ContentsJanuary – February – March – April – May – June – July – August – September – October – November – December ← 19771978 1979→ __NOTOC__
The following is a list of notable deaths in 1978. 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 1978 January
January 2 – Cyril King, Governor of the United States Virgin Islands (b. 1921) January 6 – Burt Munro, New Zealand motorcycle racer (b. 1899) January 13 – Hubert Humphrey, 38th Vice President of the United States (b. 1911) January 14 Harold Abrahams, British athlete (b. 1899) Kurt Gödel, Austrian-born American logician, mathematician, and philosopher (b. 1906) January 18 – John Lyng, Norwegian politician, prime minister (b. 1905)John Lyng Prime Minister 1963 January 20 – Dit Clapper, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1907) January 22 – Herbert Sutcliffe, English cricketer (b. 1894) January 23 Terry Kath, American rock musician (Chicago) (b. 1946) Jack Oakie, American actor (b. 1903) January 26 – Leo Genn, English actor and barrister (b. 1905) January 27 – Oscar Homolka, Austrian actor (b. 1898)Oscar Homolka Austrian actor January 28 – Nadezhda Fedutenko, Soviet red army officer (b. 1915)Nadezhda Fedutenko January 29 – Tim McCoy, American actor (b. 1891) January 30 – Marie-Louise Damien, French actress (b. 1889)
February
February 9 – Warren King, American cartoonist (b. 1916)Warren King (3 January 1916 - 9 February 1978, USA) United States February 10 – Redento Maria Gauci, Maltese Carmelite bishop (b. 1920) February 11 James B. Conant, American chemist and diplomat (b. 1893) Harry Martinson, Swedish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1904) February 15 Ilka Chase, American actress (b. 1905) Tadeusz Chyliński, Polish aircraft designer and constructor (b. 1911)Tadeusz Chyliński February 17 – Artemiy Artsikhovsky, Soviet archaeologist and historian (b. 1902) February 18 – Maggie McNamara, American actress (b. 1928) February 19 – Pankaj Mullick, Indian composer and singer (b. 1905) February 20 – Vitorino Nemesio, Portuguese poet and author (b. 1901)Vitorino Nemésio Portuguese author February 24 – Alma Thomas, African-American painter (b. 1891) February 28 – Philip Ahn, Korean-American actor (b. 1905)
March
March 1 – Paul Scott, English writer (b. 1920) March 11 – Claude François, French entertainer (b. 1939) March 13 – John Cazale, American actor (b. 1935) March 17 Eddie Aikau, American lifeguard and surfer (b. 1946) Giacomo Violardo, Italian Roman Catholic cardinal (b. 1898) March 18 – Peggy Wood, American actress (b. 1892)Wood, Peggy (1892–1978) March 19 – Gaston Julia, French mathematician (b. 1893) March 21 – Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh, Irish barrister, judge and 5th President of Ireland (b. 1911) March 22 – Isidro Ayora, 22nd President of Ecuador (b. 1879) March 24 – André Lallemand, French astronomer (b. 1904) March 30 – Syarif Hamid II of Pontianak, Indonesian ruler (b. 1913)Sultan Hamid II: Pahlawan Intelektual Perancang Garuda Pancasila March 31 Astrid Allwyn, American actress (b. 1905) Charles Best, Canadian medical scientist (b. 1899)Charles H. Best American physiologist
April
April 8 – Lon L. Fuller, American legal philosopher (b. 1902) April 9 – Vivian McGrath, Australian tennis player (b. 1916) April 13 – Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, Nigerian suffragist and women's rights activist (b. 1900) April 16 Lucius D. Clay, American military governor of Germany after World War II (b. 1898) Marie Ahnighito Peary, American writer and philanthropist; daughter of Robert Peary (b. 1893) Philibert Tsiranana, Malagasy leader and politician, 1st President of Madagascar (b. 1912) April 21 – Sandy Denny, British singer-songwriter (b. 1947) April 22 – Will Geer, American actor (b. 1902) April 27 – John Doeg, American tennis player (b. 1908) April 28 Mohammed Daoud Khan, 5th Prime Minister of Afghanistan and 1st President of Afghanistan (b. 1909)Mohammad Daud Khan prime minister of Afghanistan Makhosini Dlamini, 1st Prime Minister of Swaziland (b. 1914)Eswatini - heads of government
