- Oct 1 Stan Ockers, Belgian road cyclist (World road champion 1955; Tour de France runner-up 1950, 52), dies in track cycling accident at 36
- Oct 2 George Bancroft, American actor (Texas, Stagecoach, Little Men), dies at 74
- Oct 6 Charles E. Merrill, American investment banker (Merrill Lynch), dies at 70
- Oct 6 Walter Herlihy, announcer (Music at Meadowbrook), dies at 42
Clarence Birdseye (1886-1956)
Oct 7 American inventor and founder of the modern frozen food industry (Birdseye), dies of a heart attack at 69
- Oct 9 Marie Doro, American stage and film actress of the early silent film era (The Heart of Nora Flynn, The White Pearl), dies at 74
- Oct 16 Jules Rimet, French football administrator (3rd President of FIFA 1921-54), dies at 83
- Oct 17 Anne Crawford, British film actress (Knights of the Round Table), dies of leukemia at 35
Charles Strite (1878-1956)
Oct 18 American inventor who invented the automatic pop-up toaster, dies at 78
- Oct 18 Harry Parry, Welsh jazz clarinetist and bandleader (BBC's Radio Rhythm Club), dies at 44
- Oct 19 Isham Jones, American saxophonist, bandleader ("Star Dust") and songwriter ("It Had To Be You"; "I'll See You in My Dreams"), dies of cancer at 62
- Oct 24 Henry Nicholas Ridley, British botanist (Malay Peninsula rubber industry), dies at 100
- Oct 25 Risto Ryti, Finnish politician (Prime Minister of Finland 1939-41, President of Finland 1940-44), dies at 67
- Oct 26 Walter Gieseking, French-German pianist, composer, and lepidopterist, dies at 60
Pío Baroja (1872-1956)
Oct 30 Spanish Basque writer, author of over 100 novels (The Struggle for Life, Zalacain the Adventurer), dies at 83
Assassination
Drug Overdose
Gunshot Wound
Murder
Plane Crash
Suicide