- Dec 1 Alvin Ailey, US choreographer (Blues Suite, Revelations), dies at 58
- Dec 1 William "Billy" Lyall, Scottish musician (Bay City Rollers), dies of AIDS-related causes at 36
- Dec 3 Fernando Martín, Spanish basketball center (first Spaniard in NBA 1986, Portland Trail Blazers; FIBA Club World Cup 1981, Real Madrid), dies in a car accident at 27
- Dec 3 Jimmy Shirley, American jazz and R&B electric guitarist, and early proponent of the Vibrola vibrato arm ("whammy bar"), dies at 76
- Dec 5 John M Pritchard, British conductor, dies at 68
- Dec 6 Frances Bavier, American Emmy Award-winning stage and screen actress (The Andy Griffith Show & Mayberry, RFD - "Aunt Bee"), dies of congestive heart failure at 86
- Dec 6 Sammy Fain, American popular music composer, dies at 87
- Dec 6 John Payne, American actor (The Restless Gun, Miracle on 34th Street), dies aged 77
- Dec 6 Gabor Jodal, Romanian composer, dies at 76
- Dec 7 William 'Haystacks' Calhoun, American professional wrestler, dies at 55
- Dec 8 Hans Hartung, German-French painter, dies at 85
- Dec 11 Louise Dahl-Wolfe, American fashion photographer, dies at 94
Andrei Sakharov
Dec 14 Andrei Sakharov, Russian physicist & dissident (Nobel 1975), dies at 68
- Dec 14 Jock Mahoney [Jacques Joseph O'Mahoney], American actor & stuntman (Dallas, Yancy Derringer, Day of Fury), dies of a stroke at 70
- Dec 14 Pattie Santos, American singer (It's a Beautiful Day), dies in a car accident at 40
- Dec 15 Arnold Moss, American actor (Loves of Carmen, Kim, Quebec, Viva Zapata), dies at 79
- Dec 15 Edward Underdown, British actor (Beat the Devil, Thunderball), dies at 81
- Dec 16 Aileen Pringle, actress (Age of Consent, Convicted, Night Parade), dies
- Dec 16 Lee Van Cleef, American actor (Good, Bad & Ugly), dies at 64
- Dec 16 Silvana Mangano, Italian actress (Death in Venice, Barabbas), dies at 59
- Dec 16 Oscar Alfredo Gálvez, Argentine racing driver (b. 1913)
- Dec 19 Dorothea "Stella" Gibbons, English journalist and author (Cold Comfort Farm), dies at 87
- Dec 20 Audrey Christie, American actress (Splendor in the Grass, Fair Exchange), dies at 77
- Dec 20 Kurt Böhme, German bass, dies at 81
- Dec 21 Ján Cikker, Slovak composer, dies at 78
Samuel Beckett
Dec 22 Samuel Beckett, Irish-French writer (Molloy, Nobel 1969), dies at 83
Billy Martin
Dec 25 Billy Martin, American baseball 2nd baseman (MLB All Star 1956; World Series 1951, 52, 53, 56; NY Yankees) and manager (World Series 1977 NY Yankees), killed in a car accident at 61
- Dec 25 Elena Ceausescu, wife of Romania's Communist dictator Nicolae, executed at 73
Nicolae Ceausescu
Dec 25 Nicolae Ceausescu, Communist dictator of Romania, executed at 71
Doug Harvey
Dec 26 Doug Harvey, Canadian ice hockey defence player ('100 Greatest NHL Players), dies of cirrhosis of the liver at 65