May
May 1 – Aram Khachaturian, Soviet-Armenian composer and conductor (b. 1903) May 6 – Ethelda Bleibtrey, American Olympic swimmer (b. 1902) May 8 – Duncan Grant, Scottish painter (b. 1885) May 9 – Aldo Moro, Italian Christian Democratic politician and statesman, 38th Prime Minister of Italy (assassinated) (b. 1916) May 13 – Alby Roberts, New Zealand cricketer (b. 1909) May 15 – Sir Robert Menzies, 12th Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1894) May 16 – William Steinberg, German-American conductor (b. 1899) May 17 – Armin T. Wegner, German human rights activist (b. 1886) May 18 – Selwyn Lloyd, Baron Selwyn-Lloyd, English politician (b. 1904) May 20 Ernest Cadine, French weightlifter, Olympic champion (1920) (b. 1893)ERNEST CADINE P. S. Subrahmanya Sastri, Indian Sanskrit scholar (b. 1890)P.S. Subrahmanya Sastri, the man who first translated ancient Tamil text ‘Tolkapiyam’ to English May 22 Joseph Colombo, American gangster (b. 1923) Aubrey Fitch, American admiral (b. 1883) May 26 Tamara Karsavina, Soviet ballerina (b. 1885) Jorge Icaza Coronel, Ecuadorean novelist (b. 1906) May 31 József Bozsik, Hungarian footballer (b. 1925) José Gonzalvo, Spanish footballer and manager (b. 1920)
June
June 2 – Santiago Bernabéu, Spanish footballer, player and president of Real Madrid C.F. (b. 1895) June 4 – Jorge de Sena, Portuguese novelist and poet (b. 1919) June 5 – Joseph Montoya, American politician (b. 1915)MONTOYA, Joseph Manuel June 7 – Ronald George Wreyford Norrish, British chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1897) June 12 – Guo Moruo, Chinese archaeologist, historian, poet, politician, and writer (b. 1892) June 17 – Robert B. Williams, American actor (b. 1904) June 20 – Mark Robson, Canadian film director (b. 1913) June 21 – Luther Youngdahl, American politician, Governor of Minnesota, and district judge (b. 1896) June 22 Tom Gorman, Australian rugby league footballer (b. 1901)Tom Gorman Jens Otto Krag, Danish politician, 18th Prime Minister of Denmark (b. 1914) June 24 – Ahmad al-Ghashmi, 4th President of the Yemen Arab Republic (b. 1935) June 27 – Josette Day, French actress (b. 1914) June 28 – Clifford Dupont, 1st President of Rhodesia (b. 1905) June 29 – Bob Crane, American actor, drummer, radio host, and disc jockey (b. 1928)
July
July 1 – Kurt Student, Luftwaffe general and commander of the German airborne forces during World War II. (b. 1890) July 3 – James Daly, American actor (b. 1918) July 6 – Pietro Montana, Italian-born American sculptor, painter and teacher (b. 1890)Pietro Montana, at 88, A Painter and Sculptor July 7 – Francisco Mendes, Guinea-Bissau politician, 1st Prime Minister of Guinea-Bissau (b. 1939) July 9 – Prince Nicholas of Romania (b. 1903) July 10 Abd ar-Razzaq an-Naif, 31st Prime Minister of Iraq (b. 1934) Joe Davis, English snooker and billiards player (b. 1901)Joe Davis British billiards and snooker player July 14 – Gaston Ragueneau, French athlete (b. 1881) July 16 – Howard Estabrook, American actor (b. 1884) July 17 – Thayer David, American actor (b. 1927) July 21 – Susana Calandrelli, Argentine writer (b. 1901)Artista Calandrelli, Susana July 27 – Willem van Otterloo, Dutch conductor, cellist and composer (b. 1907) July 30 – Umberto Nobile, Italian aviator and explorer (b. 1885) July 31 – Prince Rostislav Alexandrovich of Russia (b. 1902)
August
