- Dec 2 Harrison Ford, American silent screen actor (Rubber Tires), dies at 73
- Dec 2 Leslie Henson, English comedian and actor (Lady Luck, Funny Face, Harvey), dies at 66
- Dec 2 Manfred Sakel, Polish neurophysiologist and psychiatrist, dies at 57
- Dec 3 Frank Gannett, American newspaper publisher (Gannett), dies at 81
- Dec 6 Robert Esnault-Pelterie, French engineer and aviation pioneer who contributed to early heavier-than-air flight in Europe, dies at 76
- Dec 8 Reginald Sheffield, British actor (Suspicion; Of Human Bondage; Second Chance), dies at 56
- Dec 9 Carswell Adams, sportscaster (Your Sports Special), dies
Maurice McLoughlin (1890-1957)
Dec 10 American tennis player (US Nat C'ship 1912-13), dies at 67
John Van Druten (1901-1957)
Dec 19 English playwright (I Remember Mama, I am a Camera) and theater director, dies at 56
- Dec 20 Walter Page, American jazz double bassist, baritone saxophonist, tuba player, and bandleader (Blue Devils; Count Basie Orchestra), dies at 57
- Dec 21 Eric Coates, English viola palyer and composer, dies at 71
- Dec 24 Norma Talmadge, American silent screen actress (Within the Law, Sign on Bay), dies at 64
- Dec 25 Frederick Law Olmsted Jr, American landscape architect and advocate for wildlife conservation, dies at 87
- Dec 26 Artur Malawski, Polish violinist, conductor, composer (Mountaineers Triptych), and pedagogue, dies at 53
- Dec 26 Charles Pathé, French pioneer of film and record industries (Pathé Brothers, 1896), dies at 93
- Dec 27 Alan Bridge, actor (Hail the Conquering Hero), dies at 66
- Dec 28 Ernie Henry, American jazz saxophonist (Fats Navarro; Dizzy Gillespie; Illinois Jacquet), dies of a heroin overdose at 31
- Dec 29 Tom Richmond, cricketer (Notts leg-spinner took 2-86 in Eng Test), dies at 67
Assassination
Drug Overdose
Gunshot Wound
Murder
Plane Crash
Suicide