Deaths in December 2017

The following is a list of notable deaths in December 2017. For notable deaths before the current month, please see "Previous months". Names under each date are reported in alphabetical order by last name or pseudonym. Deaths of non-humans are reported here also if notable.
Each listing of a death must have a source. If no reference is included, the death notice will be removed. The following are the requirements of adding a name to the list in its order: name, age, nationality, what the person is known for, cause of death (if known) and most importantly a source.
December
1
Adarsh Sein Anand, 81, Indian judge, Chief Justice of India (1998-2001), Madras High Court (1989-1992), and Jammu and Kashmir High Court (1985-1989).
Arif Dirlik, 77, Turkish-born American historian.
Philipp Graf Lerchenfeld, 65, German politician, member of the Bundestag (2013-2017) and the Landtag of Bavaria (2003-2013), lung cancer.
Fredy Schmidtke, 56, German track cyclist, Olympic champion (1984), heart attack.
Les Whitten, 89, American investigative reporter (Radio Free Europe, The Washington Post), sepsis.
2
Jerzy Kloczowski, 92, Polish historian, professor (John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin) and member of the Senate (1990-1991).
Ulli Lommel, 72, German actor (Love Is Colder Than Death, Chinese Roulette, Hors Saison) and director (The Tenderness of Wolves, The Boogeyman, D.C. Sniper), heart failure.
Mundell Lowe, 95, American jazz guitarist and composer.
Edwin Mosquera, 32, Colombian weightlifter, Pan American champion (2008, 2010), shot.
Ewald Schurer, 63, German politician, member of the Bundestag (1998-2002, since 2005).
Nava Semel, 63, Israeli author and playwright, cancer.
3
John B. Anderson, 95, American lawyer (Anderson v. Celebrezze) and politician, member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois's 16th congressional district (1961-1981), 1980 presidential candidate.
Adam Darius, 87, American dancer (The Firebird) and choreographer, heart attack.
Elmar Faber, 83, German publisher (Aufbau-Verlag).
Thomas Finlay, 95, Irish judge and politician, TD (1954-1957) and Chief Justice (1985-1994).
Kjell Opseth, 81, Norwegian politician, Minister of Transport and Communications (1990-1996).
Kazimierz Pawelek, 81, Polish politician, journalist and writer.
Ian Twitchin, 65, English footballer (Torquay United).
4
Jimmy Hood, 69, British politician, MP (1987-2015), heart attack.
Shashi Kapoor, 79, Indian actor (Bombay Talkie, Deewaar, The Deceivers) and movie director (Ajooba), cirrhosis.
Christine Keeler, 75, English model and showgirl, involved in Profumo affair, complications from COPD.
Manuel Marin, 68, Spanish politician, President of the European Commission (1999) and the Congress of Deputies (2004-2008), lung cancer.
Ali Abdullah Saleh, 70, Yemeni politician, President of North Yemen (1978-1990) and President (1990-2012), shot.
Carles Santos, 77, Spanish pianist.
Rudolph G. Wilson, 82, American professor, storyteller, writer and public speaker.
5
August Ames, 23, Canadian-born American pornographic actress (Brazzers), AVN Award winner (2015, 2017), suicide by hanging.
Jean d'Ormesson, 92, French writer (Au revoir et merci, Au plaisir de Dieu, Dieu, sa vie, son oeuvre), columnist (Le Figaro) and philosopher, member of the Academie francaise (since 1973).
Maurice Green, 91, American virologist.
Henning Jensen, 68, Danish footballer (Borussia Monchengladbach, Real Madrid, national team).
Michael I of Romania, 96, Romanian royal, King (1927-1930, 1940-1947), complications from leukemia.
6
Conrad Brooks, 86, American actor (Plan 9 from Outer Space, Glen or Glenda, The Beast of Yucca Flats), complications from sepsis.
William H. Gass, 93, American novelist (The Tunnel), critic and philosophy professor, heart failure.
