List of Famous people who are 79

Jorge Duilio Lima Menezes is a Brazilian popular musician, performing under the stage name Jorge Ben Jor since the 1980s, though commonly known by his former stage name Jorge Ben. His characteristic style fuses samba, funk, rock and bossa nova with lyrics that blend humor and satire with often esoteric subject matter. His hits include "Chove Chuva", "Mas Que Nada", "Ive Brussel" and "Balança Pema", and have been interpreted by artists such as Caetano Veloso, Sérgio Mendes, Miriam Makeba, and Marisa Monte.

Ulli Wegner is a German Boxing Coach and a former Amateur boxer.

You Ching was the Republic of China (Taiwan) representative to Germany. A practicing lawyer since 1978, he obtained his bachelor's degree in law from the National Chengchi University in 1965 and his doctorate from the University of Heidelberg in 1978. You was elected as the first non-Kuomintang member of the Control Yuan in 1980. He first served as a member of the Legislative Yuan from 1987 to 1989, and then served two terms as the magistrate of Taipei County from 1989 to 1997. He was again elected to the legislature in 2001 and reelected in 2004.

Alain Pompidou is a French scientist and politician. A former professor of histology, embryology and cytogenetics, he was the fourth president of the European Patent Office (EPO) from 1 July 2004 to 30 June 2007. He is the adopted son of Georges Pompidou, former President of France.

Robert Thomas Christgau is an American essayist and music journalist. One of the earliest professional rock critics, he spent 37 years as the chief music critic and senior editor for The Village Voice, during which time he created and oversaw the annual Pazz & Jop poll. He has also covered popular music for Esquire, Creem, Newsday, Playboy, Rolling Stone, Billboard, NPR, Blender, and MSN Music, and was a visiting arts teacher at New York University. Among the most revered and influential of music critics, he has been described by CNN senior writer Jamie Allen as "the E.F. Hutton of the music world – when he talks, people listen."

David Berlinski is an American author who has written books about mathematics and the history of science as well as fiction. He is a senior fellow of the Discovery Institute's Center for Science and Culture, a center dedicated to promulgating the pseudoscience of intelligent design.

Didier Lombard is a French businessman. Between February 2005 and March 2010 he was chairman and CEO of France Télécom. In 2010 he resigned as CEO, retaining the chairmanship. Since 2012, he has been under indictment for criminal acts of "moral harassment" for abusive human resource policies during his leadership at France Télécom alleged to have caused a number of suicides, leading to a criminal trial in May 2019.

Gary Walker is an American musician, who was the drummer and vocalist with both the Standells and the Walker Brothers.

Michael Haneke is an Austrian film director and screenwriter. His work often examines social issues and depicts the feelings of estrangement experienced by individuals in modern society. Haneke has made films in French, German, and English and has worked in television‚ theatre, and cinema. He also teaches film direction at the Film Academy Vienna.

James Harold Fanning is an American professional wrestler and author better known as Jimmy Valiant.