List of Famous people who died at 39

Claude Buffet was a French criminal who was executed along with his accomplice, Roger Bontems, on 28 November 1972 by guillotine at La Santé Prison, aged 39 years. Both men had been convicted of the murders of Guy Girardot and Nicole Comte in 1971, whom they had taken hostage while Buffet was already serving a life sentence in Clairvaux Prison. Robert Badinter was their defence lawyer.

Vladislav Vatslavovich Dvorzhetsky was a Soviet film actor. He appeared in eighteen films between 1970 and 1978.

António Joaquim Rodrigues Ribeiro, was a Portuguese singer and songwriter. Despite his short-lived career due to his premature death at the age of thirty-nine, using the stage name of António Variações, he became one of the most culturally significant performing artists of recent Portuguese history. His recorded works blended contemporary music genres with traditional Portuguese rhythms and melodies, creating music which for many is symbolic of the liberalization that occurred in Portuguese society after the Carnation Revolution of 1974. The original and provocative nature of his recorded works has led to him being widely recognized as one of the most innovative artists in the recent history of Portuguese popular music.

Robert Michael Archibald was a Scottish professional basketball player. A 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) power forward / center from the University of Illinois, he was selected by the Memphis Grizzlies in the 2002 NBA draft with the third pick of the second round.

Hank the Angry Drunken Dwarf was an American entertainer. Hank appeared numerous times on The Howard Stern Show and on the televised studio segments which aired on the E! channel. He was a member of the show's Wack Pack. His career began August 16, 1996, when he entered Stern's studio at radio station WXRK (K-Rock) in New York City. Hank was 4 ft 1 in (1.24 m) tall, and weighed 95 lb.

Christopher Andrew Barker was an English professional footballer who played as a defender. He represented Alfreton Town, Barnsley, Cardiff City, Stoke City, Colchester United, Queens Park Rangers, Plymouth Argyle and Southend United, and he was player-manager of Aldershot Town for three months in 2015. His brother, Richie, is also a professional footballer.

Barry Albert Mannakee was a police officer with the Royal Protection Squad and bodyguard to Diana, Princess of Wales. Mannakee was transferred from his role as bodyguard for Diana following what was described as an "inappropriate" relationship between the two, with Diana speaking about being "in love" with him. Mannakee died in a road traffic accident in 1987, leading to a conspiracy theory that his death was not an accident. Diana believed he was killed by the security services, although an inquest proved this to be false.

Dhananjoy Chatterjee was the first person who was judicially executed in India in the 21st century for murder. The execution by hanging took place in Alipore Jail, Kolkata, on 14 August 2004. He was charged in 1990 for the crimes of rape and murder of Hetal Parekh, a 15-year-old school-girl.

Stephen Brian Wooldridge was an Australian racing cyclist, an Olympic and four-time world champion on the track. He was born in Sydney. He was an Australian Institute of Sport scholarship holder.

Cho Sung-min was a South Korean professional baseball player with the Yomiuri Giants of Japan and the Hanwha Eagles of the KBO League. He also received media attention for his much-publicized marriage and divorce from actress Choi Jin-sil.