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.
__TOC__

## 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 Kłoczowski, 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 Pawełek, 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 Marín, 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 œuvre*), columnist (*Le Figaro*) and philosopher, member of the Académie française (since 1973).
*Maurice Green, 91, American virologist.
*Henning Jensen, 68, Danish footballer (Borussia Mönchengladbach, 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 Trouvères) 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 Ladrões*), 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 María 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.
*Åke 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 Pešice, 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 (*Sueños 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).
*Jesús 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 Sáurez, 72, Costa Rican painter, heart attack.

### 23
*Maurice Hayes, 90, Irish politician, Senator (1996–2006), complications from frontotemporal dementia.
*Héctor Morera Vega, 91, Costa Rican Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of Tilarán (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 dié*, *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 François, Count of Clermont, 56, French royal, styled Dauphin of France (since 2006).

## Months
* January
* February
* March
* April
* May
* June
* July
* August
* September
* October
* November
* December

## Related pages
* Deaths in 2014
* Deaths in 2015
* Deaths in 2016

## References
## Other websites
* *The Guardian*, UK obituaries
* Obituaries, *Los Angeles Times*
* Obituaries, *Chicago Tribune*
* *The New York Times*, US obituaries
* *The Sydney Morning Herald*, Australian obituaries
* *The Telegraph* obituaries