The following is a list of notable deaths in December 1986.
Entries for each day are listed alphabetically by surname. A typical entry lists information in the following sequence: Name, age, country of citizenship at birth, subsequent country of citizenship (if applicable), reason for notability, cause of death (if known), and reference.
December 1986
1 Ernest Burkhart, 94, American murderer (Osage Indian murders). Lee Dorsey, 61, American singer ("Ya Ya", "Working in the Coal Mine"), emphysema.Lee Dorsey, 59, Rock Singer Popular in the 50's and 60's. New York Times. Retrieved 22 Sep 2024. Horace Heidt, 85, American pianist and big band leader.Horace Heidt, a Band Leader. New York Times. Retrieved 22 Sep 2024. Bobby Layne, 59, American NFL footballer (Detroit Lions), cardiac arrest.Bobby Layne, Hall of Famer in Pro Football, is Dead at 59. New York Times. Retrieved 22 Sep 2024. Robert Lee, 73, Taiwanese-born British actor (Mind Your Language). Lien Chen-tung, 82, Taiwanese politician, Minister of the Interior. Frank McCarthy, 74, American U.S. army general and film producer (Patton), cancer.Frank McCarthy Dead at 74; General was Film Producer. New York Times. Retrieved 22 Sep 2024. Martin John O'Connor, 86, American Roman Catholic Prelate, rector of the Pontifical North American College.M.J. O'Connor, 86; Archbishop Served Vatican 2 Decades. New York Times. Retrieved 22 Sep 2024. Florence Ribeiro, 53, South African anti-apartheid activist, shot Zarouhi Sarkissian, 57, Sudanese physician Wanis al-Qaddafi, 64, Libyan politician, prime minister of Libya, heart attack.
2 Desi Arnaz, 69, Cuban-American actor (I Love Lucy) and television producer (Desilu), lung cancer.Desi Arnaz, TV Pioneer, is Dead at 69. source. Retrieved 22 Sep 2024. Vrest Orton, 89, American businessman (Vermont Country Store).Vrest Orton, 89, Founder of Store. New York Times. Retrieved 22 Sep 2024. Billy Rancher, 29, American musician, cancer. Ken Scott, 58, American actor. Dick van Dyke, 55, American politician, member of the Washington House of Representatives, suicide.Ailing Legislator Found Dead in Car; Suicide Suspected. Newspapers.com (Longview Daily News). Retrieved 22 Sep 2024. Eli L. Whiteley, 72, American infantry captain in the U.S. Army, Medal of Honor recipient, heart attack.Medal of Honor Monday: Army Capt. Eli Whiteley. U.S. Department of Defense. Retrieved 22 Sep 2024.
3 Guillermo Baldwin, 76, Peruvian Olympic sports shooter (1956) Ajit Kumar Basu, 73–74, Indian cardiac surgeon, recipient of Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize.Basu, Ajit Kumar ( - 1986). Royal College of Surgeons. Retrieved 22 Sep 2024. Lena Frances Edwards, 86, American physician, recipient of Presidential Medal of Freedom.Dr. Lena Frances Edwards. University of Virginia. Retrieved 22 Sep 2024. Austin Hayes, 28, English-born footballer (Northampton Town, Ireland), lung cancer.Austin Hayes Austin William Patrick Hayes (Player). National Football Teams. Retrieved 22 Sep 2024. Bob Howard, 80, American singer.Bob Howard papers. New York Public Library (year of death only). Retrieved 22 Sep 2024. Anthony Mascarenhas, 58, Pakistani journalist and author (Bangladesh: A Legacy of Blood).Obituary of Mr Anthony Mascarenhas. Mail Archive (The Times, London). Retrieved 22 Sep 2024. Bob Moorhead, 48, American Major League baseball player (New York Mets).Bob Moorhead #22. MLB.com. Retrieved 22 Sep 2024.
4 Reuben Nakian, 89, American sculptor, heart failure.Reuben Nakian, U.S. Sculptor, Dies. New York Times. Retrieved 22 Sep 2024.
