- Oct 3 Herbert Prior, British actor (Caught Short, Slave of Desire), dies at 87
- Oct 5 Flor Alpaerts, Flemish composer (Tyl Uilenspiegel, Pallieter), dies at 78
- Oct 6 Hakon Børresen, Danish composer, dies at 78
- Oct 8 Morten Korch, Danish author, dies at 78
- Oct 12 George Welch, American World War II flying ace (Medal of Honor nominee) and test pilot, dies in a plane crash of his experiential F-100 Super Sabre at 36
- Oct 20 Wilbur Shaw, American auto racer (Indianapolis 500 1937, 39, 40; Motorsports Hall of Fame of America 1991), dies in an airplane crash at 51
- Oct 22 Prosper Cocquyt, Belgian brewer and pilot, dies at 54
- Oct 22 Jibanananda Das, Bengali poet (b. 1899)
- Oct 22 Oswald de Andrade, Brazilian author (one of the modernist Group of Five), dies at 64
- Oct 23 Henri Zagwijn, Dutch composer and musicologist, dies at 76 [1]
- Oct 26 Floris HL Prims, Flemish priest/historian/archivist of Antwerp, dies