Deaths in 1979

The following is a list of notable deaths in 1979. 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.

Deaths in 1979

January

Nelson Rockefeller

• January 3 – Conrad Hilton, American hotelier (b. 1887)
• January 4 – Vincent Korda, Hungarian art director (b. 1897)
• January 5
  • Billy Bletcher, American actor (b. 1894)
  • Charles Mingus, American musician (b. 1922)
• January 11 – Jack Soo, Japanese-born American actor (b. 1917)
• January 13 – Donny Hathaway, American musician (b. 1945)
• January 15 – Charles W. Morris, American philosopher and semiotician (b. 1901)
• January 16 – Ted Cassidy, American actor (b. 1932)
• January 22 – Ali Hassan Salameh, Palestinian Leader of Black September and mastermind of the 1972 Munich massacre (b. 1940)
• January 26 – Nelson Rockefeller, 41st Vice President of the United States (b. 1908)
• January 27 – Victoria Ocampo, Argentine publisher, writer and critic (b. 1890)^[1]

February

Sid Vicious

• February 1
  • William H. Brockman Jr., United States Navy admiral (b. 1904)
  • Abdi İpekçi, Turkish journalist and human rights activist (b. 1929)
• February 2 – Sid Vicious, English musician (b. 1957)
• February 6 – Issa Pliyev, Soviet general (b. 1903)
• February 7 – Josef Mengele, German officer and physician (b. 1911)
• February 9 – Dennis Gabor, Hungarian-born British physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1900)^[2]
• February 10
  • Edvard Kardelj, Slovene general, economist, and politician, 2nd Foreign Minister of Yugoslavia (b. 1910)^[3]
  • Karl von Eberstein, German politician (b. 1894)
• February 12 – Jean Renoir, French film director and actor (b. 1894)
• February 14 – Reginald Maudling, British politician (b. 1917)
• February 16 – William Gargan, American actor (b. 1905)
• February 20 – Nereo Rocco, Italian footballer and manager (b. 1912)
• February 23 – W. A. C. Bennett, Canadian politician, premier of British Columbia (b. 1900)^[4]
• February 25 – Henrich Focke, German aviation pioneer (b. 1890)

March

José María Velasco Ibarra

• March 1
  • Mustafa Barzani, Iraqi Kurdish politician (b. 1903)
  • Dolores Costello, American actress (b. 1903)
• March 13 – Tudor Owen, Welsh-American actor (b. 1898)^[5]
• March 15 – Léonide Massine, Russian dancer and choreographer (b. 1896)
• March 16 – Jean Monnet, French political economist, diplomat and a founding father of the European Union (b. 1888)^[6]
• March 19 – Richard Beckinsale, British actor (b. 1947)
• March 22 – Ben Lyon, American actor (b. 1901)
• March 24 – Yvonne Mitchell, English actress (b. 1915)
• March 26 – Jean Stafford, American writer (b. 1915)
• March 28 – Emmett Kelly, American circus clown (b. 1898)^[7]
• March 29
  • Yahya Petra of Kelantan, Sultan of Kelantan and 6th King of Malaysia (b. 1917)
  • Milena Rudnytska, Ukrainian educator, women's activist, politician and writer (b. 1892)^[8]
• March 30
  • Airey Neave, British politician (assassinated) (b. 1916)
  • José María Velasco Ibarra, Ecuadorian politician, 24th President of Ecuador (b. 1893)

April

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto

• April 3 – Juan Cedrés, Spanish professional football player (b. 1927)
• April 4
  • Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, 9th Prime Minister of Pakistan and 4th President of Pakistan (executed) (b. 1928)
  • Edgar Buchanan, American actor (b. 1903)
• April 10 – Nino Rota, Italian composer (b. 1911)^[9]
• April 11 – Hassan Pakravan, Iranian diplomat (b. 1911)
• April 19 – Wilhelm Bittrich, German Waffen SS general (b. 1894)
• April 23 – Blair Peach, New Zealand-born, British teacher (b. 1946)^[10]
• April 24 – John Carroll, American actor (b. 1906)
• April 27 – Phan Huy Quát, 4th Prime Minister of South Vietnam (b. 1908)