Johnny Hallyday, 74, French rock singer ("Requiem pour un fou", "Marie", "Tous ensemble") and actor (The Specialist, Crime Spree, The Pink Panther 2), lung cancer.
Cy Young, 89, American javelin thrower, Olympic champion (1952), vascular dementia.
7
Fred J. Doocy, 104, American politician and banker, Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut (1966-1967).
Ivan Korsak, 71, Ukrainian writer and journalist.
Philippe Maystadt, 69, Belgian politician, Minister of Finance (1988-1998), President of the European Investment Bank (2000-2011), lung disease.
Roland Taylor, 71, American basketball player (Virginia Squires, Denver Nuggets), male breast cancer.
8
Vladimir Curbet, 87, Moldovan choreographer, People's Artist of the USSR (1981).
Sunny Murray, 81, American jazz drummer (Cecil Taylor, Albert Ayler).
Atsutoshi Nishida, 73, Japanese businessman, President of Toshiba (2005-2009), heart attack.
9
James Joseph Brady, 73, American judge, Judge of the U.S. District Court for Middle Louisiana (since 2000), heart attack.
Leonid Bronevoy, 88, Ukrainian-born Russian actor (Simple Things), People's Artist of the USSR (1987).
Lando Fiorini, 79, Italian actor (Ma 'ndo vai se il decoder non-ce l'hai) and singer ("Co' amore e co' rabbia"), mesothelioma.
Grant Munro, 94, Canadian animator (My Darling Clementine, Man on the Flying Trapeze), filmmaker (Christmas Cracker, Cannon) and actor (Neighbours).
Joe Newton, 88, American track and field coach.
10
Angry Grandpa, 67, American YouTube personality (The Angry Grandpa Show), complications from cirrhosis.
Simeon Booker, 99, American journalist (The Washington Post, Jet, Ebony), complications from pneumonia.
Manno Charlemagne, 69, Haitian singer-songwriter ("Manno et Marco"), acoustic guitarist (Les Trouveres) and politician, Mayor of Port-au-Prince (1995-1999), laryngeal cancer.
Max Clifford, 74, British publicist and convicted sex offender, heart attack.
Lalji Singh, 70, Indian biologist and zoologist, Director of Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (1998-2009), recipient of the Padma Shri (2004), heart attack.
Ivan Stoyanov, 68, Bulgarian footballer (Levski Sofia, national team), heart attack. (death announced on this date)
Eva Todor, 98, Hungarian-born Brazilian actress (Roque Santeiro, India A Love Story, Os Dois Ladroes), pneumonia.
Viktor Potapov, 70, Russian sailor and Olympic bronze medalist (1972).
Antonio Riboldi, 94, Italian Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of Arcerra (1978-1999), complications from Alzheimer's disease.
11
Keith Chegwin, 60, English television presenter (Cheggers Plays Pop, It's a Knockout, Swap Shop, The Big Breakfast) and actor (Macbeth), idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.
Aline Griffith, Dowager Countess of Romanones, 94, Spanish-American cipher clerk, aristocrat, socialite and writer.
Charles Robert Jenkins, 77, American Army soldier, deserted to North Korea, heart failure.
Vera Katz, 84, German-born American politician, member and Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives (1985-1990) and Mayor of Portland, Oregon (1993-2005), leukemia.
Suzanna Leigh, 72, British actress (Paradise, Hawaiian Style, Deadlier Than the Male, Subterfuge), liver cancer.
Walter Mafli, 102, Swiss painter.
12
Pat DiNizio, 62, American singer and musician (The Smithereens).
Alessandro Kokocinski, 69, Italian-Argentine artist and sculptor, lymphoma.
Ed Lee, 65, American politician, Mayor of San Francisco (since 2011), heart attack.
Aharon Yehuda Leib Shteinman, 104, Israeli Haredi rabbi (Ponevezh Yeshiva), respiratory failure.
Zarley Zalapski, 49, Canadian-Swiss ice hockey player (Pittsburgh Penguins, Hartford Whalers, Calgary Flames), complications from a viral infection.
