Deaths in December 2015

The following is a list of **notable deaths in December 2015**. For notable deaths before the current month, please see "Previous months".

- Name, age, country of citizenship and reason for notability, cause of death, reference (must be added) are added.
__TOC__

## December 2015

- December 1 - Joseph Engelberger, 90, American engineer and inventor, complications from a stroke.
- December 1 - Robert E. Glennen, 82, American academic, President of Emporia State University (1985–1997).
- December 1 - Jim Loscutoff, 85, American basketball player (Boston Celtics), complications of pneumonia and Parkinson's disease.
- December 2 - Sandy Berger, 70, American political consultant, United States National Security Advisor (1997–2001), cancer of unknown primary origin.
- December 2 - Ferenc Juhász, 87, Hungarian poet, stroke.
- December 2 - Gabriele Ferzetti, 90, Italian actor (_L'Avventura_, _On Her Majesty's Secret Service_, _Once Upon a Time in the West_).
- December 2 - George T. Sakato, 94, American soldier, Medal of Honor recipient.
- December 3 - Scott Weiland, 48, American musician (Stone Temple Pilots, Velvet Revolver, The Wondergirls), accidental drug and alcohol overdose.
- December 4 - Bill Bennett, 83, Canadian politician, Premier of British Columbia  (1975–1986), Alzheimer's disease.
- December 4 - Robert Loggia, 85, American actor (_Jagged Edge_, _Scarface_, _Big_), complications from Alzheimer's disease.
- December 4 - Yossi Sarid, 75, Israeli politician, member of Knesset (1974–2006), Minister of Environment (1992–1996) and Education (1999–2000), heart attack.
- December 4 - Dag Skogheim, 87, Norwegian writer, complications from a stroke.
- December 4 - Erik De Vlaeminck, 70, Belgian cyclist, seven-time world-champion cyclo-cross (1966, 1968–1973).
- December 5 - William McIlvanney, 79, Scottish novelist and poet, complications from Alzheimer's disease.
- December 5 - Marília Pêra, 72, Brazilian actress (_Pixote_, _Better Days Ahead_), lung cancer.
- December 5 - Siddhi Savetsila, 96, Thai politician, Minister of Foreign Affairs (1980–1990), Deputy Prime Minister (1986).
- December 5 - Dimitar Iliev Popov, 88, Bulgarian politician, Prime Minister (1990-1991).
- December 6 - Holly Woodlawn, 69, Puerto Rican actress and Warhol superstar, lung and liver cancer.
- December 6 - Nicholas Smith, 81, British actor (_Are You Being Served?_, _Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit_, _Doctor Who_), complications from a fall.
- December 7 - Ko Chun-hsiung, 70, Taiwanese actor and politician, lung cancer.
- December 7 - Martin E. Brooks. 90, American actor (_The Six Million Dollar Man_, _The Bionic Woman_).
- December 7 - Shirley Stelfox, 74, English actress (_Emmerdale_, _Keeping Up Appearances_, _Coronation Street_), cancer.
- December 8 - Alan Hodgkinson, 79, English footballer (Sheffield United).
- December 8 - Elsie Tu, 102, English-born Hong Kong social activist, member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong (1988–1995).
- December 8 - Mattiwilda Dobbs, 90, American coloratura soprano.
- December 8 - John Trudell, 69, American activist and poet, cancer.
- December 8 - Bonnie Lou, 91, American country singer, complications from dementia.
- December 8 - Douglas Tompkins, 72, American conservationist and businessman, co-founder of The North Face and Esprit, hypothermia following kayak accident.
- December 9 - Rusty Jones, 73, American jazz drummer.
- December 10 - Ron Bouchard, 66, American NASCAR driver, cancer.
- December 10 - Dolph Schayes, 87, American basketball player and coach (Philadelphia 76ers), cancer.
- December 10 - Arnold Peralta, 26, Honduran footballer (national team, Rangers F.C.), shot.
