- Dec 1 Nick Kenny, American columnist and songwriter (Nick Kenny Show), dies at 80
- Dec 1 Nellie Fox, American Baseball Hall of Fame infielder (15 x MLB All Star; AL MVP 1959; Chicago White Sox), dies from lymphatic cancer at 47
- Dec 1 Anna E. Roosevelt, American radio personality (b. 1906)
- Dec 1 Ranganandhan Francis, Indian field hockey goalkeeper (Olympic gold 1948, 52, 56), dies at 55
- Dec 1 Ernesto Maserati, Italian auto racer and engineer (director, chief engineer Maserati of Modena), dies at 77
- Dec 3 Jacob Kruijt, Dutch sociologist, dies at 76
Hannah Arendt
Dec 4 Hannah Arendt, German-American political theorist and historian (Origins of Totalitarianism), dies of a heart attack at 69
Thornton Wilder
Dec 7 Thornton Wilder, American playwright and writer (Bridge of San Luis Rey), dies at 78
- Dec 7 Beatrix Loughran, American figure skater (Olympic gold 1924, 1928, 1932), dies at 75
- Dec 8 Gary Thain, New Zealand bassist (Uriah Heep, 1972-75), dies of respiratory failure due to a heroin overdose, at 27
- Dec 9 William A Wellman, American director (Ox Bow Incident), dies at 79
- Dec 9 Esdras Minville, Quebec writer, economist and sociologist, dies at 79
- Dec 9 Frank Signorelli, American jazz pianist (Original Dixieland Jazz Band), dies at 74
- Dec 11 Lee Wiley, American jazz singer (Night in Manhattan), dies at 67
- Dec 13 Cyril Delevanti, British actor (Soylent Green, The Night of the Iguana), dies at 88
- Dec 13 Hendrik Johan Kruls, Dutch general and chief military authority (1944-46), dies at 73
- Dec 14 Arthur Treacher, English TV announcer (Merv Griffin Show), dies at 81
- Dec 15 Mukhtar Ashrafi, Soviet-Uzbek composer, dies at 63
- Dec 17 Frank Sully, American actor (Along Came Jones, Phantom Thief, Inside the Law), dies at 67
- Dec 17 Noble Sissle, jazz musician, dies at 86
- Dec 17 Hound Dog Taylor [Theodore Roosevelt], American Chicago blues guitarist and singer, dies of lung cancer at 60
- Dec 18 Theodosius Dobzhansky, Russian-American genetist, evolutionary biologist and author (Mankind Evolving), dies at 75
- Dec 20 William Lundigan, American actor (Climax, Pinky, They Asked for It), dies of lung and heart congestion at 61
- Dec 23 Richard S Welch, CIA station chief in Athens, shot dead
- Dec 24 Tilly Losch, Austrian dancer and actress (Duel in the Sun; Garden of Allah), dies at about 71 (birth date disputed)
- Dec 24 Bernard Herrmann, American composer, dies of heart attack at 64
- Dec 25 Gaston Gallimard, French publisher (Library Gallimard), dies at 94
- Dec 29 Euell Gibbons, American outdoorsman and proponent of natural diets (b. 1911).
- Dec 31 Donal Michalsky, composer, dies at 47