- Oct 1 Bruce Vorhauer, inventor (Today contraceptive sponge), suicide at 50
- Oct 1 Harry Ray, American soul singer (Ray, Goodman, Brown), dies of a stroke at 45
- Oct 1 Petra Kelly, German politician (co-founder of German Green Party), activist, and writer (Nonviolence Speaks to Power), killed by her lover in murder-suicide at 44 (date approximate)
- Oct 4 Denny Hulme, New Zealand auto racer (F1 World Drivers' Champion 1967, 3rd 1968, 72; 112 F1 GP starts, 8 wins), dies of a heart attack driving in Bathurst 1,000 at 56
- Oct 4 Itzhak Fuks, El Al captain, crashes in Bijlmer Netherlands
- Oct 4 Ohad Arnon, El Al captain, crashes in Bijlmer Netherlands
- Oct 5 Cornelis "Cees" Berkhouwer, Dutch politician (VVD), dies
- Oct 5 Eddie Kendricks, American singer-songwriter (The Temptations, 1960-71 - "I Can't Get Next To You"; "Just My Imagination"), dies of lung cancer at 52
- Oct 5 Laurie Anders, American actress and singer, dies of cancer at 70
- Oct 5 Paul Acket, Dutch publisher (Music Express) and impresario (North Sea Jazz Festival), dies of lung cancer at 69
- Oct 6 Bill O'Reilly, Australian cricketer, slow-medium leg-spin bowler (144 test wickets at 22.59) and newspaper columnist, dies at 86
- Oct 6 Denholm Elliott, English actor (Raiders of Lost Ark), dies at 70
- Oct 7 Allan Bloom, American philosopher and author (Closing of the American Mind), dies at 62
- Oct 7 Ed Blackwell, American jazz drummer (Ornette Colman Quartet), dies at 62
- Oct 7 Tevfik Esenç, Turkish farmer and last known speaker of the Ubykh language, dies at 88
- Oct 8 Jane Ewart-Boggs, Baroness Ewart-Biggs, British (Labour) spokesperson on Home Affairs, and peace activist, dies of cancer at 63
Willy Brandt (1913-1992)
Oct 8 German statesman, leader of the SPD party (1964-1987) and Chancellor of West Germany (1969-74, Nobel 1971), dies of cancer at 78
- Oct 9 Per Olof Sundman, Swedish writer and politician, dies at 70
- Oct 10 James Seay, actor (Amazing Colossal Man), dies at 78
- Oct 11 Theo Wolvencamp, painter (Cobra), dies
- Oct 11 Willem RJ Wittkampf, journalist/writer (Liner, Cannon), dies
- Oct 12 Alexander Pola [Abraham Polak], Dutch actor and writer (Farce Major), dies at 78
- Oct 12 John Hancock, American actor (LA Law, Love & War), dies of a heart attack at 51
- Oct 12 Ulysses Guimaraes, Brazilian MP (chairman), dies in accident
- Oct 13 Hughes Rudd, American news anchor (CBS Morning News), dies of aneurysm at 71
- Oct 13 James Marshall, American illustrator and author (George and Martha, The Stupids), dies of a brain tumor at 50
- Oct 15 Oliver Franks, British civil servant, ambassador to US (Report into Falklands War), and philosopher, dies at 87
Shirley Booth (1898-1992)
Oct 16 American Tony Award-winning stage and screen actress (Come Back, Little Sheba; Hazel), dies of natural causes at 94
- Oct 17 Herman Johannes, Indonesian professor, scientist and politician (b. 1912)
- Oct 17 Ton Hasebos, cameraman/TV director (Gnome Hasebos), dies
- Oct 19 Gert Bastian, German military officer and politician, found dead apparent perpetrator of murder suicide at 69
- Oct 19 Maurice Le Roux, French conductor and film score composer (Kamouraska), dies at 69
- Oct 19 Petra Kelly, German politician found dead, apparent victim in murder-suicide at 44
- Oct 20 Orton Chirwa, Malawi lawyer, Minister of Justice, dies in captivity at 73
- Oct 20 Werner Torkanowsky, German conductor (New Orleans Symphony, 1963-77; Bangor Symphony, 1981-92), dies of cancer at 66
- Oct 21 Jackson Weaver, voice of Smokey the Bear, dies of diabetes
- Oct 21 Jim Garrison, Louisiana District Attorney who investigated JFK assassination, dies at 70
- Oct 22 Cleavon Little, American actor (Blazing Saddles; Toy Soldiers), dies of colon cancer at 53
- Oct 22 Josef Veselka, Czech choral conductor (Prague Philharmonic Choir, 1959-81), and pedagogue, dies at 82
- Oct 22 Red Barber, American baseball broadcaster (Cincinnati Reds 1934–38, Brooklyn Dodgers 1939–53, NY Yankees 1954–66), dies at 84
- Oct 23 Kees Spermon, Dutch painter and graphic artist, dies
- Oct 23 William Masselos, American pianist, dies of Parkinson's complications at 72
- Oct 24 Alexander V Van de Wall Bake, staff leader/gov KMA Breda, dies
- Oct 24 Laurie Colwin, American author (Happy All the Time), dies at 48
- Oct 25 Adelino Da Palma Carlos, Prime Minister of Portugal (1974), dies
- Oct 25 Richard Pousette-Dart, American abstract expressionist artist, sculptor, and photographer, dies at 76
Roger Miller (1936-1992)
Oct 25 American country singer-songwriter ("King of the Road"; "Dang Me"), dies at 56
- Oct 26 (Dorothy) "Dottie" Green, American AAGPBL baseball player (Rockford Peaches), dies of cancer at 71
- Oct 26 Jerome Andrews, American-French dancer and choreographer, dies at 84
- Oct 26 Laurel Cronin, actor (Beethoven, Housesitter), dies of cancer at 53
- Oct 27 David Bohm, American-born physicist, philosopher, and neuropsychologist (b. 1917)
- Oct 27 Roy Marshall, West Indian cricket batsman (4 Tests; Hampshire CCC, Barbados), dies from cancer at 62
- Oct 28 Joan Maloney Rio, dancer, dies of cancer at 57
- Oct 29 Adrienne Canivez, wife of Victor of Vriesland, dies
- Oct 29 Kenneth MacMillan, British choreographer (Manon, Judas Tree), dies
- Oct 30 Ernest H. Volwiler, American scientist and co-inventor of Pentothal - world's most widely used anesthetic, dies at 99 [1]
- Oct 30 Joan Mitchell, American painter and printmaker dies of cancer aged 67
Assassination
Drug Overdose
Gunshot Wound
Murder
Plane Crash
Suicide