- Oct 1 Edward E "Doc" Smith, American sci-fi writer (Subspace encounter), dies at 75
- Oct 1 Gareth Hughes, Welsh actor (Midnight Girl), dies at 71
- Oct 3 Zachary Scott, American actor (Spotlight Playhouse, Mildred Pierce), dies from a malignant brain tumor at 51
- Oct 5 Gustaf Adolf Tiburtius Bengtsson, Swedish composer, dies at 79
- Oct 6 Georges Vandertongerloo, Belgium sculptor and painter (De Stijl Group, L'art et Son Avenir), dies at 78
- Oct 11 Dorothea Lange, American documentary photographer, dies at 70
- Oct 11 Walther Stampfli, Swiss politician and member of the Swiss Federal Council, dies at 80
- Oct 13 Paul Hermann Müller, Swiss chemist (1948 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for discovering effects of DDT), dies at 66
- Oct 15 Carl Hoff, American orchestra leader (Music Hall), dies at 60
- Oct 17 Bart King, American cricket pioneer (North America's greatest all-rounder; helped develop art of swing bowling), dies at 91
- Oct 18 Frank Hutchens, composer, dies at 73
- Oct 18 Henry Travers [Travers John Heagerty], British stage and screen character actor (It's A Wonderful Life; Mrs. Miniver; Bells of St Mary), dies of arteriosclerosis at 91
- Oct 21 Bill Black, American bandleader and bassist who worked with Elvis, dies of a brain tumor at 39
- Oct 21 Marie McDonald, American singer and actress known as "The Body Beautiful" (Promises Promises), dies of an accidental drug overdose at 42
- Oct 22 Dipa Nusantara Aidit, Indonesian communist leader of PKI (1951-65), murdered at 42
- Oct 22 Earl Cooper, American auto racer (AAA National Championship 1913, 15, 17; Indianapolis 500 1924 runner-up), dies at 78
- Oct 22 Paul Tillich, German-American theologist (Courage To Be), dies at 79
- Oct 26 Hans Knappertsbusch, German conductor (Bavarian State Opera, 1922-36), dies at 77
- Oct 26 Sylvia Likens, American torture victim (b. 1949)
- Oct 27 Edythe Wright, American big band era singer (Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, 1935-39), dies of pancreatic cancer at 51
- Oct 27 Leo van Puyfielde, Belgian art historian and museum curator (worked with Monuments Men during WWII to recover looted artifacts), dies at 83
- Oct 28 Ben Barka, Moroccan opposition leader, kidnapped & murdered in Paris
- Oct 28 Earl Bostic, American jazz alto saxophonist ("Flamingo"; "Temptation"), dies at 52
- Oct 29 Bill McKechnie, American Baseball HOF manager (World Series 1925 Pittsburgh Pirates, 1940 Cincinnati Reds) and coach (World Series 1948 Cleveland Indians), dies at 79
- Oct 29 Mehdi Am Barka, Moroccan socialist leader, murdered in Paris
- Oct 31 Rita Johnson, American actress (Honolulu, All Mine to Give), dies from a brain hemorrhage at 53
Assassination
Drug Overdose
Gunshot Wound
Murder
Plane Crash
Suicide