Obituaries of the Seventies, 1979

This is a list of people who died during 1979. Exact dates are listed when known.

We also have similar pages for the 80s and 90s.

January 03Conrad Hilton, US founder (Hilton Hotels), dies at 91
January 04Charles Mingus, jazz bassist, dies of heart attack
January 05Charles Mingus, US jazz bassist/composer/orchestra leader, dies at 56
January 07Zbigniew Turski, composer, dies at 70
January 09Avery Claflin, composer, dies at 80
January 09Sara Carter, vocalist/guitarist (Carter Family), dies at 80
January 11Jack Soo, actor (Nick Yemana-Barney Miller, Green Berets), dies at 63
January 13Donny Hathaway, Chicago Ill, rocker (Ghetto), commits suicide at 33
January 16Fred Elizalde, composer, dies at 71
January 16Ted Cassidy, actor (Lurch-Addams Family), dies at 46
January 18Cyril Mockridge, composer, dies at 82
January 19Paul Meurisse, actor (Diabolique, Truth, Suspects, Monocle), dies
January 22Ali Hassan Salameh, [Abu Hassan], killed by car bomb; believed to
January 22have helped mastermind massacre of 1972 Munich Olympics athletes
January 24Jerry Damon, comedian (That Was The Week That Was), dies at 51
January 24Mabel Taliaferro, actress (My Love Come Back), dies at 91
January 25J Robertson Hare, actor (Fighting Stock), dies at 87
January 26Nelson Rockefeller, former VP & (4X Gov-R-NY), dies at 70
February 01Mort Marshall, actor (Cully-Dumplings), dies at 60
February 02Jim Burke, cricketer (Australian opener), commits suicide
February 02Sid Vicious, [John Simon Ritchie], bassist (Sex Pistols), OD's at 31
February 03Jody Gilbert, actress (Willard, Shaggy, Blonde Dynamite), dies
February 05Eddie Paynter, cricketer (20 Tests for England, avg 59.23), dies
February 06Alain Teister, Dutch sculptor/writer, dies at 47
February 06Arthur van Schendel, Dutch art historian, dies at 68
February 07Josef Mengele, concentration camp doctor, drowns
February 08Nikolay Semyonovich Tikhonov, Russian poet, dies at 82
February 09C I J Smith, cricket all-rounder (5 Tests for England 1935-37), dies
February 12Jean Renoir, French writer/director (Human Beast), dies at 84
February 13Jean Renoir, actor/director (Rules of the Game), dies at 84
February 14Adolph Dubs, US ambassador to Afghanistan, murdered
February 15Alex Bradford, actor/composer (Your Arms too Short...), dies at 51
February 15Mehdi Rahimi, Iran general/milt governor of Teheran, executed
February 16Louise Allbritton, actress (Celia-Stage Door), dies at 58
February 16Nematullah Nassiri, Iran general/head of Savak, executed
February 16William Gargan, actor (New Adventures of Martin Kane), dies at 73
February 17William Gargan, actor (Rain, Bells of St Mary), dies at 73
February 21Glendon Gibbs, cricketer (Test Cricket WI v Australia 1955), dies
February 21Ray Whitley, composer, dies
February 28Jane Hylton, English actress (Adv of Sir Lancelot), dies at 52
February 28Mr Ed, talking horse, dies
March 01Dolores Costello, actress (Noah's Ark, Expensive Women), dies at 73
March 01Molla Mustafa Barzani, Iranian Kurd leader (KDP), dies at 75
March 02Edith Craig, actress (Harmony Lane, Smashing Rackets), dies at 71
March 02Mollah Mustafa Barzani, Kurdish leader, dies at 75
March 02Richard Sykes, British ambassador, assassinated in Holland
March 05Vicente Ascone, composer, dies at 81