13
Warrel Dane, 56, American heavy metal singer-songwriter ("Refuge Denied", "Praises to the War Machine", "Enemies of Reality"), musician (Sanctuary, Nevermore) and actor (Metalocalypse), heart attack.
Simon Dickie, 66, New Zealand rower, Olympic champion (1968, 1972), fall from balcony.
Bruce Gray, 81, Puerto Rican-born Canadian actor (Traders, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Passions), brain cancer.
Bill Hudson, 82, American football player (Montreal Alouettes, San Diego Chargers, Boston Patriots).
Dan Johnson, 57, American politician, member of the Kentucky House of Representatives (since 2017), suicide by gunshot.
Frank Lary, 87, American baseball player (Detroit Tigers, New York Mets, Chicago White Sox), pneumonia.
Gerald O'Brien, 93, New Zealand politician, MP for Island Bay (1969-1978).
Charles Zentai, 96, Hungarian-born Australian alleged Holocaust perpetrator, heart disease.
14
Yurizan Beltran, 31, American pornographic actress, suspected drug overdose.
Bob Givens, 99, American animator (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Looney Tunes, Tom and Jerry), respiratory failure.
Karl-Erik Nilsson, 95, Swedish wrestler, Olympic champion (1948).
Charles Byron Renfrew, 89, American politician and judge, Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California (1971-1980) and Deputy Attorney General (1980-1981).
R. C. Sproul, 78, American apologist, author (The Holiness of God, Not a Chance: The Myth of Chance in Modern Science and Cosmology), and pastor, founder of Ligonier Ministries, complications from COPD.
Neeraj Vora, 54, Indian actor (Virasat, Mann), screenwriter (Rangeela) and director (Khiladi 420, Phir Hera Pheri), heart attack complicated by a stroke.
Marilyn Ware, 74, American diplomat and businesswoman, Ambassador to Finland (2006-2008), complications from Alzheimer's disease.
Lones Wigger, 80, American sports shooter, Olympic champion (1964, 1972), pancreatic cancer.
Ye Zhengda, 90, Chinese politician, member of the National Congress of the Communist Party of China (1973-1977).
Yu Guangzhong, 89, Taiwanese poet (Lanse de yumao, Zai lengzhan de niandai, Yu yongheng bahe), pneumonia.
15
A. B. M. Mohiuddin Chowdhury, 73, Bangladeshi politician, Mayor of Chittagong City Corporation (1994-2009).
Ana Maria Vela Rubio, 116, Spanish supercentenarian, oldest Spanish person ever.
Bernard Sherman, 75, Canadian billionaire drug manufacturer, CEO and founder of Apotex, neck compression by hanging.
Heinz Wolff, 89, German-born British engineer and television presenter (The Great Egg Race), heart failure.
16
Ralph Carney, 61, American saxophonist (Tin Huey, Tom Waits) and composer, complications from a fall.
Len Ceglarski, 91, American college ice hockey coach (Clarkson, Boston College), Olympic silver medalist (1952).
Richard Dobson, 75, American country-folk singer-songwriter ("Baby Ride Easy", "Heartworn Highways", "Swamp Rat") and guitarist, esophageal cancer.
Reinhart Fuchs, 83, German chess player.
E. Hunter Harrison, 73, American railway executive, CEO of CSX (since 2017), suspected heart attack.
Sharon Laws, 43, British racing cyclist and environmentalist, cervical cancer.
Keely Smith, 89, American singer ("Politely!", "That Old Black Magic", "Little Girl Blue/Little Girl New"), Grammy Award winner (1959), heart failure.
Tu An, 94, Chinese poet and translator (Poetry of John Keats), Lu Xun Literary Prize winner (2000), complications from Parkinson's disease.
Muriel Turner, Baroness Turner of Camden, 90, British politician, member of the House of Lords (since 1985), congestive heart failure.
Z'EV, 66, American percussionist and poet, sepsis.
