writer (b. 1913) December 24 – Maria Koepcke, German ornithologist (b. 1924) December 26 – Robert Lowery, American actor (b. 1913) December 28 – Max Steiner, Austrian-born film composer (b. 1888) December 30 Jo Cals, Dutch politician and jurist, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (1965-1966) (b. 1914) Dorothy Comingore, American actress (b. 1913) December 31 – Pete Duel, American actor (b. 1940) Nobel Prizes Physics – Dennis Gabor Chemistry – Gerhard Herzberg Medicine – Earl W. Sutherland, Jr Literature – Pablo Neruda Peace – Willy Brandt Economics – Simon Kuznets References 1971