- December 11 - Jiří Paďour, 72, Czech Catholic prelate, Bishop of České Budějovice (2002–2014).
- December 11 - H. Arnold Steinberg, 82, Canadian business and educational administrator, Chancellor of McGill University (2009–2014), heart attack.
- December 12 - Evelyn S. Lieberman, 71, American public affairs professional, White House Deputy Chief of Staff (1996), pancreatic cancer.
- December 12 - Abu Ali al-Anbari, Iraqi general and ISIL-governor, killed in an airstrike.
- December 13 - Benedict Anderson, 79, American academic and writer (_Imagined Communities_), heart failure.
- December 13 - John Bannon, 72, Australian politician, Premier of South Australia (1982–1992), cancer.
- December 14 - Vadym Tyshchenko, 52, Ukrainian football player (Karpaty, Dnipro) and manager (Dnipro), heart attack.
- December 14 - Armando Cossutta, 89, Italian politician, member of the European Parliament (1999-2004), bronchopneumonia.
- December 14 - Lillian Vernon, 88, German-born American businesswoman (Lillian Vernon), congestive heart failure.
- December 15 - Milton Ballantyne, 87, Australian politician, member of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly (1974–1980).
- December 15 - Licio Gelli, 96, Italian financier, Venerable Master of the Propaganda Due lodge, respiratory failure.
- December 15 - Harry Zvi Tabor, 98, British-born Israeli physicist.
- December 16 - Gabre Gabric, 101, Croatian-born Italian track and field athlete.
- December 16 - Peter Dickinson, 88, British author and poet.
- December 17 - Buckshot Hoffner, 91, American politician, heart failure.
- December 18 - Hal Brown, 91, American baseball player (Boston Red Sox, Baltimore Orioles, Houston Colt .45s).
- December 18 - Helge Solum Larsen, 46, Norwegian politician, deputy leader of Venstre (2010–2012).
- December 19 - Jimmy Hill, 87, English footballer (Fulham), manager, trade union leader (Professional Footballers' Association) and TV presenter (_Match of the Day_), Alzheimer's disease.
- December 19 - Kurt Masur, 88, German conductor, Parkinson's disease.
- December 19 - Greville Janner, 87, British politician, Member of Parliament for Leicester West (1970–1997), Alzheimer's disease.
- December 19 - Dickie Moore, 84, Canadian ice hockey player (Montreal Canadiens), prostate cancer.
- December 19 - Selma Reis, 55, Brazilian actress and singer, brain cancer.
- December 19 - Karin Söder, 87, Swedish politician, leader of Center Party (1985–1987), Minister for Health and Social Affairs (1979–1982), Minister for Foreign Affairs (1976–1978).
- December 19 - Fernande Gruget, 92, famous French pimp
- December 20 - Ray Mathews, 86, American football player (Pittsburgh Steelers), complications from Alzheimer's disease.
- December 20 - Patricia Elliott, 77, American actress (_A Little Night Music_, _One Life to Live_), cancer.
- December 21 - Jan Góra, 67, Polish Roman Catholic Dominican priest, heart attack.
- December 21 - Carol Burns, 68, Australian actress (_Prisoner_), cancer.
- December 22 - Peter Lundblad, 65, Swedish singer ("Ta mig till havet"), prostate cancer.
- December 22 - Freda Meissner-Blau, 88, Austrian politician, founder of The Greens – The Green Alternative, complications from a stroke.
- December 22 - Rolf Bossi, 92, German lawyer.
- December 23 - Hocine Aït Ahmed, 89, Algerian politician, founder and leader of Socialist Forces Front.
- December 23 - Don Howe, 80, English football player (West Bromwich Albion, Arsenal) and coach (national team).
- December 23 - Bülent Ulusu, 92, Turkish politician, Prime Minister (1980–1983).
- December 23 - Jean-Marie Pelt, 82, French biologist, heart attack.
- December 23 - Alfred G. Gilman, 74, American pharmacologist and biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate, pancreatic cancer.