17
Terry Cavanagh, 91, Canadian ice hockey player (Galt Red Wings) and politician, Mayor of Edmonton (1975-1977, 1988-1989).
Johnny Fox, 64, American sword swallower, liver cancer.
Bob Glidden, 73, American Hall of Fame drag racer (NHRA), colorectal cancer.
Kevin Mahogany, 59, American jazz singer ("It Don't Mean a Thing"), heart failure.
Edward Rowny, 100, American Army lieutenant general and presidential military advisor (START I), cardiomyopathy.
18
Janet Benshoof, 70, American lawyer and human rights activist, founder of the Global Justice Center, uterine cancer.
Ake Hellman, 102, Finnish artist, cardiopulmonary arrest.
Jonghyun, 27, South Korean singer-songwriter ("Shinee") and radio host (MBC Blue Night), suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning.
Altero Matteoli, 77, Italian politician, Minister of the Environment (1994-1995; 2001-2006) and Minister of Infrastructure and Transport (2008-2011), car accident.
Josef Pesice, 67, Czech footballer (Sparta Prague, Zbrojovka Brno, Slavia Prague) and manager (Jablonec, Teplice, national team).
Arseny Roginsky, 71, Russian dissident and historian, co-founder and Chairman of Memorial (since 1998).
19
Lito Cruz, 76, Argentine actor (Sur, El elegido, Solamente vos), playwright (Suenos de milongueros) and director (The Ward Wants to be Warden), stomach cancer.
Clifford Irving, 87, American author (The Hoax) and convicted fraudster, pancreatic cancer.
Hiep Thi Le, 46, Vietnamese-American actress (Heaven & Earth, Cruel Intentions, Lakeview Terrace), stomach cancer.
20
William Agee, 79, American business executive (Bendix Corporation, Morrison-Knudsen), complications from respiratory failure.
Florence Bjelke-Petersen, 97, Australian politician, Senator from Queensland (1981-1993), cardiopulmonary arrest.
Henryk Cioch, 66, Polish lawyer and politician, Senator from Lublin Voivodeship (2011-2015), complications from a staph infection.
Annie Goetzinger, 66, French comics artist (Pilote, Charlie Mensuel, Fluide Glacial) and graphic novelist (Casque d'Or), endometrial cancer.
Bernard Francis Law, 86, American cardinal, Archbishop of Boston (1984-2002), prostate cancer.
Red Murrell, 84, American basketball player (Moberly Area, Drake Bulldogs), coronary artery disease.
Stan Pilecki, 70, Polish-born Australian rugby union player (Queensland Reds, national team).
Randolph Quirk, Baron Quirk, 97, British linguist and life peer, President of the British Academy (1985-1989).
Jesus Castillo Rangel, allegedly 121, Mexican revolutionary (Mexican Revolution), nation's oldest living person, respiratory failure.
21
Manouchehr Boroumand, 83, Iranian heavyweight weightlifter, Asian Games champion (1966), cerebral hemorrhage.
Ken Catchpole, 78, Australian rugby union player (New South Wales Waratahs, national team).
Dick Enberg, 82, American sportscaster (NFL on NBC, Major League Baseball on NBC, San Diego Padres), suspected heart attack.
March Fong Eu, 95, American politician, California Secretary of State (1975-1994), member of the State Assembly (1967-1974), and Ambassador to Micronesia (1994-1996), complications from surgery.
Halvard Kausland, 72, Norwegian jazz guitarist, Acting Director of the Arts Council Norway (1996-2000), thyroid cancer.
Jean-Pierre Lehmann, 72, American-born Swiss economist (The Evian Group at IMD), pulmonary embolism.
Bruce McCandless II, 80, American astronaut (STS-41-B).
Francelino Pereira, 96, Brazilian politician, Senator (1995-2003), Governor of Minas Gerais (1979-1983), and Deputy (1963-1979), pneumonia.
Roswell Rudd, 82, American jazz trombonist, prostate cancer.