March 06Charles Wagenheim, actor (Halligan-Gunsmoke), dies at 83
March 07Guiomar Novaes, pianist (Brazilian Order of Merit), dies at 84
March 07Klaus Egge, Norwegian composer (Fanitullen), dies at 72
March 08G‚rard Blitz, Dutch 400m swimmer (WR), dies at 78
March 09Barbara Mullen, actress (Talk of a Million), dies at 64
March 11Victor Kilian, actor (Gentleman's Agreement), dies at 88
March 16Jean Monnet, French economist/CEO (ECSC), dies at 90
March 17Merv Inverarity, cricketer (father of John WA player 1925-40), dies
March 19Al Hodge, actor (Capt Video), dies at 65
March 19Richard Beckinsale, actor (Doing Time, Porridge, Lovers), dies at 31
March 22Ben Lyon, actor (I Cover the Waterfront, Indiscreet), dies at 78
March 23Philip Bourneuf, actor (Big Night, Frankenstein), dies at 71
March 24Yvonne Mitchell, writer, dies at 53
March 25... Sykes, British ambassador in The Hague, murdered
March 25Anton Heiller, composer, dies at 55
March 26Jean Stafford, US author (Boston Adventure), dies at 63
March 27Ronald Adam, actor (Phantom Shot), dies at 82
March 28Emmett Kelly, circus clown (Weary Willy), dies at 80
March 29Melville Cooper, TV panelist (I Got a Secret), dies at 82
March 30Airey Neave, British MP (Conservatives), killed by terrorist bomb
April 01Marinus Peijnenburg, Dutch politician, dies at 51
April 02Carroll D Rosenbloom, LA Rams president, dies at 72
April 02Ivan Barrow, cricketer (11 Tests for West Indies 1930-39), dies
April 04Edgar Buchanan, actor (Uncle Joe-Petticoat Junction), dies at 77
April 04Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, Pakistani president, hanged in Pakistan at 51
April 06M Marie Widlow, softball pitcher (Hall of Fame 1957), dies at 61
April 06Milton Ager, US composer, dies at 85
April 07Bruno Apitz, writer, dies at 78
April 09Staats Cotsworth, dies at 71
April 10Henri‰tte P "Hetty" Beck, actress (Dodendans), dies at 91
April 10Nino Rota, Italian composer (Torquemada), dies at 67
April 20Peter Donald, host (Masquerade Party), dies at 60
April 24John Carroll, actor (Hired Wife, Fiesta, Geraldine), dies at 72
April 28Feliks Roderyk Labunski, composer, dies at 86
April 29Julia A Perry, US composer/conductor (Soul Symphony), dies at 55
May 01Berkeley Bertram McGarrell Gaskin, cricketer (2 Tests for WI), dies
May 03Erin O'Brien-Moore, actress (Nurse Choate-Peyton Place), dies at 76
May 05Shirley O'Hara, actress (Wild Party), dies at 68
May 08Talcott Parsons, US sociologist, dies at 76
May 09Cyrus S Eaton, Canada/US multi-millionaire, dies at 95
May 09Lan Adomian, composer, dies at 73
May 10John Cameron Andrieu Bingham Morton, satirist (Beachcomber), dies
May 10Louis Paul Boon, Flemish writer (Eros & the Lonely Man), dies at 67
May 11Joan Chandler, dies at 55
May 11Lester Raymond Flatt, musician (Ballad of Jed Clampett), dies at 64
May 13Nelly Aenders, actress (In Pyama), dies at 65
May 14Paul van 't Veeer, Dutch journalist/writer (Vrije Volk), dies at 57
May 16Asa Philip Randolph, labor leader & civil rights pioneer, dies at 90
May 23Hubert van Doorne, auto manufacturer (DAF), dies at 79
May 24Jan Arvan, actor (Red Skelton Show, Zorro), dies
May 26George Brent, actor (Baby Face, Dark Victory, 42nd St), dies at 75
May 29Mary Pickford, actress (Coquette, Suds, Secrets), dies at 86
