Roone Arledge
Dec 5 Roone Arledge, American sports broadcasting pioneer, President of ABC Sports (Monday Night Football) and ABC News, dies of prostate cancer at 71 [1] [2]
- Dec 5 Ne Win, Burmese leader (b. 1911)
- Dec 6 Philip Berrigan, American peace activist and Roman Catholic priest, dies at 79
- Dec 9 Mary Hansen, Australian guitarist and singer (Stereolab), dies at 36
- Dec 9 Ian Hornak, American Painter, Draughtsman and Sculptor (b. 1944)
- Dec 9 Stan Rice, American painter, educator, and poet (b. 1942)
- Dec 10 Andres Küng, Swedish-Estonian politician and journalist, dies at 57
- Dec 11 Lou Stein, American pianist (Tonight! America After Dark), dies at 80
- Dec 12 Dee Brown, American author (b. 1908)
- Dec 12 Brad Dexter [Boris Milanovich], American actor (Macao, The Magnificent Seven), dies of emphysema at 85
- Dec 12 Jay Wesley Neill, American convicted mass murderer, dies at 37
- Dec 13 Zal Yanovsky, Canadian rock guitarist (Lovin' Spoonful - "Do You Believe in Magic?"), dies of a heart attack at 57
- Dec 14 Ruth Kobart [Kahn], American actor & singer (King's Quest VII, Forum), dies at 78
- Dec 17 James Hazeldine, British stage and screen actor (London's Burning), dies of an aortic dissection at 55
- Dec 17 Angelo "Hank" Luisetti, American collegiate basketball forward (Stanford, 1935-38), 1st to use a one-handed shot, dies at 86
- Dec 18 Ray Hnatyshyn, Governor-General of Canada (b. 1934)
- Dec 18 Wayne Owens, former U.S. Congressman (D-Utah) (b. 1937)
- Dec 19 Arthur Rowley, English soccer forward (most goals in English league football, 434 from 619 games; Leicester City, Shrewsbury Town), dies at 76
- Dec 19 Will Hoy, English auto racer (British Touring Car C'ship 1991), dies from a brain tumour at 50
- Dec 22 Joe Strummer, British lead singer of the punk band "The Clash" (Rock the Casbah), dies at age 50
- Dec 22 Kenneth Tobey, American actor (The Thing from Another World, Innerspace, Whirlybirds), dies of natural causes at 85
- Dec 22 Hugh Desmond Hoyte, Guyanese politician and President of Guyana (1985-92), dies at 73
- Dec 23 Tatamkhulu Afrika, South African poet & writer, dies at 82
- Dec 24 Kjell Aukrust, Norwegian author (b. 1920)
- Dec 24 Laci Peterson, American murder victim, dies at 27
- Dec 24 James Ferman, American director and secretary (British Board of Film Classification), dies at 72
- Dec 24 Luciano Chailly, Italian opera composer (L'Idiota) and artistic director (La Scala), dies at 82
- Dec 25 William T. Orr, American actor (The Big Street), and television producer (Cheyenne), dies at 85
- Dec 26 Herb Ritts, American fashion photographer, dies at 50
- Dec 26 Armand Zildjian, American cymbal manufacturer (b. 1921)
- Dec 27 Richard Mitchell, American professor and author (The Underground Grammarian), dies at 73
- Dec 27 George Roy Hill, American film director (b. 1922)
- Dec 30 Mary Brian, American actress (b. 1906)
- Dec 30 Mary Wesley, English novelist (b. 1912)
- Dec 31 Kevin Macmichael, Canadian guitarist, songwriter and record producer (Cutting Crew - "(I Just) Died in Your Arms"), dies of lung cancer at 51