 file photo originally provided by Capitol Records, members of the Beastie Boys, from left, from left, Adam Horovitz, known as Adrock, Michael Diamond, known as Mike D and Adam Yauch, known as MCA, are shown. Yauch, the gravelly voiced Beastie Boys rapper who co-founded the seminal hip-hop group, died, Friday, May 4, 2012, at age 47 after a nearly three-year battle with cancer. Also known as MCA, Yauch was diagnosed with a cancerous salivary gland in 2009. (AP Photo/Capitol Records)
  • Soul rockers Booker T and the MGs are seen in this January 1970 photo. From left to right: Al Jackson, Jr., Booker T. Jones, Donald 'Duck' Dunn, and Steve Cropper. Bass player and songwriter Dunn, a member of the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame band Booker T. and the MGs and the Blues Brothers band, died in Tokyo on Sunday May 13, 2012. He was 70. (AP Photo, File)
  • FILE - In a Jan. 28, 2010, file photo, Sarah Burke, of Canada, reacts after failing to place in the top-three finishers in the slopestyle skiing women's final at the Winter X Games at Buttermilk Mountain outside Aspen, Colo. Burke died Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012, nine days after crashing at the bottom of the superpipe during a training run in Utah. She was 29. Burke was injured Jan. 11 while training at a personal sponsor event at the Park City Mountain resort. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)
  • Baseball Hall of Fame president Jeff Idelson said Thursday, Feb. 16, 2012, that Hall of Fame catcher Gary Carter has died. He was 57. (AP Photo/Ed Bailey, File)
  • In this 1968 file photo originally released by United Artists, actor Ben Gazzara portrays Sgt. Angelo in a scene from 'The Bridge at Remagen.' Gazzara, whose powerful dramatic performances brought an intensity to a variety of roles and made him a memorable presence in films, on television and on Broadway in the original 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,' has died at age 81. Longtime family friend Suzanne Mados said Gazzara died Friday, Feb. 3, 2012, in Manhattan after being in hospice care with cancer. (AP Photo/United Artists, file)
  • FILE - In this March 4, 1971, file photo, heavyweight challenger Muhammad Ali, left, has fists taped by trainer Angelo Dundee in Miami Beach as Ali resumes his training for an upcoming title bout with champion Joe Frazier in Madison Square Garden. Dundee, the trainer who helped groom Ali and Sugar Ray Leonard into world champions and became one of boxing's most recognizable figures, died Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2012. He was 90. (AP Photo/Jim Kerlin, File)
  • FILE - In this Saturday, June 19, 2004, photo, Etta James & The Roots Band perform at the 26th annual Playboy Jazz Festival at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. The singer's manager says Etta James has died in Southern California. Lupe De Leon tells The Associated Press the singer died early Friday, Jan. 20, 2012 at Riverside Community Hospital. De Leon says the cause of death is complications of leukemia. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
  • - In this April 20, 1959, file photo, Don Carter poses with his bowling bowl at the American Bowling Congress Master's Tournament in St. Louis, Mo. The Professional Bowlers Association said Friday, Jan. 6, 2012, that Carter died at his home in Miami on Thursday night. He recently was hospitalized with pneumonia complicated by emphysema. He was 85.
  • Joe Paterno poster0121
  • Charla Krupp, a popular author and commentator on fashion and beauty whose best-sellers included 'How Not to Look Old' and 'How to Never Look Fat Again' died at 58 in January 2012 in New York City.
  • In a 1995 file photo, producer Don Cornelius celebrates his 25th season of the syndicated music show 'Soul Train, in Los Angeles' Cornelius shot himself to death Wednesday morning, Feb. 1, 2012 at his home in Los Angeles, police said. He was 75. (AP Photo, File)
  • FILE - In this Jan. 25, 2011 file photo, Jan Berenstain works on art for a Berenstain Bears book in Solebury, Pa. Jan Berenstain, who with her husband Stan created the Berenstain Bears books that have charmed preschoolers and their parents for 50 years, has died. Her son Mike Berenstain said she died Feb. 24, 2012. She was 88. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)
  • Davy Jones, 66, died of a heart attack at his Florida home Feb. 29, 2012.
