They each turned a moment of violence into a call to action. For James Brady that moment came when he was shot and wounded by a would-be presidential assassin. For Chung Eun-yong it was the killings of his two children during the Korean War.

Brady took up a personal campaign for increased gun control after surviving a head wound when a man tried unsuccessfully to kill President Ronald Rea­gan, for whom Brady was press secretary. Chung began a years­long quest for justice, which eventually prompted the U.S. Army to acknowledge having killed civilian refugees at No Gun Ri.

Brady and Chung, who died within days of each other in August, are among the notables who left the world in 2014. Others included political figures who catalyzed war and peace and scientists who changed our lives. And we lost beloved entertainers, some remembered for bringing audiences decades of smiles and tears and others who left the stage long before their time.

Here is a roll call of some of the people who died in 2014. (Cause of death cited for younger people, if available.)

JANUARY

Saul Zaentz, 92. Music producer whose second career as a filmmaker brought him best-picture Academy Awards for "One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest," "Amadeus" and "The English Patient." Jan. 3.

Run Run Shaw, 107. Pioneering Hong Kong movie producer whose studio popularized the kung fu genre that influenced Quentin Tarantino and other Hollywood directors. Jan. 7.

Ariel Sharon, 85. Israeli general and prime minister who was admired and hated for his battlefield exploits and ambitions to reshape the Middle East. Jan. 11.

FEBRUARY

Philip Seymour Hoffman, 46. He won a best-actor Oscar in 2006 for his portrayal of writer Truman Capote in "Capote" and created a gallery of other vivid characters, many of them slovenly and slightly dissipated comic figures. Feb. 2. Apparent heroin overdose.

Joan Mondale, 83. She burnished a reputation as "Joan of Art" for her passionate advocacy for the arts while her husband, Walter, was vice president and a U.S. ambassador. Feb. 3.

Shirley Temple, 85. Dimpled, curly-haired child star who sang, danced, sobbed and grinned her way into the hearts of Depression-era moviegoers. Feb. 10.

Harold Ramis, 69. Comedy actor, director and writer best known for his roles in movies such as "Ghostbusters" and "Stripes." Feb. 24.

MARCH

Sheila MacRae, 92. Veteran stage, film and TV performer best known for playing Alice Kramden in the 1960s re-creation of "The Honeymooners." March 6.

Jeremiah Denton, 89. Former Alabama senator who survived 71⁄2 years as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam and alerted the U.S. military to conditions there when he blinked the word "torture" in Morse code during a television interview. March 28.

APRIL

Mickey Rooney, 93. Pint-size actor and all-around talent whose more than 80-year career spanned silent comedies, Shakespeare, Judy Garland musicals, Andy Hardy stardom, television and the Broadway theater. April 6.

Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, 76. Boxer whose wrongful murder conviction became an international symbol of racial injustice. April 20.

Bob Hoskins, 71. British actor whose varied career ranged from noir drama "Mona Lisa" to animated fantasy "Who Framed Roger Rabbit." April 29.

Walter R. Walsh, 106. He captured gangsters as an FBI agent in the 1930s and went on to train Marine Corps snipers and become the longest-lived Olympian. April 29.

MAY

Jeb Stuart Magruder, 79. Watergate conspirator-turned-minister who claimed in later years to have heard President Richard Nixon order the infamous break-in. May 11.

Jerry Vale, 83. Beloved crooner known for his high tenor voice and romantic songs in the 1950s and early ‘60s. May 18.

Ruth Ziolkowski, 87. She carried on her late husband’s dream of honoring Native Americans by carving the massive likeness of warrior Crazy Horse into the Black Hills in South Dakota. May 21.

Jaime Lusinchi, 89. Former Venezuelan president who struggled to tame an economic crisis sparked by plunging oil prices in the late 1980s and then saw his reputation tarnished by allegations of corruption after leaving office. May 21.

Wojciech Jaruzelski, 90. Communist leader who imposed harsh military rule on Poland in 1981 in an attempt to crush the pro-democracy Solidarity movement but later allowed reforms that ended up dismantling the regime. May 25.

Maya Angelou, 86. Author and poet who rose from poverty, segregation and violence to become a force on stage, screen and the printed page. May 28.

JUNE

Ann B. Davis, 88. Emmy-winning actress who became America’s best-known housekeeper as the devoted Alice Nelson of TV’s "Brady Bunch." June 1.

Alexander Shulgin, 88. Respected chemist famed for dusting off a decades-old recipe for the psychedelic drug Ecstasy. June 2.

Chuck Noll, 82. Hall of Fame coach who won a record four Super Bowl titles with the Pittsburgh Steelers. June 13.

Casey Kasem, 82. Radio broadcaster with a cheerful manner and gentle voice who became the king of the top 40 countdown with a syndicated show that ran for decades. June 15.

Tony Gwynn, 54. Hall of Famer whose sweet left-handed swing made him one of San Diego’s best-loved athletes and earned him the nickname "Mr. Padre." June 16. Cancer.

