List of Famous people who died at 78

Sigurd Lohde (1899–1977) was a German film and television actor.

Ransome Judson Williams was the 102nd governor of South Carolina from 1945 to 1947.

Étienne Flaubert Batangu Mpesa was a Congolese pharmacist and scientific researcher.

George Edward Olsen Sr. was an American bandleader.

Alfred L. Werker was a film director whose work in movies spanned from 1917 through 1957. After a number of film production jobs and assistant directing, Werker co-directed his first film, Ridin' the Wind in 1925 alongside director Del Andrews. He was brought in by Fox Film Corporation executives to re-shoot and re-edit Erich von Stroheim's film Hello, Sister! (1933), co-starring Boots Mallory and ZaSu Pitts.

Pa Benedict Odiase was a Nigerian composer who composed "Arise, O Compatriots," the national anthem of Nigeria. "Arise, O Compatriots," which was adopted in 1978, replaced the country's previous national anthem, "Nigeria, We Hail Thee".

Vernon Henry St John, 6th Viscount Bolingbroke (1896–1974) was the fourth child of the 5th Viscount and his wife Mary Elizabeth Emily, a former domestic. The couple's secret marriage and the existence of an heir was revealed only after the death of the 5th Viscount in 1899. It came as a huge shock to the locals and went on to become a national scandal. Although the couple had three boys, Vernon Henry was the only one who was legitimate and thus inherited the title of Viscount Bolingbroke.