  • In this June 10, 2005 file photo, Earl Scruggs, performs at the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in Manchester, Tenn. Scruggs' son Gary said his father passed away Wednesday morning, March 28, 2012 at a Nashville, Tenn., hospital of natural causes. He was 88. (AP Photo/Eric Parsons, File)
  • In this Dec. 3, 2007 file photo, musician Levon Helm appears on the new 'Imus in the Morning' program at New York. Helm, who was in the final stages of his battle with cancer, died Thursday, April 19, 2012 in New York. He was 71. He was a key member of The Band and lent his distinctive Southern voice to classics like 'The Weight' and 'The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down.' (AP Photo/Richard Drew, file)
  • Thomas Austin 'Amarillo Slim' Preston Jr., a poker champion whose brash style, fast talking and love of the spotlight helped broaden the professional game's appeal and made him one of its most recognizable characters, has died. He was 83.
  • In this Sept. 6 2011 file photo, children's book author Maurice Sendak is photographed doing an interview at his home in Ridgefield, Conn. Sendak, author of the popular children's book 'Where the Wild Things Are,' died, Tuesday, May 8, 2012 at Danbury Hospital in Danbury, Conn. He was 83. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, file)
  • Vidal Sassoon poses in his Beverly Hills, Calif., home, in 2003. Sassoon, whose 1960s styles included the bob, the Five-Point cut and the “Greek Goddess” died Wednesday, May 9, 2012, at his home.
  • In this June 9, 2005, file photo, musician and former member of The Bee Gees Robin Gibb performs during a concert at Hong Kong's convention center. A representative said on Sunday, May 20, 2012, that Gibb has died at the age of 62. (AP Photo/Lo Sai Hung, File)
  • 'Family Feud' TV show host Richard Dawson has died. He was 79.
  • Ray Bradbury, the science fiction-fantasy master who transformed his childhood dreams and Cold War fears into telepathic Martians, lovesick sea monsters, and, in uncanny detail, the high-tech, book-burning future of 'Fahrenheit 451,' has died. He was 91.
  • Guitarist and singer Bob Welch, whose work in the early 1970s for Fleetwood Mac set the stage for the band’s multi-platinum success later in the decade, died on Thursday at his home in Nashville, Tenn. He was 66.
  • Henry Hill sits in the dining room of the Firefly restaurant in North Platte, Neb., on Feb. 22, 2005. Hill, whose life as a mobster and FBI informant was the basis for the Martin Scorcese film 'Goodfellas,' has died. Hill's girlfriend Lisa Caserta said Wednesday, June 13, 2012, he died in a Los Angeles hospital after a long illness. He was 69. (
  • In this Aug. 31, 2007 file photo, artist LeRoy Neiman poses in his studio in New York. Neiman, who is best known for his colorful and energetic paintings of sporting events, died Wednesday, June 20, 2012 in New York. He was 91. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews, File)
  • This Nov. 3, 2010, photo shows author, screenwriter and director Nora Ephron at her home in New York. Publisher Alfred A. Knopf confirmed Tuesday, June 26, 2012, that author and filmmaker Nora Ephron died Tuesday of leukemia in New York. She was 71. (AP Photo/Charles Sykes, file)
  • Don Grady, who sang and danced as a Mouseketeer on “The Mickey Mouse Club,” played son Robbie on the long-running family sitcom “My Three Sons,” and later became a composer and songwriter, died of cancer June 27, 2012. He was 68.
  • In this May 1991 file photo, shows former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir in Jerusalem. Israeli media are reporting that former Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir has died. He was 96. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netnayhau mourned Shamir's death Saturday, saying in a statement that Shamir 'led Israel with a deep loyalty to the nation.'(AP Photo/File/Nati Harnick) Summary
  • Actor Ernest Borgnine, who died July 8, 2012, in Los Angeles. He was 95.
  • Celeste Holm, a versatile, bright-eyed blonde who soared to Broadway fame in 'Oklahoma!' and won an Oscar in 'Gentleman's Agreement' but whose last years were filled with financial difficulty and estrangement from her sons, died Sunday, July 15, 2012, a relative said. She was 95.
