- Dec 1 Leon Mirsky, Russian-British mathematician (Mirsky's theorem), dies at 64
- Dec 2 Atholl Mckinnon, South African cricket spin bowler (8 Tests, 26 wickets), dies from a heart attack at 51
- Dec 2 Fifi D'Orsay [Yvonne Lussier] Canadian-American vaudeville and film actress and singer known as the "French Bombshell" (The Life Jimmy Dolan; Dixie Jamboree), dies from cancer at 79
- Dec 3 Al Watrous, American golfer (British Open 1926 runner-up), dies at 84
- Dec 4 Bruce Drake, American Basketball Hall of Fame coach (University of Oklahoma 1938-55, 200-181), dies at 77
- Dec 4 Estelle Omens, American actress (Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds), dies at 55
- Dec 5 Robert Aldrich, American director and producer (The Dirty Dozen, Last Sunset), dies at 65
- Dec 6 Lucienne Boyer, French singer (Parlez-moi d'amour), dies at 82
- Dec 7 Edgar Graham, member of N Ireland Assembly, shot dead by IRA
- Dec 7 Fanny Cano, Mexican actress (b. 1944)
Keith Holyoake (1904-1983)
Dec 8 26th Prime Minister of New Zealand (National: 1960-72), dies of a stroke at 79
- Dec 8 Slim Pickens [Louis Burton Lindley Jr], American rodeo performer and actor (Dr Strangelove; Blazing Saddles), dies following surgery at 64
- Dec 9 David Rounds, American actor (Terence-Beacon Hill, Alice, The Blue and The Grey), dies of cancer at 53
- Dec 10 Dorothy Cummings, actress (Dancing Mothers), dies at 84
- Dec 10 Patrick O'Moore, actor (Jungle Gents), dies at 74
- Dec 11 Neil Ritchie, British General (commanded British Eighth Army in North Africa in WWII), dies at 86
- Dec 11 Szymon Laks, Polish composer (head of prisoners orchestra at Auschwitz), dies at 82
- Dec 13 Alexander Schmemann, Orthodox Christian priest and theologian (b. 1921)
- Dec 13 Leora Dana, American actress (3:10 to Yuma, Pollyanna), dies at 60
- Dec 13 Mary Renault [Challans], British author (King Must Die, Funeral games), dies at 78
- Dec 13 Nichita Stanescu, Romanian poet (b. 1933
- Dec 15 Jimmy McLin, American jazz banjo player, and guitarist (James P. Johnson; Willie "The Lion" Smith; The Ink Spots), dies at 75
- Dec 15 “Big Chief” Russell Moore, Pima-American jazz trombonist (Lionel Hampton; Louis Armstrong), and composer ("Wounded Knee Chant"), dies at 70
- Dec 16 Grigori Aleksandrov, Russian film director (Veselye Rebjata), dies at 80
- Dec 16 Kusan Sunim, who found Milae Sa temple/Bulsung Sa Zen in Korea, dies at 74
- Dec 17 Erik Christensen, NHL player
- Dec 20 John Vivyan, American actor (Mr Lucky, Wrong Man, Imitation of Life), dies at 68
- Dec 21 Paul de Man, Belgian literary critic, dies at 64
- Dec 21 Rod Cameron [Nathan Roderick Cox], Canadian actor (City Detective, State Trooper, Trigger Trail), dies of cancer at 73
- Dec 23 Colin Middleton, Northern Irish artist (b. 1910)
- Dec 25 Joan Miro, Spanish painter and sculptor, dies at his home in Majorca at 90
- Dec 26 Violet Carson, British actress (b. 1898)
- Dec 27 Walter Scott, American singer (Bob Kuban), murdered at 40
- Dec 28 Dennis Wilson, American drummer and singer (Beach Boys), drowns at 39
Jimmy Demaret (1910-1983)
Dec 28 American golfer (US Masters 1940, 47, 50), dies of a heart attack at 73
- Dec 28 William Demarest, American actor (My 3 Sons), dies from pneumonia and prostate cancer at 91
- Dec 31 Frank Link, actor (Burns & Schreiber Comedy Show), dies at 46
Assassination
Drug Overdose
Gunshot Wound
Murder
Plane Crash
Suicide