- Oct 1 Roy Harris, American composer, dies at 81
- Oct 3 Charles White, American artist (The Contribution of the Negro to American Democracy), dies at 61
- Oct 3 Claudia Jennings [Mary Ellen Chestrerton],, American actress and Playboy playmate (Nov, 1969, Playmate of the Year 1970), dies in car crash at 29
- Oct 4 Christina Spierenburg, Dutch singer, dies at 56
- Oct 5 Charlie Smith, oldest American (137 year), dies
- Oct 6 Elizabeth Bishop, American poet (North & South, Pulitzer 1956), dies at 68
- Oct 8 June Nash, actress (Strange Cargo, Dynamite), dies at 68
- Oct 10 Paul Paray, French organist, conductor (Detroit Symphony, 1951-62), and composer, dies at 93
- Oct 10 Christopher Evans, British psychologist and computer scientist (b. 1931)
- Oct 12 Celia Lovsky, Austrian-American actress (Man of a Thousand Faces), dies from natural causes at 82
- Oct 13 Clarence Muse, American actor, screenwriter and director (Casablanca, Black Stallion), dies at 89
- Oct 13 Rebecca Clarke, British-American violist and classical composer (Morpheus), dies at 93
- Oct 16 Johan Borgen, Norwegian author (Lillelord), dies at 77
- Oct 17 John Stuart, Scottish actor (Kittie, Superman, Number Seventeen), dies at 81
- Oct 17 Karel Reiner, Czech composer, dies at 69
- Oct 17 S J Perelman, American author, humorist and screenwriter (The New Yorker, Around the World in 80 Days), dies at 75
- Oct 22 Jesse Bishop, murderer, dies in Nevada gas chamber
- Oct 22 Nadia Boulanger, French composer and conductor (1st woman to conduct Boston Symphony), dies at 92
- Oct 26 Park Chung-hee, South Korean general and President (1963-79), assassinated by the director of the Korean Intelligence Agency at 61
- Oct 27 Father Charles Coughlin, Canadian-American Roman Catholic priest and pro-Fascist radio broadcaster, dies at 88
- Oct 30 Barnes Wallis, English scientist, engineer and inventor (bouncing bomb), dies at 92
- Oct 30 Donna Rachele Mussolini, wife of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, dies at 89