- Dec 1 Felix Petyrek, Austrian composer, dies at 59
- Dec 2 Manuel Ugarte, Argentine diplomat, politician, newspaper owner, and author, dies at 79
- Dec 4 Pedro Salinas, Spanish writer (Generation of 1927), dies at 61
- Dec 5 "Shoeless" Joe Jackson, American baseball outfielder, 1908-20 (Chicago White Sox, and two other teams; 1919 World Series "Black Sox" Scandal), dies from a heart attack at 64
- Dec 5 Abanindranath Tagore, Indian writer (b. 1871)
- Dec 6 Harold Ross, American magazine editor and co-founded The New Yorker, dies at 59
- Dec 6 J Edward Bromberg, Hungarian actor (The Mark of Zorro, Under 2 Flags), dies from a heart attack at 47
- Dec 8 Bobby Lowe, American baseball second baseman (first player to hit 4 HRs in one MLB game, 1894 Boston Beaneaters), dies at 86
- Dec 10 Algernon Blackwood, English novelist (The Willows), dies at 82
Mildred Bailey (1907-1951)
Dec 12 American jazz singer known as "The Queen of Swing" ("Rockin' Chair"; "Please Be Kind"; "Darn That Dream"), dies of heart failure at 44
- Dec 13 Selim Palmgren, Finnish concert pianist, composer (Hakkapeliittojen marssi), conductor, and pedagogue, dies at 73
- Dec 14 Coretté Alefred [Hardy], American-Russian-Soviet jazz, spiritual and pop lyrical and dramatic soprano, dancer, and actress, dies at 70
- Dec 15 Eric Drummond, British 1st Secretary-General of the League of Nations (1919-33), dies at 75
- Dec 15 María Grever, Mexican-American composer ("What A Difference A Day Makes" / "Cuando vuelva a tu lado"), dies at 66
- Dec 16 Dorothy Dix [Elizabeth Meriwether Gilmer], American journalist and columnist, dies at 81
- Dec 19 Barton Yarborough, American radio and screen actor (One Man's Family; Dragnet), dies of a heart attack at 51
- Dec 22 Powell Weaver, American composer, dies at 61
- Dec 23 Alfrēds Kalniņš, Latvian organist, composer (Baņuta), conductor, and pedagogue, dies at 72
- Dec 23 Benito Lynch, Irish-Argentine writer (Palo Verde), dies at 66
- Dec 25 Harry T Moore, American educator, civil rights activist and Florida NAACP official, assassinated by a bombing of his home at 46
- Dec 31 H. Guy Bedwell, American thoroughbred trainer (North American champion in wins x 7; earnings 1918-19; first Triple Crown winner, Sir Barton), dies at 76
- Dec 31 Maxim Litvinov [Meir Genoch Moiseyevich Wallach] Russian statesman, revolutionary and diplomat (People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs.1930-39, Soviet Ambassador to the US 1940-43), dies at 75
- Dec 31 Philipp Abraham Kohnstamm, Dutch philosopher and physicist, dies at 76
Assassination
Drug Overdose
Gunshot Wound
Murder
Plane Crash
Suicide