List of Famous people who died at 78

Hamidou Benmessaoud, best known as Amidou, was a Moroccan-French film, television, and stage actor.

Stephen Lewis, credited early in his career as Stephen Cato, was an English actor, comedian, director, screenwriter, playwright. He is best known for his roles as Inspector Cyril "Blakey" Blake On the Buses, Clem "Smiler" Hemmingway in Last of the Summer Wine, and Harry Lambert in Oh, Doctor Beeching!, although he also appeared in numerous stage and film roles.

Hamid Gul HI(M), SBt, was a three-star rank army general in the Pakistan Army and defence analyst. Gul was notable for serving as the Director-General of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Pakistan's premier intelligence agency, between 1987 and 1989. During his tenure, Gul played an instrumental role in directing ISI support to Afghan resistance groups against Soviet forces during the Soviet–Afghan War, in co-operation with the CIA.

Herbert James "Burt" Munro was a New Zealand motorcycle racer, famous for setting an under-1,000 cc world record, at Bonneville, 26 August 1967. This record still stands; Munro was 68 and was riding a 47-year-old machine when he set his last record.

David Joseph Margulies was an American actor.

Clifford William Cumberbatch Simons was a Welsh-born actor best known for his role as PC Alf Ventress in Heartbeat, a role he played for 18 years, from 1992 to 2010.

Joseph Henri Maurice "Rocket" Richard was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played 18 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Montreal Canadiens. He was the first player in NHL history to score 50 goals in one season, accomplishing the feat in 50 games in 1944–45, and the first to reach 500 career goals. Richard retired in 1960 as the league's all-time leader in goals with 544. He won the Hart Trophy as the NHL's most valuable player in 1947, played in 13 All-Star Games and was named to 14 post-season NHL All-Star Teams, eight on the First-Team. In 2017 Richard was named one of the 100 Greatest NHL Players in history. His younger brother Henri also played his entire career with the Canadiens, the two as teammates for Maurice's last five years. A center nicknamed the "Pocket Rocket", Henri is enshrined alongside Maurice in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Denis Charles Scott Compton was an English cricketer who played in 78 Test matches and spent his whole cricket career with Middlesex. He was also an accomplished footballer, who played most of his football career at Arsenal.

Benjamin Franklin Deford III was an American sportswriter and novelist. From 1980 until his death in 2017, he was a regular sports commentator on NPR's Morning Edition radio program.

Marion Shepilov Barry was an American politician who served as Mayor of the District of Columbia from 1979 to 1991 and 1995 to 1999. A Democrat, Barry had served three tenures on the Council of the District of Columbia, representing as an at-large member from 1975 to 1979 and in Ward 8 from 1993 to 1995, and again from 2005 to 2014.