List of Famous people who died at 79

Moyna Macgill was an Irish actress from Belfast and the mother of actress Angela Lansbury and producers Edgar and Bruce Lansbury. In 2020, she was listed at number 35 on The Irish Times list of Ireland's greatest film actors.

Hans Ture Lennart Lagerqvist was a Swedish pole vaulter who won a silver medal at the 1972 European Athletics Indoor Championships. He cleared the same height of 5.40 m as the winner, Wolfgang Nordwig, but used more attempts. Lagerqvist placed fourth at the 1971 European Championships and seventh at the 1971 European Athletics Indoor Championships and 1972 Olympics. He won the national title in 1965 and 1972 and held several national records.

Gerald Lee Baliles was a Virginia lawyer and Democratic politician whose career spanned great social and technological changes in his native state. The 65th Governor of Virginia, the native of Patrick County previously served as the Commonwealth's attorney general (1982–85), and represented Richmond and Henrico County in the Virginia House of Delegates (1972-1982). After another stint in private legal practice, with Hunton & Williams (1991-2005), Baliles directed the nonpartisan Miller Center of Public Affairs associated with his alma mater, the University of Virginia (2006-2014).

David Kirkpatrick Este Bruce was an American diplomat, intelligence officer and politician. He served as ambassador to France, the Federal Republic of Germany, and the United Kingdom, the only American to be all three.

Maureen Kathleen Stewart Forrester, was a Canadian operatic contralto.