May 30Jack Raine, actor (Quartet), dies at 82
May 31Nigel Howard, cricketer (England captain 1951-52 tour of India), dies
June 01Jack Mulhall, actor (Buck Rogers, Held for Ransom), dies at 91
June 01Werner Forssman, German urologist (Nobel 1956), dies
June 02Jim Hutton, actor (Ellery Queen), dies of liver cancer at 45
June 03Arno Schmidt, writer, dies at 65
June 04Edward Dawson, cricketer (England batsman in 5 Tests 1927-30), dies
June 05Pauline Offner, Zen Theravadin nun, dies at 53
June 06Jack Haley, actor (Wizard of Oz), dies of cancer at 79
June 08Herb Polesie, producer/playwright (20 Questions), dies at 79
June 08Louis Salvador Palange, composer, dies at 61
June 11August Maes, Flemish actor/director (Farmer that Dies), dies at 85
June 11John Wayne, actor (Green Berets, True Grit), dies at 72
June 13Darla Hood, actress (Our Gang 1935-45), dies at 47
June 15Ernst Meister, writer, dies at 67
June 16Ben Weber, US composer (Thorne Music Award 1965), dies at 62
June 16Liselotte Welskopf-Heinrich, writer, dies at 77
June 17Lou Frizzel, actor (Dusty Rhoades-Bonanza), dies at 58
June 21Julian Orchard, actor (Perfect Friday, Bless this House), dies at 49
June 22Emory Parnell, St Paul Minn, actor (Life of Riley), dies at 85
June 22Julius Sommer, dies of heart failure, buried in Dayton Ohio
June 26Charles Clore, financier, dies
June 28Paul Dessau, German composer/conducter (Berlin, 1925-33), dies at 84
June 29Ben Barnett, cricketer (4 Tests for Australia 1938), dies
June 29Lowell George, rocker (Mothers of Invention, Little Feat), dies at 34
June 30Alfons Vranckx, Belgian politician, dies at 72
July 01Richard Ward, actor (Beacon Hill), dies at 64
July 05Elizabeth Ryan, tennis ace (won 19 Wimbledon titles), dies at 87
July 05Judson Laire, actor/singer (Papa-Mama), dies at 76
July 06Van McCoy, singer/songwriter (Hey Mr DJ, Hustle), dies at 35
July 07D P Conyngham, cricketer (one Test for S Africa), dies
July 08John Reed King, TV host (Why?, Let's See), dies at 64
July 08Michael Wilding, actor (Waterloo, Zarakm Naked Edge), dies
July 09Betty Evans Grayson, softball pitcher (Hall of Fame 1959), dies at 53
July 09Cornelia Otis Skinner, dies at 78
July 09Janardhan Gnanoba Navle, cricketer (2 Tests for India), dies
July 10Arthur Fiedler, orch leader (Boston Pops), dies at 84
July 12Kalervo Tuukkanen, composer, dies at 69
July 12Minnie Ripperton, [Andrea Davis], singer (Lovin' You), dies at 30
July 13Corine Griffith, dies at 84
July 14George De Witt, TV host (Name that Tune), dies at 56
July 16James F Mcintyre, archbishop of Los Angeles, dies at 93
July 17Doug Meintjes, S Afr cricket pace bowler (v England 1922-23), dies
July 21Ludwig Renn, writer, dies at 90
July 22Hope Summers, actress (Clara-Andy Griffith Show), dies at 78
July 22Soschtschenko, writer, dies at 83
July 22Tony "Two-Ton" Galento, boxer/actor (On the Waterfront), dies at 69
July 23Keith Godchaux, rocker (Grateful Dead), dies in a car accident at 31
July 24Archie Duncan, actor (Sherlock Holmes), dies at 65
July 27Ettore Manni, actor (Street People, Divine Nymph), dies at 52
July 27Shirley Mason, actress (Let it Rain, Dark Skies), dies at 79
July 29Herbert Marcuse, philosopher (Eros & Civilization), dies at 81
July 30Beppie Nooij Jr, Dutch actress (Rooie Sien), dies at 67
