Deaths in 1979
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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
- 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
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- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- June 1
- Werner Forssmann, German researcher and physician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1904)
- Ján Kadár, Slovak 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
- 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
- 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
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- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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]