List of Famous people who died at 78

Patrick Victor Martindale White was an Australian writer who published 12 novels, three short-story collections, and eight plays, from 1935 to 1987.

Jon Skolmen was a Norwegian actor and comedian who appeared in several Norwegian and Swedish films. He gained special recognition for his role as Ole Bramserud in Sällskapsresan (1980) opposite Lasse Åberg.

Grant Dwight Jackson was an American baseball pitcher who played eighteen seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for the Philadelphia Phillies, Baltimore Orioles, New York Yankees, Pittsburgh Pirates, Montreal Expos, and Kansas City Royals from 1965 to 1982. He was a switch hitter who threw left-handed and served primarily as a relief pitcher.

Howard Edward Mudd was an American football offensive lineman and coach. He attended Midland High School and then Michigan State University. While at Michigan State he joined Delta Tau Delta International Fraternity. Mudd played football for Hillsdale College from 1960 to 1963, where he was a starting guard and a team captain. His play at the school led to his induction into the NAIA Hall of Fame. He then played seven seasons in the National Football League (NFL) for the San Francisco 49ers and Chicago Bears from 1964 to 1970. Mudd was a three-time Pro Bowler, in 1966, 1967, and 1968. He retired in 1971 due to a knee injury, and began his coaching career at the University of California the following year.

Peter Altmeier was a German politician. From 1947 to 1969, he was the Minister President of Rhineland-Palatinate. He served as the President of the Bundesrat in 1954/55 and 1965/66. He was born in Saarbrücken and died in Koblenz. He was the longest governing German Minister-President in one single state—longest at all was Bernhard Vogel.

María Teresa Uribe de Hincapié was a Colombian sociologist, specialising in research into conflict and violence.

Harvey Lavan "Van" Cliburn Jr. was an American pianist who, at the age of 23, achieved worldwide recognition when he won the inaugural International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in 1958 . Cliburn's mother, a piano teacher and an accomplished pianist in her own right, discovered him playing at age three, mimicking one of her students and arranged for him to start taking lessons. Cliburn developed a rich, round tone and a singing-voice-like phrasing, having been taught from the start to sing each piece.

Rattihalli Nagendra Sudarshan was an Indian film actor and producer who had mainly worked in Kannada cinema. He had also acted in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, and Malayalam films. During a career spanning more than three decades, he had acted in more than 250 films.

Étienne Léandri (1915–1995) was an intermediary close to Charles Pasqua. He was part of the French Connection and Corsica Mafia organisation. He took part in the negotiations concerning many important international contracts, and represented, among others, the interests of Elf, Thomson CSF and Dumez.

Daniel Alberto Viglietti Indart was an Uruguayan folk singer, guitarist, composer, and political activist. He was one of the main exponents of Uruguayan popular song and also of the Nueva Canción or "New Song" of the 1960s and early 1970s.