Born: July 17, 1917
Died: Aug. 20, 2012
Why we’ll miss her: The actress and comedian paved the way for female entertainers, starring in TV shows such as Phyllis Dillis, The Homely Friendmaker, The Phyllis Diller Show and The Beautiful Phyllis Diller Show. She appeared in Hello, Dolly! on Broadway and provided many voices for animated movies. And, thankfully, she left us with a cache of memorable one-liners: “I want my children to have all the things I couldn’t afford. Then I want to move in with them.” Or: “The only time I ever enjoyed ironing was the day I accidentally got gin in the steam iron. Or: “"Burt Reynolds once asked me out. I was in his room." RIP, funny lady.

 

Born: May 19, 1941
Died: June 26, 2012
Why we’ll miss her: Ephron, a star journalist, essayist, playwright, director, producer, novelist and blogger knew how to make us laugh and cry. From Heartburn to Silkwood to When Harry Met Sally to Sleepless in Seattle to Julie & Julia, her work has left a lasting mark on popular culture. Ephron died of acute leukemia at the age of 71. “From her earliest days at New York City's newspapers to her biggest Hollywood successes, Nora always loved a good New York story,” Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in a statement after her death, “and she could tell them like no one else."

 

Born: May 26, 1951
Died: July 23, 2012
Why we’ll miss her: The first American woman to go into space, back in 1983, Ride showed little girls everywhere that they, too, could be astronauts. Ride became a physics professor at the University of California, San Diego, co-wrote several books for children with her partner, Tam O’Shaughnessy and created Sally Ride Science, a program to entourage female students, especially, to go into careers in the math, technology and science fields. Inducted into both the Astronaut Hall of Fame and the Women’s Hall of Fame, Ride died at 61 of pancreatic cancer.

Image credit: Alan C. Heison / Shutterstock.com
 

Born: Dec. 21, 1948
Died: May 17, 2012
Why we’ll miss her: The disco diva still has us dancing to hits such as Love to Love You Baby, She Works Hard for the Money, Hot Stuff, I Need Love, Bad Girls, and the nightclub anthem Last Dance. A member of the Dance Music Hall of Fame, and the winner of five Grammy Awards and six American Music Awards, Summer died of non-smoking related lung cancer at 63.

 

Born: April 21, 1912
Died: Jan. 4, 2012
Why we’ll miss her: The photographer, perhaps best known for her images of Marilyn Monroe on the set of The Misfits, captured Hollywood icons including Joan Crawford, Marlene Dietrich and Isabella Rossellini. A regular contributor to publications such as Life, Look, Esquire and Harper’s Bazaar, she photographed the civil rights movement, as well as regions in China and the Soviet Union. Arnold was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Royal Photographic Society and was named Master Photographer by the International Center of Photography in New York. She died at age 99.

Born: July 2, 1969
Died: Dec. 9. 2012
Why we’ll miss her: The Mexican-American singing superstar was known as the “Diva of Banda,” selling more than 15 million records, and earning three Latin Grammy Award nominations. Killed in a plane crash near Monterrey, Mexico, she was just 43. A coach on Mexico’s version of The Voice, Rivera became a star in the banda genre, despite its dominance by male vocalists. “It doesn’t bother me at all that some people think I am too outspoken,” Rivera, born in Long Beach, Calif., said last year, according to The New York Times. “Actually, if they are thinking about me, it bothers them. But oh, well, they’ll get over it.”