5 George Abrams, 87, American baseball player (Cincinnati Reds). Raymond Caruana, 26, Maltese political activist, shot.PN, ADPD mark 34 years since Raymond Caruana's murder. Times of Malta. Retrieved 22 Sep 2024. Nil Ratan Dhar, 94, Indian soil scientist, founding member of The World Academy of Sciences, complications from fall.Nil Ratan Dhar. Indian National Science Academy (p. 20). Retrieved 22 Sep 2024. Charles Duguid, 102, Scottish-born Australian physician and Aboriginal rights activist.Charles Duguid (1884–1986). Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 22 Sep 2024. Roberto Escalada, 72, Argentinian actor, heart attack. Theodor Kretschmer, 85, Nazi German Wehrmacht general, recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross.Kretschmer, Theodor. Traces of War. Retrieved 22 Sep 2024. Lê Trọng Tấn, 72, Vietnamese army general.Key North Vietnam General Le Trong Tan Dies at Age 72. Washington Post. Retrieved 22 Sep 2024. Rolf Schock, 53, French-born American philosopher, accident while repairing vehicle.About Rolf Schock. Kungl. Vetenskapsakademien. Retrieved 22 Sep 2024. Edward Youde, 65, British politician and diplomat, Governor of Hong Kong, ambassador to China, heart attack.Sir Edward Youde of Hong Kong Dies. New York Times. Retrieved 22 Sep 2024.
6 René Brô, 56, French artist.René Brô. Peggy Guggenheim Collections. Retrieved 22 Sep 2024. Rozelle Gayle, 67, American jazz pianist and actor, cancer.Service Set Today for Entertainer Rozelle Gayle. L.A. Times. Retrieved 22 Sep 2024. Robert J. Love, 68, Canadian-born American flying ace, heart failure.Robert J. Love . Veteran Tributes. Retrieved 22 Sep 2024. Malik Oussekine, 22, French student, blunt force trauma Bhagwan Sahay, 81, Indian politician, governor of Kerala and Jammu and Kashmir.Shri Bhagavan Sahay. Kerala Rajbhavan. Retrieved 22 Sep 2024.
7 Enrico Arrigoni, 92, Italian-American anarchist and political activist. John Bogart, 86, American Major League Baseball player (Detroit Tigers). Austen Gittos, 63, New Zealand fencer (1950 and 1954) Roberto Bianchi Montero, 79, Italian actor, director and screenwriter. Sydney J. Harris, 69, American journalist (Chicago Daily News, Chicago Sun-Times).Sydney Harris, a Columnist And Author, Dies in Chicago. New York Times. Retrieved 22 Sep 2024. Concha Méndez, 88, Spanish poet and dramatist (Generation of '27). Homa J. Porter, 90, American businessman and political activist.H.J. Porter, Key Republican in Texas in 50's, is Dead at 90. New York Times. Retrieved 22 Sep 2024. Kostas Poulis, 58, Greek footballer and Olympian (1952). Albert Schwartz, 78, American Olympic swimmer (1932).
8 Ernst Biberstein, 87, Nazi German colonel and war criminal. Harrison Brown, 69, American nuclear chemist and geochemist (Manhattan Project), lung cancer.Harrison Brown in Dead; Saw Peril in Atom Bomb he Helped Develop. New York Times. Retrieved 22 Sep 2024. Walter E. Foran, 67, American politician, member of New Jersey Senate, lung cancer.Walter Foran, State Senator And G.O.P. Official in Jersey. New York Times. Retrieved 22 Sep 2024. Ernest Gross, 83, French Olympic footballer (1924). Georg Henke, 78, East German diplomat, ambassador to North Korea.Henke, Georg. Bundesstiftung Aufarbeitung (in German). Retrieved 22 Sep 2024. Hollywood Fats, 32, American blues guitarist, heart attack.Commentary: Fats' Death is Big Loss for Music. L.A. Times. Retrieved 22 Sep 2024. Pip Koehler, 84, American Major League Baseball player (New York Giants). Anatoly Marchenko, 48, Soviet dissident and author, hunger strike.Marchenko is Dead in a Soviet Prison. New York Times. Retrieved 22 Sep 2024. John Melville, 84, British painter.Melville, John William. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Retrieved 22 Sep 2024. Arthur S. Moreau Jr., 55, American naval admiral, heart attack.Adm. Arthur Moreau Is Dead; NATO Chief in South Europe. New York Times. Retrieved 22 Sep 2024. Heinz Neukirchen, 71, Nazi German naval admiral. Józef Pisarski, 73, Polish Olympic boxer (1936). Henry Reed, 72, British poet and radio dramatist.Reed, Henry. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Retrieved 22 Sep 2024. Christopher Sykes, 79, English writer and biographer.Christopher Sykes Dead at 79. Jewish Telegraphic Agency - Daily News Bulletin (p.3). Retrieved 22 Sep 2024. Harald Throne-Holst, 81, Norwegian chemical engineer, president of the Federation of Norwegian Industries.