July 31Beatrix Lehmann, actress (Psyche '59, Rat, Staircase), dies at 76
August 01Joseph Kot„lla, German war criminal (4 of Breda), dies at 71
August 02Thurmon Munson, NY Yankee, killed in a plane crash at Akron Oh at 32
August 03Renato Fasano, composer, dies at 76
August 06Kurt Kasznar, actor (Cmdr Fitzhugh-Land of the Giants), dies at 65
August 09Allan Frank, actor (Charade Quiz), dies at 64
August 09Walter O'Malley, CEO (Dodgers), dies at 75
August 10Dick Foran, actor (OK Crackerby), dies at 69
August 17Vivian Vance, actress (Ethel Mertz-I Love Lucy), diesof cancer at 67
August 19Dorsey Burnette, rocker, dies at 46 of a heart attack
August 22Henry Beernink, politician, dies at 69
August 22James T Farrell, US writer (French Girls are Vicious), dies
August 23Mian Mohammad Saeed, cricketer (1st Pakistan capt 1948-49), dies
August 23Richard Hearne, actor (Capt Horatio Hornblower), dies at 70
August 25Stan Kenton, orch leader (Music 55), dies at 67
August 27Boleslaw Szabelski, composer, dies at 82
August 27Louis Mountbatten, British adm of the Fleet, assassinated by IRA
August 27Nicholas Mountbatten, Lord Mountbatten's grandson, murdered at 14
August 28Simonow, writer, dies
August 29Mary Marquet, actress (Landru, Paris Canaille), dies at 84
August 31E J "Tiger" Smith, England cricket wicket-keeper 1911-14), dies
August 31Sally Rand, stripper, dies at 75
September 01Doris Kenyon, silent screen actress (Alexander Hamilton), dies at 81
September 02Felix Aylmer, actor (Quartet, Hamlet, Dreaming Lips), dies at 90
September 04Jef van de Wiele, Belgian politician, dies at 76
September 06Ronald Binge, composer, dies at 69
September 08Jean Seberg, actress (Breathless, Airport), commits suicide at 40
September 09Solon Michaelides, composer, dies at 73
September 10Agostinho Neto, poet/1st pres of Angola, dies at 56
September 10Stanislav Pylypovych Lyudkevych, composer, dies at 99
September 12Denis Smith, cricketer (England left-handed batsman 1935), dies
September 14Raymond Loucheur, composer, dies at 80
September 15Tommy Leonetti, singer/actor (Gomer Pyle USMC), dies at 50
September 16Nur Mohammed Taraki, president of Afghanistan (1978-79), killed
September 17Miloslav Kabelac, composer, dies at 71
September 18Gene Kelly, sportscaster (Sportsreel), dies at 60
September 20Ludvik Svoboda, Czech general/politician, dies at 83
September 21John McQuade, actor (Charlie Wild Private Detective), dies at 73
September 23Catherine Lacey, actress (October Man, Carnival), dies at 75
September 26Arthur Hunnicutt, actor (Big Sky, Apache Uprising), dies at 68
September 26John Cromwell, actor/director (Of Human Bondage), dies at 91
September 26Seymour Shifrin, composer, dies at 53
September 27Gracie Fields, actress (Queen of Hearts), dies at 81
September 27Jimmy McCullough, musician (Wings), dies of a drug overdose
September 28Jimmy McCulloch, guitarist (Wings), dies at 26
October 01Roy Harris, US composer, dies at 81
October 03Charles White, artist, dies at 61 in Los Angeles
October 03Claudia Jennings, playmate (Nov, 1969), dies in car crash at 29
October 04Christina Spierenburg, Dutch singer, dies at 56
October 05Charlie Smith, oldest American (137 year), dies
October 06Elizabeth Bishop, poetess (North & South, Pulitzer 1956), dies at 68