May

Mary Pickford

• May 1 – Morteza Motahhari, Iranian cleric and politician (b. 1919)
• May 2 – Giulio Natta, Italian chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1903)^[11]
• May 6 – Milton Ager, American songwriter (b. 1893)
• May 8 – Talcott Parsons, American sociologist (b. 1902)
• May 11
  • Joan Chandler, American actress (b. 1923)
  • Barbara Hutton, American socialite (b. 1912)
• May 13 – Predrag Đajić, Bosnian Serb and Yugoslav footballer (b. 1922)
• May 14 – Jean Rhys, Dominican novelist (b. 1890)
• May 16 – A. Philip Randolph, African-American civil rights activist (b. 1889)
• May 21 – Bernadette Armiger, Catholic nun and president of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing from 1972 to 1974 (b. 1915)
• May 27 – Ahmed Ould Bouceif, Mauritanian military officer, second Prime Minister of Mauritania (b. 1934)
• May 29 – Mary Pickford, Canadian-American actress and producer (b. 1892)

June

Werner Forssmann

John Wayne

• June 1
  • Werner Forssmann, German researcher and physician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1904)
  • Ján Kadár, Czechoslovakian film director (b. 1918)
  • Jack Mulhall, American actor (b. 1887)
• June 2 – Jim Hutton, American actor (b. 1934)
• June 5 – Heinz Erhardt, German comedian, musician, entertainer, actor and poet (b. 1909)
• June 6 – Jack Haley, American actor (b. 1898)
• June 8 – Reinhard Gehlen, German general, 20 July Plotter (b. 1902)
• June 9 – Cyclone Taylor, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1884)^[12]
• June 11
  • Edward Almond, American general (b. 1892)^[13]
  • Loren Murchison, American Olympic athlete (b. 1898)
  • John Wayne, American actor and film director (b. 1907)
• June 12 – Ferenc Nagy, 40th prime minister of Hungary (b. 1903)^[14]
• June 13 – Darla Hood, American actress (b. 1931)
• June 16 – Nicholas Ray, American film director, screenwriter and actor (b. 1911)
• June 22
  • Louis Chiron, Monacan Grand Prix driver (b. 1899)
  • Emory Parnell, American actor (b. 1892)^[15]
• June 25 – Dave Fleischer, American animator (b. 1894)
• June 26 – Akwasi Afrifa, Ghanaian soldier and politician, Head of state (1969–1970) (b. 1936)
• June 28 – Philippe Cousteau, French diver and cinematographer (b. 1940)
• June 29 – Lowell George, American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer (b. 1945)

July

Shin'ichirō Tomonaga

Gustavo Diaz Ordaz

• July 2
  • Carlyle S. Beals, Canadian astronomer (b. 1899)
  • Larisa Shepitko, Ukrainian-Soviet film director, screenwriter and actress (b. 1938)
• July 3 – Louis Durey, French composer (b. 1888)
• July 4 – Theodora Kroeber, American writer and anthropologist (b. 1897)
• July 6
  • Antonio María Barbieri, Uruguay Roman Catholic cardinal (b. 1892)
  • Van McCoy, American musician noted for his 1975 hit "The Hustle" (b. 1940)
• July 8
  • Elizabeth Ryan, American 30 Grand Slam (tennis) tennis champion (b. 1892)
  • Shin'ichirō Tomonaga, Japanese physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1906)
  • Michael Wilding, English actor (b. 1912)
  • Robert Burns Woodward, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1917)
• July 10 – Arthur Fiedler, American conductor (Boston Pops) (b. 1894)
• July 12 – Minnie Riperton, American rhythm and blues singer (Lovin' You) (b. 1947)
• July 13 – Corinne Griffith, American actress and author (b. 1894)
• July 15
  • Gustavo Díaz Ordaz, Mexican politician, 49th President of Mexico, 1964–1970 (b. 1911)^[16]
  • Frederick Hanson, New Zealand soldier, engineer, military leader and public servant (b. 1895)^[17]
  • Juana de Ibarbourou, Uruguayan poet (b. 1892)
• July 16 – Alfred Deller, English countertenor (b. 1912)
• July 17 – Edward Akufo-Addo, Ghanese politician and lawyer, 5th President of Ghana (b. 1906)
• July 20 – Sir Herbert Butterfield, English philosopher and historian (b. 1900)
• July 22 – Sándor Kocsis, Hungarian footballer (b. 1929)
• July 23 – Joseph Kessel, French journalist and author (b. 1897)^[18]
• July 26 – Virginia Brissac, American actress (b. 1883)
• July 28 – George Seaton, American screenwriter and director (b. 1911)
• July 29 – Herbert Marcuse, German-American philosopher, sociologist and political theorist (b. 1898)^[19]