- December 24 - Adriana Olguín, 104, Chilean lawyer and politician, Minister of Justice (1952).
- December 24 - Ron Jacobs, 72, American basketball coach (Loyola Marymount University, Northern Cement, Philippine national team), complications from a stroke.
- December 25 - Robert Spitzer, 83, American psychiatrist and educator, heart disease.
- December 25 - Sadhana Shivdasani, 74, Indian movie actress (_Love in Simla_, _Woh Kaun Thi_, _Hum Dono_), cancer.
- December 25 - Ali Eid, 75, Lebanese politician, General Secretary of the Arab Democratic Party (since 1972). (death announced on this date)
- December 25 - George Clayton Johnson, 86, American science fiction writer (_Logan's Run_, _The Twilight Zone_, _Star Trek_), prostate and bladder cancer.
- December 26 - Jim O'Toole, 78, American baseball player (Cincinnati Reds).
- December 27 - Haskell Wexler, 93, American cinematographer (_One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest_, _Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?_, _Bound for Glory_) and movie director (_Medium Cool_), Academy Award winner (1966, 1976).
- December 27 - Dave Henderson, 57, American baseball player (Seattle Mariners, Boston Red Sox, Oakland Athletics), heart attack.
- December 27 - Ellsworth Kelly, 92, American artist, respiratory failure.
- December 27 - Alfredo Pacheco, 33, Salvadoran footballer (FAS, New York Red Bulls, national team), shot.
- December 27 - Meadowlark Lemon, 83, American basketball player (Harlem Globetrotters).
- December 27 - Stein Eriksen, 88, Norwegian alpine skier, Olympic champion (1952).
- December 27 - Gabriel Tambon, 85, French politician, Mayor of Le Castellet, Var (since 1965).
- December 28 - Pierre-Marie Rudelle, 83, French painter.
- December 28 - Joe Houston, 89, American jazz and R&B saxophonist, complications from a stroke.
- December 28 - Lemmy, 70, English rock musician (Motörhead, Hawkwind), lung cancer.
- December 28 - Eloy Inos, 66, Northern Mariana Islands politician, Governor (since 2013), complications after heart surgery.
- December 28 - Ian Murdock, 42, American software engineer, founder of the Debian Project.
- December 29 - Pavel Srníček, 47, Czech football goalkeeper (Newcastle United, national team), complications from a heart attack.
- December 29 - Elżbieta Krzesińska, 81, Polish retired track and field athlete.
- December 29 - Frank Malzone, 85, American baseball player (Boston Red Sox, California Angels).
- December 29 - Kim Yang-gon, 73, North Korean senior politician, car accident.
- December 30 - Mangesh Padgaonkar, 86, Indian poet.
- December 30 - Doug Atkins, 85, American football player (Cleveland Browns, Chicago Bears, New Orleans Saints).
- December 30 - Howard Pawley, 81, Canadian politician, Premier of Manitoba (1981–1988).
- December 30 - Howard Davis, Jr., 59, American boxer, lung cancer.
- December 30 - Åge Nordkild, 63, Norwegian politician, Member of the Sami Parliament (2001–2005, 2009–2013).
- December 31 - Marvin Panch, 89, American racing driver.
- December 31 - Wayne Rogers, 82, American actor (_M*A*S*H_), complications from pneumonia.
- December 31 - Natalie Cole, 65, American Grammy Award-winning singer ("This Will Be", _Unforgettable... with Love_) and actress, congestive heart failure.
- December 31 - Dal Richards, 97, Canadian big band leader, prostate cancer.
- December 31 - Steve Gohouri, 34, Ivorian footballer (Paris Saint-Germain F.C., Borussia Mönchengladbach, Wigan Athletic F.C.). (body discovered on this date)
- December 31 - Beth Howland, 74, American actress (_Alice_), lung cancer.

## Previous months

- January 2015
- February 2015
- March 2015
- April 2015
- May 2015
- June 2015
- July 2015
- August 2015
- September 2015
- October 2015
- November 2015