August 2 – Carlos Chávez, Mexican composer (b. 1899)Carlos Chávez Mexican composer and conductor August 6 Pope Paul VI (b. 1897) Edward Durell Stone, American architect (b. 1902) August 9 – James Gould Cozzens, American writer (b. 1903)James Gould Cozzens American author August 19 – Emilio Núñez Portuondo, Cuban diplomat and politician, 13th Prime Minister of Cuba (b. 1898) August 22 Jomo Kenyatta, Kenyan activist, politician and statesman, 1st Prime Minister of Kenya and 1st President of Kenya (b. c.1897) Ignazio Silone, Italian writer and politician (b. 1900)Ignazio Silone Italian author August 24 – Louis Prima, American singer and actor (b. 1910) August 25 – George E. Jonas, American philanthropist (b. 1897) August 26 Charles Boyer, French actor (b. 1899) José Manuel Moreno, Argentine football player (b. 1916) August 28 Kofi Abrefa Busia, Ghanese nationalist leader, 2nd Prime Minister of Ghana (b. 1913) Bruce Catton, American Civil War historian, Pulitzer Prize winner (b. 1899)Bruce Catton American historian and journalist Robert Shaw, British actor (b. 1927) August 30 – Geertruida Wijsmuller-Meijer, Dutch war hero, resistance fighter and humanitarian (b. 1896)Wijsmuller-Meijer, Geertruida
September
September 3 – Karin Molander, Swedish actress (b. 1889) September 4 – Leonora Cohen, British suffragette and trade unionist (b. 1873) September 6 – Adolf Dassler, German founder of Adidas (b. 1900) September 7 – Keith Moon, English rock drummer (The Who) (b. 1946) September 8 – Ricardo Zamora, Spanish footballer (b. 1901) September 9 Hugh MacDiarmid, Scottish poet (b. 1892) Jack L. Warner, Canadian-American film producer (b. 1892) September 11 Valerian Gracias, Indian Roman Catholic archbishop and cardinal (b. 1900) Georgi Markov, Bulgarian playwright and writer (b. 1929) Ronnie Peterson, Swedish Formula One driver (b. 1944) Curtis Shake, American jurist (b. 1887)Curtis Grover Shake September 12 – Frank Ferguson, American actor (b. 1899) September 17 – Willy Messerschmitt, German aircraft designer and manufacturer (b. 1898) September 21 – Peter Vogel, German film actor (b. 1937) September 24 Lyman Bostock, American baseball player (b. 1950) Hasso von Manteuffel, German army general (b. 1897) Manne Siegbahn, Swedish physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1886) September 27 Sergei Aslamazyan, Soviet composer (b. 1897) Dumitru Dămăceanu, Romanian general and politician (b. 1896)Dămăceanu, I. Dumitru September 28 – Pope John Paul I (b. 1912) September 30 – Edgar Bergen, American actor and ventriloquist (b. 1903)
October
October 1 – Alfredo Obviar, Filipino Roman Catholic bishop and Servant of God (b. 1889)Lipa’s Future Saint: Bishop Alfredo Ma. Aranda Obviar October 4 – Roy L. Dennis, American teenager who had craniodiaphyseal dysplasia (b. 1961) October 8 – Karl Swenson, American actor (b. 1908) Jim Gilliam, American baseball player (b. 1928) October 9 – Jacques Brel, Belgian singer (b. 1929) October 10 Ralph Metcalfe, American Olympic athlete (b. 1910) Hermes Lima, prime minister and foreign minister of Brazil (b. 1902) October 11 – Ruthven Todd, Scottish poet, artist, and novelist (b. 1914) October 12 – Nancy Spungen, American groupie and girlfriend of Sid Vicious (b. 1958) October 15 – W. Eugene Smith, American photojournalist (b. 1918) October 16 – Dan Dailey, American actor (b. 1915) October 17 – Giovanni Gronchi, 3rd president of Italy (b. 1887)Giovanni Gronchi president of Italy October 19 – Gig Young, American actor (b. 1913) October 20 – Gunnar Nilsson, Swedish Formula One driver (b. 1948) October 21 – Anastas Mikoyan, Russian revolutionary and Soviet statesman (b. 1895) October 23 – Maybelle Carter, American country musician (b. 1909)Maybelle Carter American musician October 28 – Geoffrey Unsworth, British cinematographer (b. 1914)
November
November 8 – Norman Rockwell, American artist (b. 1894) November 9 – Thérèse Tréfouël, French chemist known for research on sulfonamides (b. 1892) November 10 – Theo Lingen, German actor (b. 1903) Christine Olson, American businesswoman and politician (b. 1892) November 15 – Margaret Mead, American anthropologist (b. 1901) November 18 Leo Ryan, American politician (b. 1925)