| 137341 | December 4 | Death | 1971 – Shunryu Suzuki, Japanese-American monk and educator, founded the San Francisco Zen Center (b. 1904) |
| 137342 | December 4 | Death | 1975 – Hannah Arendt, German-American historian, theorist, and academic (b. 1906) |
| 137343 | December 4 | Death | 1976 – Tommy Bolin, American guitarist and songwriter (Zephyr, James Gang, and Deep Purple) (b. 1951) |
| 137344 | December 4 | Death | 1976 – Benjamin Britten, English pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1913) |
| 137345 | December 4 | Death | 1976 – W. F. McCoy, Irish soldier, lawyer, and politician (b. 1886) |
| 137346 | December 4 | Death | 1980 – Francisco de Sá Carneiro, Portuguese lawyer and politician, 111th Prime Minister of Portugal (b. 1934) |
| 137347 | December 4 | Death | 1980 – Stanisława Walasiewicz, Polish-American runner (b. 1911) |
| 137348 | December 4 | Death | 1980 – Don Warrington, Canadian football player (b. 1948) |
| 137349 | December 4 | Death | 1984 – Jack Mercer, American animator, screenwriter, voice actor, and singer (b. 1910) |
| 137350 | December 4 | Death | 1987 – Arnold Lobel, American author and illustrator (b. 1933) |
| 137351 | December 4 | Death | 1987 – Rouben Mamoulian, Georgian-American director and screenwriter (b. 1897) |
| 137352 | December 4 | Death | 1988 – Osman Achmatowicz, Polish chemist and academic (b. 1899) |
| 137353 | December 4 | Death | 1992 – Henry Clausen, American lawyer and author (b. 1905) |
| 137354 | December 4 | Death | 1993 – Margaret Landon, American missionary and author (b. 1903) |
| 137355 | December 4 | Death | 1993 – Frank Zappa, American contemporary composer, guitarist, and record producer (The Mothers of Invention) (b. 1940) |
| 137356 | December 4 | Death | 1995 – Lionel Giroux, Canadian wrestler (b. 1935) |
| 137357 | December 4 | Death | 1997 – Richard Vernon, English actor (b. 1925) |
| 137358 | December 4 | Death | 1999 – Rose Bird, American academic and judge, 25th Chief Justice of California (b. 1936) |
| 137359 | December 4 | Death | 2000 – Henck Arron, Surinamese banker and politician, 1st Prime Minister of the Republic of Suriname (b. 1936) |
| 137360 | December 4 | Death | 2003 – Iggy Katona, American race car driver (b. 1916) |
| 137361 | December 4 | Death | 2004 – Teo Peter, Romanian bass player (b. 1954) |
| 137362 | December 4 | Death | 2004 – Elena Souliotis, Greek soprano (b. 1943) |
| 137363 | December 4 | Death | 2005 – Errol Brathwaite, New Zealand soldier and author (b. 1924) |
| 137364 | December 4 | Death | 2005 – Gregg Hoffman, American film producer (b. 1963) |
| 137365 | December 4 | Death | 2005 – Gloria Lasso, Spanish-Mexican singer (b. 1922) |
| 137366 | December 4 | Death | 2006 – K. Ganeshalingam, Sri Lankan accountant and politician, Mayor of Colombo (b. 1938) |
| 137367 | December 4 | Death | 2006 – James Kim, American television host and blogger (b. 1971) |
| 137368 | December 4 | Death | 2006 – Ross A. McGinnis, American soldier, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1987) |
| 137369 | December 4 | Death | 2007 – Pimp C, American rapper and producer (UGK) (b. 1973) |
| 137370 | December 4 | Death | 2007 – Norval Morrisseau, Canadian painter (b. 1932) |