June Rowlands, 93, Canadian politician, Mayor of Toronto (1991-1994), complications from Parkinson's disease.
John Vear, 79, New Zealand cricketer.
Jerry Yellin, 93, American World War II fighter pilot, lung cancer.
22
Gerald B. Greenberg, 81, American movie editor (The French Connection, Apocalypse Now, Scarface), Oscar winner (1972), stroke.
Jason Lowndes, 23, Australian racing cyclist, road accident.
Gonzalo Morales Saurez, 72, Costa Rican painter, heart attack.
23
Maurice Hayes, 90, Irish politician, Senator (1996-2006), complications from frontotemporal dementia.
Hector Morera Vega, 91, Costa Rican Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of Tilaran (1979-2002), complications from pneumonia.
24
Don Hogan Charles, 79, American photographer (The New York Times, Ebony).
Jimmie C. Holland, 89, American medical researcher (Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center) and psychiatrist, heart attack.
Jerry Kindall, 82, American baseball player (Chicago Cubs, Cleveland Indians, Minnesota Twins) and coach (Arizona Wildcats), stroke.
Heather Menzies, 68, Canadian-born American actress (The Sound of Music, Logan's Run, Piranha) and model, brain cancer.
Marcus Raskin, 83, American philosopher, activist and social critic, co-founder of the Institute for Policy Studies, heart disease.
Andrey Zaliznyak, 82, Russian linguist (The Tale of Igor's Campaign, Russian Nominal Inflection, Russian Grammar Dictionary).
25
Larry Libertore, 78, American football player (Florida Gators) and politician, member of the Florida House of Representatives (1970-1974), aortic aneurysm.
Willie Toweel, 83, South African flyweight boxer, Olympic bronze medalist (1952), complications from Alzheimer's disease.
26
Shahnon Ahmad, 84, Malaysian writer (Ranjau Sepanjang Jalan) and politician, MP (1999-2004), bladder cancer.
Johnny Bower, 93, Canadian Hall of Fame ice hockey player (Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Rangers), pneumonia.
Gualtiero Marchesi, 87, Italian chef and restaurateur, subject of Marchesi: The Great Italian, cardiac arrest.
Vladimir Shainsky, 92, Russian composer (Cheburashka, Finest, the brave Falcon).
27
Ben Barres, 63, American neurobiologist, pancreatic cancer.
Osvaldo Fattori, 95, Italian footballer (Inter Milan, national team, Brescia Calcio).
Thomas Hunter, 85, American actor (The Hills Run Red, Death Walks in Laredo, The Magnificent Tony Carrera) and screenwriter (The 'Human' Factor, The Final Countdown), pulmonary edema.
28
Fernando Birri, 92, Argentine filmmaker (Tire die, Mi hijo el Che, Los inundados) and theorist, respiratory arrest complicated from a fall.
Sue Grafton, 77, American author ("A" Is for Alibi, Keziah Dane, The Lolly-Madonna War), cancer.
Rose Marie, 94, American actress (The Dick Van Dyke Show, Hollywood Squares, The Doris Day Show).
Recy Taylor, 97, American rape victim and civil rights activist, congestive heart failure.
29
Carmen Franco, 1st Duchess of Franco, 91, Spanish noble, daughter of Francisco Franco, lymphoma.
John C. Portman Jr., 93, American architect (Peachtree Center, Shanghai Centre, Tomorrow Square) and real estate developer, heart failure.
30
Isaac Farris, 83, American civil rights activist, brother-in-law of Martin Luther King, Jr., prostate cancer and Parkinson's disease.
Erica Garner, 27, American civil rights activist, daughter of Eric Garner, complications from a heart attack.
Dame Cheryll Sotheran, 72, New Zealand museum executive, founding director of Te Papa, complications from a stroke.
Khalid Shameem Wynne, 64, Pakistani military officer, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (2010-2013), car crash.
31
Prince Francois, Count of Clermont, 56, French royal, styled Dauphin of France (since 2006).