List of Famous people who died in 1980

Salah al-Din al-Bitar was a Syrian politician who co-founded the Arab Ba'ath Party with Michel Aflaq in the early 1940s. As students in Paris in the early 1930s, the two formulated a doctrine that combined aspects of nationalism and socialism. Bitar later served as prime minister in several early Ba'athist governments in Syria but became alienated from the party as it grew more radical. In 1966 he fled the country, lived mostly in Europe and remained politically active until he was assassinated in 1980.

Joseph Francis "Sonny" Burke was an American musical arranger, composer, Big Band leader and producer. In 1937, he graduated from Duke University, where he had formed and led the jazz big band known as the Duke Ambassadors.

Julien Moineau was a French professional road bicycle racer, who won three stages in the Tour de France. Julien Moineau was the father of cyclist Alain Moineau.

James Francis Durante was an American actor, comedian, singer, and pianist. His distinctive gravelly speech, Lower East Side accent, comic language-butchery, jazz-influenced songs, and prominent nose helped make him one of America's most familiar and popular personalities of the 1920s through the 1970s. He often referred to his nose as the schnozzola, and the word became his nickname.

Leonard Barr was an American stand-up comedian, film actor, and dancer.

Carlos López Moctezuma Pineda was a Mexican film actor. He appeared in 215 films between 1938 and 1980. He starred in the film Happiness, which was entered into the 7th Berlin International Film Festival.