- Dec 1 Éva Szörényi, Hungarian actress and freedom activist for Hungary, dies at 92
- Dec 1 Gustavo Adolfo Palma, Guatemalan singer (b. 1920)
- Dec 1 Ramses Shaffy, Dutch singer and cabaret actor (Zaak MP, Liefdesbekentenissen), dies at 76
- Dec 1 Tommy Henrich, American baseball utility (MLB All Star 1942, 1947–50; World Series 1938, 41, 47, 49, 51; NY Yankees), dies of a stroke at 96
- Dec 2 Eric Woolfson, Scottish singer and producer (The Alan Parsons Project), dies at 64
- Dec 2 Foge Fazio, American college football coach (University of Pittsburgh), dies of leukemia at 71
- Dec 2 Maggie Jones, English actress (b. 1934)
- Dec 3 Richard Todd, Irish-born British actor (Dorian Gray, Assassin Yangtse Incident), dies at 90
- Dec 4 Eddie Fatu, Samoan-American professional wrestler (b. 1973)
- Dec 5 Garfield Morgan, British actor (Odessa File, To Catch a Spy), dies at 78
- Dec 5 Vimolchatra, Princess of Thailand and cousin of King Bhumibol Adulyadej (b. 1921)
- Dec 7 Mark Ritts, American actor (b. 1946)
- Dec 8 Luis Días, Dominican Composer (b. 1952).
- Dec 9 Gene Barry [Eugene Klass], American actor (The Atomic City, Bat Masterson), dies of congestive heart failure at 90
- Dec 11 Claudia Boyarskikh, Soviet cross country skier (5 Olympic gold 1964, 1968), dies at 70
- Dec 11 Richard O'Brien, British Industrial relations expert (Manpower Services Commission), dies at 89
- Dec 13 Aubrey Bowman, British pianist, composer, and conductor (Workman's Music Association), dies from injuries after being struck by a car at 91
- Dec 13 Joe Castro, American bebop and West Coast jazz pianist (Teddy Edwards Quartet; June Christy), dies at 82
- Dec 13 Paul A. Samuelson, American economist (1970 Nobel Prize for Economics, 1947 John Bates Clark Medal), dies at 94 [1]
- Dec 14 Alan A'Court, English footballer, dies at 75
- Dec 15 Carolyn DeZurik, American country and polka singer and yodeler (The Cackle Sisters; Prairie Ramblers; The Polka Chips), dies at 90
- Dec 15 Oral Roberts, American television evangelist and author (b. 1918)
- Dec 16 Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, controversial South African Health Minister (b. 1940)
- Dec 16 Roy E. Disney, American businessman (b. 1930)
- Dec 16 Yegor Gaidar, Russian politician (b. 1956)
- Dec 17 Chris Henry, American football player (b. 1983)
- Dec 17 Dan O'Bannon, Screenwriter, after a short illness (b.1943)
Jennifer Jones (1919-2009)
Dec 17 American actress (Farewell to Arms), dies of natural causes at 90
- Dec 18 Connie Hines, American actress (Mister Ed), dies of heart problems at 78
- Dec 18 Oskar Danon, Yugoslav conductor (Belgrade Opera, 1944-65), dies at 96
- Dec 19 Hossein-Ali Montazeri, Iranian dissident cleric Grand Ayatollah (b. 1922)
- Dec 19 Kim Peek, American prodigious savant and inspiration for the 1988 film Rain Man, dies of a heart attack at 58
- Dec 20 (Amada) "Amy" Santos Ocampo, Filipina pianist and composer, dies at 84
- Dec 20 Arnold Stang, American comedian and actor (Broadside, Milton Berle, Top Cat), dies at 91
- Dec 20 Brittany Murphy, American actress (Drop Dead Gorgeous), dies at 32
- Dec 20 James Gurley, American rock lead guitarist (Big Brother and the Holding Company), dies of a heart attack at 69
- Dec 20 Mairoon Ali, Trinidadian comedienne and actress (b. 1954)
- Dec 20 Tony Ayre, Northern Irish rock bass player (The Adventures - "Broken Land", "Drowning in the Sea of Love"), dies at 51
- Dec 22 Luis Francisco Cuéllar, Colombian politician (b. 1940)
- Dec 23 Edward Schillebeeckx, Belgian Roman Catholic theologian (influential at Second Vatican Council), dies at 95
- Dec 23 Grayson Shillingford, West Indian cricket fast bowler (7 Tests, 15 wickets, BB 3/63; Windward Islands), dies at 65
- Dec 23 Ngapoi Ngawang Jigme, Tibetan senior official (b. 1910)
- Dec 23 Robert L. Howard, highly decorated officer of the United States Army (b. 1939)
- Dec 24 George Michael, American sportscaster (The George Michael Sports Machine) (b. 1939)
- Dec 24 Marcus Bakker, Dutch communist politician (CPN), dies at 86
- Dec 24 Rafael Caldera, lawyer, sociologist, writer, speaker, politician, and ex-president of Venezuela (b. 1916)
- Dec 24 Tim Hart, British folk-rock singer, guitarist, mandolin and dulcimer player (Steeleye Span, 1969-82 - "All Around My Hat"; "Gaudete"), dies of lung cancer at 61
- Dec 25 Tony "T-Bone" Bellamy, American rock guitarist (Redbone), dies of liver failure at 63
- Dec 25 Vic Chesnutt, American singer-songwriter, dies of an overdose of muscle relaxants at 46
- Dec 26 Arthur McIntyre, English cricket wicket-keeper (3 Tests, 8 dismissals; Surrey CCC, MCC), dies at 91
- Dec 26 Felix Wurman, American cellist and composer, dies of cancer at 51
- Dec 28 James Owen Sullivan, American drummer and songwriter (Avenged Sevenfold), dies aged 28
- Dec 29 Akmal Shaikh, British drug trafficker, executed by lethal injection in the People's Republic of China (b. 1956)
- Dec 29 David Levine, American artist (New York Review of Books caricatures), dies at 83
- Dec 29 Steve Williams, American professional wrestler, known as "Dr. Death", and USFL football player, dies of throat cancer at 49
- Dec 30 Abdurrahman Wahid, 4th President of Indonesia, dies at 69
- Dec 30 Rowland S. Howard, Australian guitarist (The Birthday Party) (b. 1959)
- Dec 31 Earl Gaines, American R&B, soul, and electric blues singer (It's Love Baby (24 Hours a Day)), dies at 74
Assassination
Drug Overdose
Gunshot Wound
Murder
Plane Crash
Suicide