- Oct 2 Gerald Strang, American classical and electronic music composer, dies at 75
- Oct 3 John K. M. McCaffery, American TV host (One Minute Please), dies at 69
- Oct 3 Kurt Kusenberg, writer, dies at 79
- Oct 5 Humberto Mauro, Brazilian film director (Ganga Bruta), dies at 86
- Oct 5 Earl Tupper, American-born Costa Rican inventor and businessman (Tupperware), dies of a heart attack at 76
- Oct 6 Terence Cooke, cardinal/archbishop of NY, dies at 62
- Oct 8 Joan Hackett, American stage and screen actress (Will Penny; Only When I Laugh; Mourning Becomes Electra),, dies of cancer at 49
- Oct 9 Suh Seok-jun, South Korea Deputy Prime Minister, killed (one of 21 victims) in Rangoon bombing at about 45
Ralph Richardson
Oct 10 Sir Ralph Richardson, English actor (Richard III), dies at 80
- Oct 12 Jiri Lederer, Czechoslovakia journalist/dissident, dies at 61
- Oct 12 Ernie Roth, American wrestling manager (ring name "The Grand Wizard of Wrestling"), dies at 57
- Oct 14 Paul Fix, American actor (Rifleman), dies of kidney failure at 82
- Oct 14 Willard Price, Canadian author and naturalist
- Oct 15 Pat O'Brien, American actor (Knute Rockne; Angels with Dirty Faces), dies of heart attack at 83
- Oct 16 George Liberace, American violinist (The Liberace Show), dies of leukemia at 72
- Oct 16 Kelso, American racehorse (b. 1957)
- Oct 16 Øivin Fjeldstad, Norwegian conductor and composer, dies at 80
- Oct 17 Raymond Aron, French sociologist/political scientist, dies at 78
- Oct 18 Vijay Manjrekar, Indian cricketer (55 Tests for India), dies at 52
- Oct 18 Diego Abad de Santillán, Spanish anarchist (b. 1897)
- Oct 18 Willie Jones, American baseball third baseman (MLB All Star 1950, 51; Philadelphia Phillies), dies from cancer at 58
- Oct 19 Albert Carel Willink, painter (surrealism), dies at 83
- Oct 19 Maurice Bishop, premier of Grenada (1979-83), murdered in coup
- Oct 20 Merle Travis, American country singer, dies at 75
- Oct 20 Yves Thériault, French Canadian author , dies at 67
- Oct 21 Theodorus H J Zwartkruis, Bishop (Haarlem), dies
- Oct 23 Jessica Savage, Margate NJ, newscaster (NBC Weekend), dies at 36
- Oct 23 Tamara Shayne, Russian-American actress (Moma Yoelson-The Jolson Story), dies of a heart attack at 80
- Oct 24 Jessica Savitch, news anchor (NBC-TV), dies at 35
- Oct 25 Hermann Ambrosius, German composer, dies at 86
- Oct 26 Mike Michalske, American football NFL guard (NY Yankees, Green Bay Packers), dies at 80
- Oct 29 Sten Broman, Swedish composer, dies at 81
George Halas
Oct 31 George Halas [Papa Bear], American NFL coach and pioneering owner of the Chicago Bears, dies of pancreatic cancer at 88