August

John Diefenbaker

Mika Waltari

Jean Seberg

• August 2
  • Víctor Raúl Haya de la Torre, Peruvian politician, founder and leader of APRA party (b. 1895)
  • Thurman Munson, American baseball player (b. 1947)
• August 3 – Bertil Ohlin, Swedish economist and Liberal politician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences (b. 1899)
• August 6 – Feodor Lynen, German biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1911)
• August 9 – Walter O'Malley, American baseball executive (b. 1903)
• August 10
  • Dick Foran, American actor (b. 1910)
  • Walther Gerlach, German physicist (b. 1889)
  • Mohammad Nur Ahmad Etemadi, Afghan politician, 9th Prime Minister of Afghanistan (b. 1921)
• August 12 – Sir Ernst Chain, German-born British biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1906)
• August 16 – John Diefenbaker, 13th Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1895)
• August 17 – Vivian Vance, American actress and singer (b. 1909)
• August 19 – Saad Jumaa, Prime Minister of Jordan (b. 1916)
• August 21 – Stuart Heisler, American film and television director (b. 1896)
• August 24
  • Ahmad Daouk, Lebanese politician, 12th Prime Minister of Lebanon (b. 1892)
  • Hanna Reitsch, German aviator (b. 1912)
• August 25 – Stan Kenton, American jazz pianist (b. 1911)
• August 26
  • Alvin Karpis, American criminal (b. 1907)
  • Mika Waltari, Finnish author (b. 1908)^[20]
• August 27 – Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, British Viceroy of India (assassinated) (b. 1900)
• August 30 – Jean Seberg, American actress (body found on September 8) (b. 1938)
• August 31 – Sally Rand, American dancer (b. 1904)

September

Agostinho Neto

Gracie Fields

Francisco Macías Nguema

• September 1 – Doris Kenyon, American actress (b. 1897)
• September 2 – Felix Aylmer, British actor (b. 1889)
• September 5 – Alberto di Jorio, Italian Roman Catholic cardinal (b. 1884)
• September 9 – Norrie Paramor, British music producer (b. 1914)
• September 10 – Agostinho Neto, Angolan poet and politician, 1st President of Angola (b. 1922)
• September 12 – Jocelyne LaGarde, Tahitian actress (b. 1924)
• September 16
  • Giò Ponti, Italian architect, industrial designer, furniture designer and artist (b. 1891)
  • Rob Slotemaker, Indonesian-born, Dutch Formula 1 racing car driver (b. 1929)
• September 20
  • Ismail Nasiruddin of Terengganu, Sultan of Terengganu and 4th King of Malaysia (b. 1907)
  • Ludvík Svoboda, 8th President of Czechoslovakia (b. 1895)
• September 22
  • Abul A'la Maududi, Pakistani journalist and philosopher (b. 1903)
  • Otto Robert Frisch, Austrian-born British physicist (b. 1904)
• September 24 – Carl Laemmle Jr., American film studio executive (b. 1908)
• September 25 – Yury Kovalyov, Soviet footballer (b. 1934)
• September 26
  • John Cromwell, American film director and actor (b. 1887)
  • Arthur Hunnicutt, American actor (b. 1910)
• September 27
  • Dame Gracie Fields, British actress (b. 1898)
  • Jimmy McCulloch, Scottish guitarist (Paul McCartney & Wings) (b. 1953)
• September 29
  • Francisco Macías Nguema, 1st President of Equatorial Guinea (executed) (b. 1924)
  • Ivan Wyschnegradsky, Russian composer (b. 1893)