  • William Asher is shown with his then-wife Elizabeth Montgomery. In 1966, Asher won an Emmy Award for outstanding directorial achievement in comedy for “Bewitched,' which starred Montgomery. (Associated Press)
  • This 1978 file photo from NBC shows 'Saturday Night Live' writer/performers Al Franken, left, and Tom Davis in New York. Davis, a writer and performer who with Franken developed some of the most popular skits in the early years of “Saturday Night Live,' died Thursday, July 19, 2012. He was 59. (AP Photo/NBC-TV, File)
  • This undated file photo released by NASA shows astronaut Sally Ride. Ride, the first American woman in space, died Monday, July 23, 2012 after a 17-month battle with pancreatic cancer. She was 61. (AP Photo/NASA, File)
  • This undated photo released by Katherine Thorp shows Chad Everett, the star of the 1970s TV series “Medical Center.” Everett, who went on to appear in such films and shows as “Mulholland Drive” and “Melrose Place,” died Tuesday, July 24, 2012. He was 75. (AP Photo/Courtesy Katherine Thorp)
  • In this May 6, 1998, photo, Isabel Sanford, left, and Sherman Hemsley, stars the television sitcom 'The Jeffersons,' pose for a photograph in New York. Hemsley, the actor who made the irascible, bigoted George Jefferson of 'The Jeffersons' one of television's most memorable characters and a symbol for urban upward mobility, was found dead Tuesday, July 24, 2012 at his El Paso, Texas home. He was 74. Sanford died in July 2004. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens, File)
  • This 1977 photo shows author Gore Vidal, who died Tuesday, July 31, 2012, at his home in Los Angeles. He was 86. (AP File Photo)
  • This Sept. 9, 1986, photo shows composer Marvin Hamlisch, right, at the piano with lyricist Howard Ashman in New York. Hamlisch, a conductor and award-winning composer best known for the torch song 'The Way We Were,' died Monday, Aug. 6, 2012 in Los Angeles. He was 68. (AP Photo/Nancy Kaye, file)
  • This 1990 file photo shows Cosmopolitan magazine editor Helen Gurley Brown in her New York office. Brown, longtime editor of Cosmopolitan magazine, died Monday, Aug. 13, 2012, at a hospital in New York after a brief hospitalization. She was 90. (AP Photo/Marty Lederhandler, File)
  • In this Aug. 31, 2006, file photo, Boston Red Sox great Johnny Pesky lifts his cap during a television interview before a baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays in Boston. Pesky, who spent most of his 60-plus years in pro baseball with the Red Sox and was beloved by the team's fans, has died on Monday, Aug. 13, 2012, in Danvers, Mass. He was 92. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, File)
  • Robert Hegyes, the actor best known for playing Jewish Puerto Rican student Juan Epstein on the 1970s TV show 'Welcome Back, Kotter' has died. He was 60.
  • This June 8, 2008, photo shows actor Ron Palillo at the TV Land Awards in Santa Monica, Calif. Palillo, best known as the nerdy high schooler Arnold Horshack on 'Welcome Back, Kotter,' died Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2012, in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., of an apparent heart attack. He was 63. (AP Photo/Mark Mainz, file)
  • Actor William Windom
  • Tony Scott, director of such Hollywood hits as 'Top Gun,' ''Days of Thunder' and 'Beverly Hills Cop II,' died Sunday, Aug. 19, 2012, after jumping from a Los Angeles County bridge, authorities said.
  • Phyllis Diller, shown May 17, 1999, died Monday, Aug. 20, 2012, at age 95 in Los Angeles. The housewife-turned-humorist aimed some of her sharpest barbs at herself and her fictional husband, Fang. (AP Photo/Nick Ut, File)
  • In a Sept. 10, 2010, photo Ethiopia's Prime Minister Meles Zenawi addresses a summit on the Millennium Development Goals at United Nations headquarters. Zenawi, Ethiopia's long-time ruler who held tight control over this East African country but was a major U.S counter-terrorism ally, died of an undisclosed illness after not being seen in public for weeks, Ethiopian state television said Tuesday Aug. 21, 2012. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II, file)
  • This 1980 photo provided by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers shows Hal David. David, who along with partner Burt Bacharach penned dozens of top 40 hits for a variety of recording artists in the 1960s and beyond, died Saturday, Sept. 1, 2012, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/ASCAP)
  • In this Saturday, June 25, 2005 file photo, Unification Church leader Rev. Sun Myung Moon speaks during his 'Now is God's Time' rally in New York. Moon, self-proclaimed messiah who founded Unification Church and the Washington Times, has died at age 92, church officials said Monday, Sept. 3, 2012. (AP Photo/John Marshall Mantel)
  • Actor Michael Clarke Duncan
  • Baltimore Ravens owner Art Modell is seen with the Vince Lombardi Trophy after the Ravens beat the New York Giants 34-7 in Super Bowl XXXV in this Jan. 28, 2001, photo taken in Tampa. Former Baltimore Ravens and Cleveland Browns owner Modell died Thursday, Sept. 6, 2012. He was 87.
