List of Famous people who died in 1979

Frederick Stafford was a Czechoslovak-born actor. Born Friedrich Strobel von Stein, he spoke fluent Czech, German, English, French and Italian, and was a leading man in European spy-movies.

Carlo Abarth, born Karl Albert Abarth, was an automobile designer. Abarth was born in Austria, but later was naturalized as an Italian citizen; and at this time his first name Karl was changed to its Italian equivalent of Carlo Alberto.

Marjorie Florence Lawrence CBE was an Australian soprano, particularly noted as an interpreter of Richard Wagner's operas. She was the first Metropolitan Opera soprano to perform the immolation scene in Götterdämmerung by riding her horse into the flames as Wagner had intended. She was afflicted by polio from 1941. Lawrence later served on the faculty of the School of Music at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.

Cavit Orhan Tütengil was a Turkish sociologist, writer and columnist, who was assassinated.

Madras Rajagopalan Radhakrishnan was an Indian actor and politician active in Tamil plays and films. He was given the title "Nadigavel" by Periyar E. V. Ramasamy. He mostly played villain roles, but had also acted in several films as comedian.

Bertha "Betty" Danko was an American stuntwoman and stunt double. She doubled for many leading actresses of the 1930s and 1940s, but is best known for having doubled for Margaret Hamilton as the Wicked Witch of the West in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz. During the filming of the skywriting scene, a pipe attached to the Witch's broomstick exploded, landing Danko in the hospital with a serious leg wound. Her career was cut short by a non-stunt accident in the late 1950s when she was struck by a car while waiting for a bus. She resided in a Hollywood bungalow for 50 years with her widowed mother.

Rachele Mussolini, also known as Donna Rachele, was the second wife of Italian dictator and fascist leader Benito Mussolini, the daughter-in-law of Alessandro Mussolini and Rosa Mussolini and the sister-in-law of Arnaldo Mussolini.

Shaykh Mahmoud Khalil al-Hussary, also known as Al-Hussary, was an Egyptian Qari widely acclaimed for his accurate recitation of the Qur'an. Al-Hussary committed the entire Qur'an to memory by age 8 and started reciting at public gatherings by age 12. In 1944, Al-Hussary won Egypt Radio's Qu'ran Recitation competition which had around 200 participants, including veterans like Muhammad Rifat. The quadrumvirate of El Minshawy, Abdul Basit, Mustafa Ismail, and Al-Hussary are generally considered the most important and famous Qurra' of modern times to have had an outsized impact on the Islamic world.

Richard Charles Rodgers was an American composer, known largely for his work in musical theater. With 43 Broadway musicals and over 900 songs to his credit, Rodgers was one of the most significant American composers of the 20th century, and his compositions had a significant impact on popular music.

Giuseppe "Peppino" Meazza, also known as il Balilla, was an Italian football manager and player. Throughout his career, he played mainly for Internazionale in the 1930s, scoring 242 goals in 365 games for the club, and winning three Serie A titles, as well as the Coppa Italia; he later also played for local rivals Milan, as well as Turin rivals Juventus, in addition to his spells with Varese and Atalanta. At international level, he led Italy to win two consecutive World Cups: in 1934 on home soil, and in 1938 as captain; he was named to the All-star Team and won the Golden Ball Award at the 1934 World Cup, as the tournament's best player. Along with Giovanni Ferrari and Eraldo Monzeglio, he is one of only three Italian players to have won two World Cups. Following his retirement, he served as a coach for the Italy national team, and with several Italian clubs, including his former club sides Inter and Atalanta, as well as Pro Patria, and Turkish club Beşiktaş; he was Italy's head coach at the 1952 Summer Olympics.