- 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 Pritchard, British conductor (Cologne Opera, 1978-8; San Francisco Opera, 1986-89), dies of lung cancer 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 Gabor Jodal, Romanian composer, dies at 76
- Dec 6 John Payne, American actor (The Restless Gun, Miracle on 34th Street), dies aged 77
- Dec 6 Sammy Fain, American popular music composer, dies at 87
- 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 (1921-1989)
Dec 14 Russian nuclear physicist and an activist for disarmament, peace and human rights (Nobel 1975), dies of a heart attack at 68
- Dec 14 Jock Mahoney [Jacques Joseph O'Mahoney], American actor and stuntman (Dallas, Yancy Derringer, Day of Fury), dies of a stroke at 70
- Dec 14 Konrad Lechner, German cellist, composer, and conductor, dies at 78
- 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 Oscar Alfredo Gálvez, Argentine racing driver (b. 1913)
- Dec 16 Silvana Mangano, Italian actress (Death in Venice, Barabbas), dies at 59
- 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 (1906-1989)
Dec 22 Irish-French writer (Molloy, Nobel Prize for Literature 1969), dies at 83
Billy Martin (1928-1989)
Dec 25 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
- Dec 25 Georgy Mushel, Uzbek pianist and composer, dies at 80
- Dec 25 Jean-Etienne Marie, French composer of microtonal music and electroacoustics, dies at 72
Nicolae Ceausescu (1918-1989)
Dec 25 Communist dictator of Romania (1967-89), executed at 71
- Dec 25 Ton Regtien, Dutch student leader, political activist, and writer (Vietnam Tribunal Stockholm Roskilde), dies at 51
Doug Harvey (1924-1989)
Dec 26 Canadian Hockey HOF defenseman (Stanley Cup 1953, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60 Montreal Canadiens; James Norris Trophy x 7; 10 x NHL First All Star), dies of cirrhosis of the liver at 65
- Dec 26 Lennox R. F. Berkeley, British composer and pedagogue (Castaway), dies at 86
- Dec 26 Peggy Thorpe-Bates, actress (Alcatraz Island), dies
- Dec 28 Hermann Oberth, German physicist (founded modern astronautics), dies at 95
- Dec 30 Etienne Leroux, Afrikaans author (Een vir Azazel), dies at 67
- Dec 30 Lenore Lemmon, girlfriend of "Superman" George Reeves (b. 1923)
- Dec 30 Madoline Thomas, actress (Girl in the Canal), dies
Assassination
Drug Overdose
Gunshot Wound
Murder
Plane Crash
Suicide