List of Famous people who died at 79

General Hugo Rafael Martínez Poveda was a Colombian police general. He was assigned the new commander of the Search Bloc, a unit of the National Police of Colombia assembled by President Virgilio Barco Vargas in 1986; and tasked with the sole objective of the apprehension of drug lord Pablo Escobar and his associates.

Karl Bernhard Dall was a German comedian, singer, and television presenter. His distinctive 'hanging' eye was caused by a congenital ptosis.

Karan Armstrong was an American operatic soprano, who was celebrated as a singing actress. After winning the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in 1966, she was given small roles at the Metropolitan Opera, and appeared in leading roles at the New York City Opera from 1969, including Conceptión in Ravel's L'heure espagnol, Blonde in Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail, and the title roles in Verdi's La traviata, Offenbach's La belle Hélène and Puccini's La fanciulla del West. After she performed in Europe from 1974, first as Micaëla in Bizet's Carmen, and then as a sensational Salome at the Opéra du Rhin, she enjoyed a career at major opera houses, appearing in several opera recordings and films. Armstrong was for decades a leading soprano at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, where her husband Götz Friedrich was director. She appeared in world premieres, including Gottfried von Einem's Jesu Hochzeit, Luciano Berio's Un re in ascolto and York Höller's Der Meister und Margarita. She was awarded the title Kammersängerin twice.

Annie Suzanne Girardot was a three-time César Award winning French actress. She often played strong-willed, independent, hard-working, and often lonely women, imbuing her characters with an earthiness and reality that endeared her to women undergoing similar daily struggles.

Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmad al-Sabah of the al-Sabah dynasty was the Emir of Kuwait and Commander of the military of Kuwait who served in the posts from 31 December 1977 until his death on 15 January 2006 due to cerebral hemorrhage. The third monarch to rule Kuwait since its independence from Britain, Jaber had previously served as minister of finance and economy from 1962 to 1965 when he was appointed prime minister prior to becoming Kuwait's ruler.

Timothy Julian Brooke-Taylor OBE was an English actor and comedian. He became active in performing in comedy sketches while at the University of Cambridge, and became president of the Footlights, touring internationally with its revue in 1964.

René Murat Auberjonois was an American actor and director best known for playing Odo on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993–1999). He first achieved fame as a stage actor, winning the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical in 1970 for his portrayal of Sebastian Baye opposite Katharine Hepburn in the André Previn-Alan Jay Lerner musical Coco. He went on to earn three more Tony nominations for performances in Neil Simon's The Good Doctor (1973), Roger Miller's Big River (1985), and Cy Coleman's City of Angels (1989); he won a Drama Desk Award for Big River.

Anna Karina was a Danish-French film avant garde actress, director, writer, and singer. She was French New Wave director Jean-Luc Godard's muse in the 1960s, performing in several of his films, including The Little Soldier, A Woman Is a Woman, My Life to Live, Bande à part, Pierrot le Fou and Alphaville. For her performance in A Woman Is a Woman, Karina won the Silver Bear Award for Best Actress at the Berlin Film Festival.

Amos Oz was an Israeli writer, novelist, journalist, and intellectual. He was also a professor of Hebrew literature at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. From 1967 onwards, Oz was a prominent advocate of a two-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.

Ferenc Puskás was a Hungarian footballer and manager, widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time and the sport's first international superstar. A prolific forward, he scored 84 goals in 85 international matches for Hungary, played four international matches for Spain and scored 514 goals in 529 matches in the Hungarian and Spanish leagues. He became an Olympic champion in 1952 and led his nation to the final of the 1954 World Cup. He won three European Cups, 10 national championships and 8 top individual scoring honors. In 1995, he was recognized as the top scorer of the 20th century by the IFFHS.