  • In a May 12, 1961 file photo, Andy Williams performs a song on a television show. Emmy-winning TV host and 'Moon River' crooner Williams died Tuesday night, Sept, 25, 2012 at his home in Branson, Mo., following a year-long battle with bladder cancer. He was 84. (AP Photo, File)
  • This is a 1971 photo showing Detroit Lions football player Alex Karras. Karras, who gained fame in the NFL as a fearsome defensive lineman and later as an actor, has died. He was 77. Craig Mitnick, Karras' attorney, said Karras died at home in Los Angeles on Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2012, surrounded by family. (AP Photo/File)
  • This Aug. 1982, photo shows Gary Collins, an actor, television show host and former master of ceremonies for the Miss America Pageant. Collins died Saturday, Oct. 13, 2012, in Biloxi, Miss. He was 74. During the 1980s, Collins hosted the Miss America pageant and the television shows 'Hour Magazine' — for which he won a Daytime Emmy in 1983 — and 'The Home Show.' (AP Photo/File)
  • In this May 17, 2010 file photo, Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., speaks at the Citizens Bank Park, in Philadelphia, as he campaigns across Pennsylvania for the Democratic nomination to run for re-election. Former U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, longtime Senate moderate and architect of one-bullet theory in JFK death, died Sunday, Oct. 14, 2012. He was 82. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)
  • Former U.S. Sen. George McGovern, the Democrat who lost to President Richard Nixon in 1972 in a historic landslide and a former Marco Island resident, died early Sunday, Oct. 21, 2012, at the age of 90.
  • In an Oct. 14, 2010 file photo, Art Ginsburg, also known as Mr. Food, is shown during rehearsal in Fort Lauderdale. Ginsburg, has died at his home in Weston on Wednesday Nov. 21, 2012. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz, file)
  • In this July 14, 2001, photo, boxing champ Hector 'Macho' Camacho celebrates after defeating Roberto Duran in their super middleweight National Boxing Association championship fight in Denver. Camacho, a boxer known for skill and flamboyance in the ring, as well as for a messy personal life and run-ins with the police, has died, Saturday, Nov. 24, 2012, after being taken off life support. He was 50. (AP Photo/Ed Andrieski, File)
  • Jazz pianist Dave Brubeck died Dec. 5, 2012, at age 91.
  • In this picture taken March 8, 2012, Mexican-American singer and reality TV star Jenni Rivera poses during an interview in Los Angeles. The wreckage of a small plane believed to be carrying Mexican-American music superstar Jenni Rivera was found in northern Mexico on Sunday, Dec. 9, 2012, and there are no apparent survivors, authorities said. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
  • In this Feb. 7, 2012, photo, Indian musician Ravi Shankar performs during a concert in Bangalore, India. Shankar, the sitar virtuoso who became a hippie musical icon of the 1960s after hobnobbing with the Beatles and who introduced traditional Indian ragas to Western audiences over an eight-decade career, has died. He was 92. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi, File)
  • In this Friday, July 9, 2010, photo, U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, is seen at the ceremony welcoming F-22 Raptor fighter jets to Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickham in Honolulu. Inouye died of respiratory complications Monday, Dec. 17, 2012, according to Inouye's office. He was 88. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia, File)
  • Robert H. Bork, an Ave Maria Law School professor whose failed nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1987 sparked an enduring political schism over judicial nominations, died early Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2012, at Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington of complications from heart disease. He was 85.
  • Lee Dorman, the bassist for Iron Butterfly, died Dec. 21, 2012, at 70.
  • In this May 20, 1973 file photo, Jack Klugman holds his Emmy for his role in 'The Odd Couple' presented at the 25th Emmy Awards Banquet for outstanding continued performance by an actor in a leading role in a comedy series in Los Angeles. Klugman, the prolific, craggy-faced character actor and regular guy who was loved by millions as the messy one in TV's 'The Odd Couple' and the crime-fighting coroner in 'Quincy, M.E.,' died Monday, a son said. He was 90. (AP Photo/David F. Smith, File)
  • In this Sunday, Jan. 27, 2008, photo, actor Charles Durning accepts the life achievement award from presenter Burt Reynolds, left, at the 14th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards in Los Angeles. Durning, the two-time Oscar nominee who was dubbed the king of the character actors for his skill in playing everything from a Nazi colonel to the pope, died Monday, Dec. 24, 2012 at his home in New York City. He was 89. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
  • Fontella Bass performs during the Pioneer Awards at New York's Apollo Theatre in 2001. Bass died Dec. 27, 2012, at the age of 72. (Associated Press file)
  • In this Sept. 14, 1990 file photo, U.S. Army Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf, commander of U.S. forces in Saudi Arabia, answers questions during an interview in Riyadh. Schwarzkopf died Thursday, Dec. 27, 2012 in Tampa, Fla. He was 78. (AP Photo/David Longstreath, File)

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