- Oct 1 Spyridon Marinatos, Greek archaeologist (discovery of the site of an ancient port city on the island of Thera, in the southern Aegean Sea), dies at 72
- Oct 2 Ina Seidel, German poet and novelist, dies at 89
- Oct 4 Anne Sexton, American poet (Live or Die; Pulitzer 1967), dies at 45
- Oct 6 Helmuth Koinigg, Austrian Formula One driver (b. 1948)
- Oct 6 V. K. Krishna Menon, Indian nationalist, Minister of Defense (1957-62), dies at 78
- Oct 8 Harry Carney, American tenor and baritone jazz saxophonist (Duke Ellington Orchestra, 1927-74), dies at 64
Oskar Schindler
Oct 9 Oskar Schindler, Austrian businessman and subject of the novel "Schindler's Ark" and the film "Schindler's List", dies at 66
- Oct 10 Marie Luise Kaschnitz, writer, dies at 73
Lyudmila Pavlichenko
Oct 10 Lyudmila Pavlichenko, Soviet sniper during World War II and the most successful female sniper in history with 309 confirmed kills, dies of a stroke at 58
Ed Sullivan
Oct 13 Ed Sullivan, American television host (The Ed Sullivan Show), dies of esophageal cancer at 73
- Oct 13 Josef Krips, Austrian conductor (London Symphony, 1950-54; Buffalo Philharmonic, 1954-63; San Francisco Symphony, 1964-70), dies of lung cancer at 72
- Oct 16 Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar, noted Carnatic musician (b. 1895)
- Oct 17 René A de Rooy, Suriname/Antillean poet, dies at 57
- Oct 24 David Oistrakh, Soviet violinist considered one of the pre-eminent violinists of the 20th century (Moscow Conservatory), dies at 66
- Oct 27 Rudolf Dassler, German entrepreneur who founded sportswear company Puma, dies at 76
- Oct 29 Victor E. van Vriesland, Dutch poet (Mirror of Dutch Poetry), dies at 82