List of Famous people who died at 79

Mufti Mohammad Sayeed was a politician from the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. He served twice as the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, from November 2002 to November 2005 and again from March 2015 to January 2016. He was also Minister of Tourism in rajiv gandhi's cabinet. He was also Home Minister of India from December 1989 to November 1990. He founded the Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party in July 1999 to "persuade the Government of India to initiate an unconditional dialogue with Kashmiris for resolution of the Kashmir problem."

Tony Oladipo Allen was a Nigerian drummer, composer, and songwriter who lived and worked in Paris, France. Allen was the drummer and musical director of Fela Kuti's band Africa '70 from 1968 to 1979, and was one of the primary co-founders of the genre of Afrobeat music. Fela once stated that, "without Tony Allen, there would be no Afrobeat." He was described by Brian Eno as "perhaps the greatest drummer who has ever lived".

Danny Thomas was an American philanthropist, producer, and nightclub comedian, singer, and actor whose career spanned five decades. He created and starred in one of the most successful and long-running situation comedies in the history of American network television, the eponymous Danny Thomas Show. In addition to guest roles on many of the comedy, talk, and musical variety programs of his time, his legacy includes a lifelong dedication to fundraising for charity. Most notably, he was the founder of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, a leading center on pediatric medicine with a focus on pediatric cancer. St. Jude's now has affiliate hospitals in eight other American cities as of early 2020.

Fernando Luján was a Mexican actor.

Robert Hudson Walker Jr. was an American actor who was a familiar presence on television in the 1960s and early 1970s. He became less active in later decades.

Emílio Garrastazu Médici was a Brazilian military leader and politician who was President of Brazil from 1969 to 1974. His authoritarian rule marked the apex of the Brazilian military government.

Martin Ingerman, known professionally as Marty Ingels, was an American actor, comedian, comedy sketch writer and theatrical agent, who is best known as the co-star of the 1960s television series I'm Dickens, He's Fenster and for voicing Pac-Man in the 1982 Hanna-Barbera animated television series of the same name.

Maria Rasputin was the daughter of Grigori Rasputin and his wife Praskovya Fyodorovna Dubrovina. She wrote two memoirs about her father, dealing with Tsar Nicholas II and Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna, the attack by Khionia Guseva and the murder. A third one, The Man Behind the Myth, was published in 1977 in association with Patte Barham. In her three memoirs, the veracity of which has been questioned, she painted an almost saintly picture of her father, insisting that most of the negative stories were based on slander and the misinterpretation of facts by his enemies.

John Feeney, known professionally as John Ford, was an American film director and naval officer. He is renowned both for Westerns such as Stagecoach (1939), The Searchers (1956), and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), as well as adaptations of classic 20th-century American novels such as The Grapes of Wrath (1940). He was the recipient of five Academy Awards including a record four wins for Best Director.

Ahmed Gaid Salah was a senior leader in the Algerian People's National Army. In 2004, he was appointed by then-President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to the position of chief of staff of the army. On 15 September 2013, he was appointed Deputy Minister of Defense. Gaid Salah was promoted to the rank of General in 1993. He was married and father of seven children.