List of Famous people who died in 1978

Zara Frances Cully was an American actress. Cully was best known for her role as Olivia 'Mother Jefferson' Jefferson on the CBS sitcom The Jeffersons, which she portrayed from the series beginning in 1975 until her death in 1978.

David Barksdale, also known as King David, was an American gang leader from Chicago, Illinois. Barksdale was the founder of the Black Disciples. He and Larry Hoover decided to merge and create the Black Gangster Disciple Nation. Barksdale died on September 2, 1974, due to multiple gun shot wounds at age 27.

George Richard Moscone was an American attorney and Democratic politician. He was the 37th mayor of San Francisco, California from January 1976 until his assassination in November 1978. He was known as "the people's mayor", who opened up City Hall and its commissions to reflect the diversity of San Francisco. Moscone served in the California State Senate from 1967 until becoming Mayor. In the Senate, he served as Majority Leader.

Santiago Bernabéu de Yeste was a Spanish footballer who played for Real Madrid as a forward, and is one of the most important men in Real Madrid's history.

Georgi Ivanov Markov was a Bulgarian dissident writer.

Joseph Davis was an English professional snooker and English billiards player. He was the dominant figure in snooker from the 1920s to the 1950s and has been credited with inventing aspects of the way the game is now played, such as break-building. With equipment manufacturer Bill Camkin, he drove the creation of the World Snooker Championship by persuading the Billiards Association and Control Council to recognise an official professional snooker championship in 1927. Davis won the first 15 championships from 1927 to 1946 and remains the only undefeated player in World Snooker Championship history. He scored the championship's first century break, in 1930.

Alexandra Elene MacLean Denny was an English singer-songwriter who was lead singer of the British folk rock band Fairport Convention. She has been described as "the pre-eminent British folk rock singer".

James Alexander Malcolm Caldwell was a British academic and a prolific Marxist writer. He was a consistent critic of American foreign policy, a campaigner for Asian communist and socialist movements and a supporter of the Khmer Rouge. Caldwell was murdered under mysterious circumstances a few hours after meeting Pol Pot in Cambodia.

Ramón Ruiz Alonso (1901–1978) was a Spanish politician who was a right-wing activist during the Second Spanish Republic and typographer by trade. Married to actress Magdalena Penella, they had four daughters: Terele Pávez (1939-2017), Julia Ruiz Penella (1937-2017), Elisa Montés and Emma Penella (1931-2007). He led the arrest and subsequent murder of the famous Spanish poet Federico García Lorca, on the 19th of August 1936.

Joseph T. Angelo (1896–1978) of Camden, New Jersey was an American veteran of World War I and recipient of the Distinguished Service Cross. Prior to joining the U.S. Army, Angelo worked for the Du Pont Powderworks, and was later involved in the Bonus Army movement of the 1930s.