- Dec 1 Geraldine McCullough, American painter and sculptor (Phoenix), born in Maywood, Illinois (d. 2008)
- Dec 1 Marty Marion, American baseball shortstop and manager (MLB All-Star 1943–50; NL MVP 1944; St. Louis Cardinals), born in Richburg, South Carolina (d. 2011)
- Dec 1 William Tracy, American actor (To the Shores of Tripoli, The Shop Around the Corner), born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (d. 1967)
- Dec 2 Ezra Stone [Chaim Feinstone], American director, actor and producer (My Living Doll, Henry Aldrich), born in New Bedford, Massachusetts (d. 1994)
- Dec 2 Sylvia Syms, American jazz singer (Hello Dolly; Dream Girl; Them There Eyes), born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 1992)
- Dec 5 Simone Gallimard, French editor and publisher (d. 1995)
- Dec 6 Irv Robbins, Canadian-American entrepreneur (co-founded the Baskin-Robbins ice cream parlor chain), born in Winnipeg, Manitoba (d. 2008)
- Dec 6 Kamal Jumblatt, Lebanese politician and founder of the Progressive Socialist Party, born in Moukhtara, Chouf, Mutasarrifate of Mount Lebanon, Ottoman Empire (d. 1977)
- Dec 8 Ian Johnson, Australian cricket spin bowler and captain (45 Tests; 109 wickets), born in North Melbourne, Victoria (d. 1998)
- Dec 8 Rufo I Wever, Aruban pianist and composer (Ca'i Organ), born in Oranjestad, Aruba (d. 1977)
- Dec 9 James Angleton, Head of counterintelligence for the CIA (1954-75), born in Boise, Idaho (d. 1987)
- Dec 9 James Rainwater, American physicist (Nobel 1975-determining the asymmetrical shapes of certain atomic nuclei), born in Council, Idaho (d. 1986)
- Dec 10 Sultan Yahya Petra, 6th Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia (1975-79), born in Kota Bharu, Kelantan (d. 1979)
- Dec 11 [Dámaso] Pérez Prado, Cuban bandleader and musician, born in Matanzas, Cuba (d. 1989)
- Dec 12 Edward Firth Henderson, British diplomat and arabist, born in Bristol (d. 1995)
- Dec 13 Dave Street [Patrick Devlin], American actor and singer (Moonrise; I Surrender Dear; Broadway Open House), born in Los Angeles, California (d. 1971)
- Dec 13 John Hart, American actor (The Lone Ranger, The Adventures of Captain Africa), born in Los Angeles, California (d. 2009)
- Dec 14 Elyse Knox, American actress (Hit the Ice, Black Gold), born in Hartford, Connecticut (d. 2012)
- Dec 14 June Taylor, American choreographer, born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 2004)
- Dec 14 Wilf Ferguson, West Indian cricket leg-spinner (West Indian of post-WWII years), born in Longdenville, Trinidad (d. 1961)
- Dec 15 Shan-ul-Haq Haqqee, Pakistani Urdu linguist and writer, born in Delhi, British India (d. 2005)
Arthur C. Clarke (1917-2008)
Dec 16 English sci-fi author (2001: A Space Odyssey, Childhood's End), born in Minehead, England
- Dec 16 Nabi Bux Khan Baloch, Pakistani Sindhi scholar (compiled first Sindhi-English dictionary), born in Jaffer Khan Laghari, Sinjhoro, British India (d. 2011) [1]
- Dec 17 Louis Palange, American arranger, classical music and film score composer (Hollywood Panorama; King Dinosaur), and conductor, born in Oakland, California (d. 1979)
- Dec 18 Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson, American blues, jazz, and R&B alto saxophonist, born in Houston, Texas (d. 1988)
- Dec 18 Raiford "Ossie" Davis, American actor, director, author, and civil rights activist (Purlie Victorious, Do the Right Thing, Hot Stuff, Man Called Adam), born in Cogdell, Clinch County, Georgia (d. 2005)
- Dec 19 Graham Sharp, British figure skater (World C'ship, European C'ship 1939), born in London, England (d. 1995)
- Dec 20 Audrey Totter, American actress (Carpetbaggers, Set-Up, The Unsuspected), born in Joliet, Illinois (d. 2013)
- Dec 20 David Bohm, American physicist, philosopher, and neuropsychologist, born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania (d. 1992)
- Dec 21 Andre Eglevsky, Russian-born ballet dancer & teacher (Limelight), born in Moscow, Russia (d. 1977)
- Dec 21 Diana Athill, English writer and editor (Stet), born in London, England (d. 2019)
- Dec 21 Sophie Masloff, American politician, born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (d. 2014)
- Dec 22 Andrew Fielding Huxley, English physiologist (Nobel 1963), born in London, England (d. 2012)
- Dec 22 Gene Rayburn [Jeljenić], American radio performer and TV game show host (Match Game), born in Christopher, Illinois (d. 1999)
- Dec 22 Piet De Somer, Belgian physician & biologist (U of Leuven), born in Belgium (d. 1985)
- Dec 24 Kim Jong-suk, Wife of Kim Il-sung, mother of Kim Jung-Il, "The Heroine of the Anti-Japanese Revolution", born in Osan-dong, Japanese Korea (d. 1949)
- Dec 26 Rose Mary Woods, American secretary to Richard Nixon (claimed to have erased part of Watergate tapes by accident), born in Sebring, Ohio (d. 2005)
- Dec 27 Onni Palaste, Finnish writer, born in Kiuruvesi, Finland (d. 2009)
- Dec 28 Ellis Clarke, First President of Trinidad & Tobago (1976-87), born in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago (d. 2010)
Tom Bradley (1917-1998)
Dec 29 American politician and Mayor of Los Angeles (Democrat: 1973-93), born in Calvert, Texas
- Dec 30 Seymour Melman, American industrial engineer (d. 2004)
- Dec 31 Joan McCracken, American actress, dancer and comedian (Claudie Story of a Marriage), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 1961)
About December 1917
How Old? 105 years old
Generation: Greatest Generation
Leap Year: No
Chinese Zodiac: Snake
Star Signs: Sagittarius (Nov 22 - Dec 21), Capricorn (Dec 22 - Jan 19)