October 08June Nash, actress (Strange Cargo, Dynamite), dies at 68
October 10Paul Paray, French composer, dies at 93
October 12Celia Lovsky, actress (Airport, Harlow, T'Pau-Star Trek), dies at 82
October 13Clarence Muse, actor (Sam-Casablanca), dies at 90
October 13Rebecca Clarke, composer, dies at 93
October 17John Stuart, actor (Number 17), dies at 81
October 17Karel Reiner, composer, dies at 69
October 17S J Perelman, US humorist (Around the World in 80 Days), dies at 75
October 22Jesse Bishop, murderer, dies in Nevada gas chamber
October 22Nadia Boulanger, French composer (Lasir‚ne), dies at 92
October 26Jackie Grant, cricketer (West Indian captain 1930-35), dies
October 26Park Chung-hee, South Korean President, assassinated
November 01Jacques Mesrine, French "enemy of the state", shot to death
November 05Al Capp, US cartoonist (Li'l Abner), dies at 70
November 07Amedeo Nazzari, actor (Lure of Sila, Night of Cabiria), dies at 71
November 07Paolo Carlini, Italian actor (It Started in Naples), dies at 53
November 08Sydney Tafler, actor (Too Many Crooks), dies at 63
November 09Lewis Charles, actor (Feather & Father Gang), dies at 59
November 10Friedrich Thorberg, writer, dies at 71
November 12Dimitri Tiompkin, composer, dies at 85
November 13Rebecca Clarke, composer, dies at 93
November 14Bill Farrimond, England cricket wicketkeeper (4 Tests 1930-35), dies
November 17John Glassock, bass (Jethro Tull), dies at 27 following heart surgery
November 22Anne Vondeling, Male Dutch soc democratic party-minister, dies at 63
November 23Merle Oberon, actress (Assignment Foreign Legion), dies at 68
November 30Joyce Grenfell (Adventure for Two), actress, dies at 69
November 30Zeppo Marx, [Herbert], US comic (Marx Brothers), dies at 78
December 02Vasily Pavlovich Solov'yov-Sedoy, composer, dies at 72
December 04Robert Karnes, actor (Max-The Lawless Years), dies at 62
December 07Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, 1st woman full prof at Harvard U, dies
December 07Mari Andriessen, sculptor (Docker), Amsterdam, dies at 82
December 07Nicolas Born, writer, dies at 41
December 07Prince Chahryar Shafik, Shah of Iran's nephew, murdered in Paris
December 09Fulton J Sheen, archbishop/religious broadcaster, dies in NYC at 84
December 10Ann Dvorak, actress (G Men, Life of Her Own, Scarface), dies at 67
December 10Fulton J Sheen, bishop (Life is Worth Living), dies at 84
December 11Claire Carleton, NYC, actress (Alice-Cimarron City), dies at 66
December 13Jon Hall, actor (Ramor of the Jungle), dies at 66
December 14Nirode Ranjan Chowdhury, cricketer (2 Tests for India, avg 205), dies
December 15Bern Hoffman, actor (Major Dell Conway), dies at 66
December 21Bill Anderson, cricketer (Test for NZ 1946, scored five & one), dies
December 22Darryl F Zanuck, film producer (20th Century Fox), dies at 77
December 24Dirk Uipko Stikker, Dutch CEO (Heineken)/sect-gen NATO, dies at 82
December 24Rudi [Rudolf] Dutschke, German student leader, dies at 39
December 25Joan Blondell, actress (Real McCoys), dies at 70
December 25Lee Bowman, actor (Ellery Queen, Miami Undercover), dies at 64
December 27Hafizullah Amin, president of Afghanistan (1979), murdered
December 30Richard Rodgers, composer (Rogers & Hammerstein), dies at 77

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