October

Park Chung Hee

• October 1
  • Dorothy Arzner, American film director (b. 1897)
  • Roy Harris, American composer (b. 1898)^[21]
• October 6 – Elizabeth Bishop, American poet (b. 1911)
• October 9 – Nur Muhammad Taraki, Afghan revolutionary communist politician, journalist and writer (b. 1917)
• October 12 – Celia Lovsky, Austrian-born American actress (b. 1897)^[22]
• October 13
  • Rebecca Clarke, English composer and violist (b. 1886)^[23]
  • Archibald Roosevelt, American army officer and conservative political activist (b. 1894)^[24]
• October 15 – Jacob L. Devers, American army general (b. 1887)
• October 17
  • S. J. Perelman, American humorist and author (b. 1904)^[25]
  • John Stuart, Scottish actor (b. 1898)^[26]
• October 18 – Virgilio Piñera, Cuban author, playwright and poet (b. 1912)
• October 22 – Nadia Boulanger, French composer and composition teacher (b. 1887)
• October 23 – Antonio Caggiano, Argentine cardinal (b. 1889)
• October 25
  • Maphevu Dlamini, 2nd Prime Minister of Swaziland (b. 1922)
  • Sir Gerald Templer, British field marshal (b. 1898)
• October 26 – Park Chun Hee, Korean politician, 3rd President of the Republic of Korea (South Korea) (assassinated) (b. 1917)
• October 27 – Charles Coughlin, Canadian-born American priest and conservative radio show commentator (b. 1891)
• October 30 – Sir Barnes Wallis, British aeronautical engineer (b. 1887)

November

Merle Oberon

Zeppo Marx

• November 1
  • Albert Préjean, French actor (b. 1894)
  • Mamie Eisenhower, 34th First Lady of the United States (b. 1896)
• November 2 – Jacques Mesrine, French criminal; known as the "French Robin Hood" (b. 1936)
• November 5
  • Al Capp, American cartoonist (b. 1909)
  • Amedeo Nazzari, Italian actor (b. 1907)
• November 7 – Frank O'Connor, American actor, rancher, and painter (b. 1897)^[27]
• November 8
  • Edward Ardizzone, English painter, printmaker and author (b. 1900)^[28]
  • Yvonne de Gaulle, French wife of Charles de Gaulle (b. 1900)
• November 11 – Dimitri Tiomkin, Russian film composer (b. 1894)
• November 13 – Ernest N. Harmon, American general (b. 1894)^[29]
• November 17 – Immanuel Velikovsky, Russian author and psychiatrist (b. 1895)
• November 21 – Marie Byles, Australian solicitor and conservationist (b. 1900)^[30]
• November 23
  • Merle Oberon, British actress (b. 1911)
  • Judee Sill, American singer and songwriter (b. 1944)
• November 26 – Marcel L'Herbier, French movie-maker (b. 1888)
• November 30 – Zeppo Marx, American actor and comedian (b. 1901)

December

Rafael Filiberto Bonnelly

Richard Rodgers

• December 3 – Dhyan Chand, Indian hockey player (b. 1905)
• December 5 – Sonia Delaunay, Russian-born French artist (b. 1885)
• December 7 – Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, British-born American astronomer and astrophysicist (b. 1900)
• December 9 – Fulton J. Sheen, American Roman Catholic bishop and venerable (b. 1895)
• December 10 – Ann Dvorak, American actress (b. 1911)^[31]
• December 11 – James J. Gibson, American psychologist and academic (b. 1904)^[32]
• December 13 – Jon Hall, American actor (b. 1915)
• December 15 – Ethel Lackie, American Olympic swimmer (b. 1907)
• December 16 – Vagif Mustafazadeh, Azerbaijani jazz musician (b. 1940)
• December 21 – Ermindo Onega, Argentine footballer (b. 1940)
• December 22 – Darryl F. Zanuck, American film producer (b. 1902)^[33]
• December 23
  • Peggy Guggenheim, American art collector (b. 1898)
  • Ernest B. Schoedsack, American film producer and director (b. 1893)
• December 24 – Rudi Dutschke, German radical student leader (b. 1940)
• December 25
  • Joan Blondell, American actress (b. 1906)
  • Lee Bowman, American actor (b. 1914)
• December 26 – Helmut Hasse, German mathematician (b. 1898)
• December 27 – Hafizullah Amin, 2nd General Secretary of the People's Democratic Party and Chairman of the Revolutionary Council (b. 1929)
• December 28 – Rafael Filiberto Bonnelly, 43rd President of the Dominican Republic (b. 1904)
• December 30 – Richard Rodgers, American composer (b. 1902)^[34]

References

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14. Ferenc Nagy premier of Hungary
15. Emory Parnell
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17. Story: Hanson, Frederick Melrose Horowhenua
18. JOSEPH KESSEL
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28. EDWARD JEFFREY IRVING ARDIZZONE
29. ERNIE HARMON: THE OTHER PATTON
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34. "Richard Rodgers | American composer | Britannica". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 9 April 2022.