JULY

David Greenglass, 92. He served 10 years in prison for his role in the most explosive atomic spying case of the Cold War and gave testimony that sent his brother-in-law and sister, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, to the electric chair. July 1.

Louis Zamperini, 97. Olympic distance runner who, during World War II, survived 47 days on a raft in the Pacific after his bomber crashed, then endured two years in Japa­nese prison camps; subject of the book and movie "Unbroken." July 2.

Metropolitan Volodymyr, 78. Head of Ukraine’s Orthodox Church who was credited with stabilizing the church. July 5.

Tommy Ramone, 65. Co-founder of the seminal punk band the Ramones and last surviving member of the original group. July 11.

Alice Coachman Davis, 90. First black woman to win an Olympic gold medal. July 14.

Dick Smith, 92. Oscar-winning "Godfather of Makeup" who amused, fascinated and terrified moviegoers by devising unforgettable transformations for Marlon Brando in "The Godfather" and Linda Blair in "The Exorcist," among many others. July 30.

AUGUST

Chung Eun-yong, 91. Ex-policeman whose half-century quest for justice for his two slain children led the U.S. Army in 2001 to acknowledge the Korean War refugee massacre at No Gun Ri. Aug. 1.

James Brady, 73. Affable, witty press secretary who survived a devastating head wound in the 1981 assassination attempt on President Ronald Rea­gan, then undertook a personal crusade for gun control. Aug. 4.

Robin Williams, 63. Academy Award winner and comic supernova whose explosions of pop culture riffs and impressions dazzled audiences for decades. Aug. 11. Apparent suicide.

Lauren Bacall, 89. Slinky, sultry-voiced actress who created on-screen magic with Humphrey Bogart in "To Have and Have Not" and "The Big Sleep" and off-screen magic in one of Hollywood’s most storied marriages. Aug. 12.

Jay Adams, 53. Colorful rebel who helped transform skateboarding from a simple street pastime into one of the world’s most spectacular sports. Aug. 14. Heart attack.

Richard Attenborough, 90. Actor and Oscar-winning director whose film career on both sides of the camera spanned 60 years. Aug. 24.

SEPTEMBER

Joan Rivers, 81. Raucous, acid-tongued comedian who crashed the male-dominated realm of late-night talk shows and turned Hollywood red carpets into danger zones for badly dressed celebrities. Sept. 4. Fatal complication during a medical procedure.

S. Truett Cathy, 93. Billionaire founder of the privately held Chick-fil-A restaurant chain. Sept. 8.

James Traficant, 73. Colorful Ohio politician whose conviction for taking bribes and kickbacks made him only the second person to be expelled from Congress since the Civil War. Sept. 27.

OCTOBER

Jean-Claude Duvalier, 63. He presided over what was widely acknowledged as a corrupt, brutal regime as the self-proclaimed "president for life" of Haiti until an uprising sent him into a 25-year exile. Oct. 4. Heart attack.

Oscar de la Renta, 82. Worldly gentleman designer who shaped the wardrobe of socialites, first ladies and Hollywood stars for more than four decades. Oct. 20.

Ben Bradlee, 93. Hard-charging editor who guided The Washington Post through its Pulitzer Prize-winning coverage of the Watergate scandal and invigorated its newsroom for more than two decades. Oct. 21.

Jack Bruce, 71. British musician best known as the bass player and vocalist of the power blues trio Cream. Oct. 25.

Thomas Menino, 71. Boston’s longest-serving mayor whose mumbling and occasional bumbling belied his political ingenuity and endeared him to a city whose skyline he helped reshape. Oct. 30.

NOVEMBER

Tom Magliozzi, 77. He was one-half of the brother duo who hosted National Public Radio’s "Car Talk," where they bantered with callers and commiserated over their car problems. Nov. 3.

S. Donald Stookey, 99. He was the scientist who forever changed cooking with the invention of Cor­ning­Ware, a versatile glass found in millions of American kitchens. Nov. 4.

Mike Nichols, 83. Director of matchless versatility who brought fierce wit, caustic social commentary and wicked absurdity to such film, TV and stage hits such as "The Graduate," "Angels in America" and "Monty Python’s Spamalot." Nov. 19.

Marion Barry, 78. Former District of Columbia mayor whose four terms were overshadowed by his 1990 arrest after being caught on videotape smoking crack cocaine. Nov. 23.

DECEMBER

Herman Badillo, 85. Bronx politician who became the first person born in Puerto Rico to become a U.S. congressman. Dec. 3.

Ralph Baer, 92. Video game pioneer who created both the precursor to "Pong" and the electronic memory game Simon and led the team that developed the first home video game console. Dec. 6.

Joe Cocker, 70. Raspy-voiced British singer with a contorted performing style, known for his frenzied cover of "With a Little Help From My Friends" and the teary ballad "You Are So Beautiful." Dec. 22.