Notable deaths of 2011 (37 images)

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, who ruled the isolated communist country since 1994, has died at age 69, the country's official news agency reported Monday.

Kim, who came to power after the death of his father and country founder Kim Il Sung, died at 8:30 a.m. Saturday "from a great mental and physical strain," the official Korean Central News Agency reported. The report said he died while on a train journey. UPI

World Heavyweight boxing champion Joe Frazier, also known as Smokin' Joe, died on November 7, 2011 of metastasized liver cancer. (UPI Photo/Heinz Ruckemann)

Libya's longtime ruler Moammar Gadhafi was captured and killed on October 20, 2011 by Libyan forces near his hometown of Sirte. According to a National Transitional Council official, Gadhafi had been in a convoy of vehicles that was targeted by a U.S. predator missile and a French air strike on a road for about two miles. The attack killed dozens of loyalist fighters. Gadhafi survived but was captured shortly after by the rebel militia, and the former Libyan ruler was brutally beaten and shot to death. (UPI Photo/Anatoli Zhdanov)

Former "60 Minutes" TV commentator Andy Rooney died at the age of 92 in New York late Friday, November 4, 2011 it was announced on Saturday by CBS. He delivered his final regular commentary a month ago. He is shown in this file photo at the Living Landmarks Celebration at the Plaza Hotel in New York on November 3, 2004. UPI/Laura Cavanaugh/FILES