9 Linda Cook, 24, English murder victim.Forensic Science The Murder Of Linda Cook. Bartleby Research. Retrieved 22 Sep 2024. Éamon de Valera, Jnr, 73, Irish obstetrician and gynaecologist, illegally supplied babies to childless couples. Maurice E. Dockrell, 78, Irish politician, Teachta Dála, Lord Mayor of Dublin.Gravestone: Maurice Edward Dockrell 9.12.86. (at bottom of stone). Retrieved 22 Sep 2024. Sherwood Fries, 66, American NFL player (Green Bay Packers). T. J. Morgan, 79, Welsh academic, Professor of Welsh at Swansea University.Morgan, Thomas John (1907-1986), Welsh scholar and writer. Dictionary of Welsh Biography. Retrieved 22 Sep 2024. Walter J. Stoessel Jr., 66, American diplomat, U.S. Secretary of State, ambassador to three countries, leukemia.Walter J. Stoessel Jr. Dies at 66; A Former Ambassador to Moscow. New York Times. Retrieved 22 Sep 2024. Edgardo Vaghi, 71, Italian racer and Olympic bobsledder (1936). Maxwell Wintrobe, 85, Austrian-born American physician (hematology).M.M. Wintrobe, 85, Expert on Blood. New York Times. Retrieved 22 Sep 2024. Anatoly Zverev, 55, Russian artist.
10 George Ambrum, 43, Australian rugby league player (North Sydney, Australia).Sydney Morning Herald: Death Notice 12/12/1986 Susan Cabot, 59, American actress (Tomahawk, Gunsmoke), murdered.Son, 22, Held : Susan Cabot, 'B' Movie Star of '50s, Slain. L.A. Times. Retrieved 22 Sep 2024. Yrjö Hakoila, 54, Finnish Olympic rower (1952). Emil Johansson, 79, Swedish Olympic boxer (1928). Bruno Mora, 49, Italian footballer (AC Milan, Italy), stomach tumour.Bruno Mora (Player). National Football Teams. Retrieved 22 Sep 2024. Rino Pucci, 64, Italian Olympic cyclist (1948). Victor Guillermo Ramos Rangel, 75, Venezuelan classical musician.Músico y Compositor Venezolano Ramos Fred Stone, 51, Canadian musician.Fred Stone. The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved 22 Sep 2024. Leon G. Turrou, 91, American special agent with the FBI. Kate Wolf, 44, American folk singer, leukemia.Kate Wolf, 44; Folk Singer, Songwriter. L.A. Times. Retrieved 22 Sep 2024.
11 Ferenc Kolláth, 72, Hungarian Olympic footballer (1936). Karl-Gustav Lagerfelt, 77, Swedish diplomat, ambassador to Austria and the Netherlands. Clarence A. Martin, 90, American army general. Fritz Maurischat, 93, German production designer (Martin Luther). Gus Walker, 74, English bomber pilot in the Royal Air Force.Air Chief Marshal Sir Augustus Walker (36019). RAF web. Retrieved 22 Sep 2024.
12 Rashid Choudhury, 54, Bangladeshi artist.Rashid Choudhury (1932-1986). Christie's. Retrieved 23 Sep 2024. Antoni Gościński, 77, Polish medic and Nazi concentration camp internee. Gary Lewis, 44, American NFL football player (San Francisco 49ers), Lou Gehrig's disease.Gary Lewis. Pro Football Reference. Retrieved 23 Sep 2024. Harry Owens, 84, American bandleader and songwriter ("Sweet Leilani").Harry Owens of 'Hawaii Calls' Dies at 84. L.A. Times. Retrieved 23 Sep 2024. Carlos Ramírez, 70, Colombian baritone and actor.Carlos J. Ramirez; Colombian Baritone. L.A. Times. Retrieved 23 Sep 2024. Alexander H. Smith, 82, American mycologist (fungi).Dr. Alexander H. Smith. Washington Post. Retrieved 23 Sep 2024. Clifford Stine, 80, American cinematographer (The Incredible Shrinking Man). Paul Verner, 75, East German politician (Socialist Unity Party of Germany).Verner, Paul. Bundesstiftung Aufarbeiten (in German). Retrieved 23 Sep 2024. Buddy Williams, 68, Australian country singer. Johnny Wyrostek, 67, American Major League baseball player (Cincinnati Reds).Johnny Wyrostek #22. MLB.com. Retrieved 23 Sep 2024.
13 Heather Angel, 77, British actress (Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland), cancer.Heather Angel, 77, Is Dead; Acted in More Than 60 Films. New York Times. Retrieved 23 Sep 2024. Ella Baker, 83, American civil rights activist.Ella Baker Cofounder of the Southern Christian leadership Conference. Library of Congress. Retrieved 23 Sep 2024. Kuwasi Balagoon, 39, American anarchist and political activist (Black Panther Party), fungal pneumonia.