- Oct 1 Christine Forrest, actress (Martin), dies
- Oct 1 Curtis E LeMay, USAF General/VP candidate, dies at 83
- Oct 3 Stefano Casiraghi, Princess Caroline of Monaco husband, dies at 30
- Oct 3 Eleanor Steber, eminent American soprano dies in Langhorne, PA
- Oct 4 Avis Bunnage, British actress (Rising Damp, Coronation Street), dies at 67
- Oct 4 Jill Bennett, British actress (Lady Jane, Concrete Jungle), overdoses at 58
- Oct 5 Meir Kahane, American founder of the Jewish Defense League, assassinated at 58
- Oct 7 J Teengs Gerritsen, resistance fighter, dies
- Oct 7 John "Cat" Thompson, basketball hall of famer, dies at 84
- Oct 7 Juan Jose Arevalo, President of Guatemala (1945-51), dies
- Oct 8 B.J. Wilson, English musician (Procol Harum) (b. 1947)
- Oct 9 Richard Murdoch, actor (Lilli Marlene), dies of heart attack at 83
- Oct 10 Carlos Thompson, actor (Mistress of the World), dies at 67
- Oct 10 Dick Jorgensen, NFL referee, dies at 56
- Oct 10 Michael A Salcido, dies at 39
- Oct 10 Tom Murton, American penologist (b. 1928)
- Oct 10 Irene Mayer Selznick, American socialite and theatrical producer (Street Car Named Desire), dies at 83
- Oct 11 Douglas Edwards, WW II correspondent, dies of cancer at 73
- Oct 11 Robert Tessier, actor (Nightwish, Future Force), dies at 56
- Oct 12 Max Tailleur, Dutch adjudant to Prince Bernhard and Jewish humorist, dies at 81
- Oct 12 Rifaat Maghub, president Egyptian MP, murdered
- Oct 13 Hans Freudenthal, mathematician/director OW&OC (F Institution), dies
- Oct 13 Lê Ðức Thọ, Vietnamese revolutionary general, politician and negotiator in Paris (1975), dies at 78
- Oct 14 Leonard Bernstein, American conductor and composer (West Side Story), dies of heart attack at 72
- Oct 15 Delphine Seyrig, French actress (Freak Orlando, Reperages) dies of lung disease at 58
- Oct 16 Art Blakey, jazz drummer (Jazz Messengers), dies of cancer at 71
- Oct 16 Jorge Bolet, Cuban-American classical pianist (b. 1914)
Ralph Abernathy
Oct 17 Ralph Abernathy, American civil rights leader (Southern Christian Leadership Conference), dies of a blood clot at 64
Ralph Abernathy
- Oct 20 Joel McCrea, American actor (Foreign Correspondent, Sullivan's Travels), dies of pulmonary complications at 84
- Oct 20 Bridget Bate Tichenor (born Bridget Pamela Arkwright Bate), Mexican surrealist painter dies at 72
- Oct 23 Louis Althusser, French philosopher, dies
- Oct 26 William Samuel Paley, American president and CEO of CBS (1928-90), dies of a heart attack at 89
- Oct 27 Elliott Roosevelt, son of FDR, dies at 80
- Oct 27 Ugo Tognazzi, Italian comedy actor, director and screenwriter (La Cage Aux Folles, The Tragedy of a Ridiculous Man), dies of a brain hemorrhage at 68
- Oct 27 Xavier Cugat, Spanish-American bandleader, dies at 90
- Oct 27 Princess Sophie von Hohenberg, daughter of assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria (b. 1901)
- Oct 29 William French Smith, attorney general (1980), dies at 73 of cancer
- Oct 30 Craig Russell, female impersonator, dies of an AIDS-stroke at 42
- Oct 30 Harry Lauter, American actor (Escape from the Planet of the Apes, Waterfront), dies of heart failure at 76
- Oct 31 Graig Russel, Canadian travel expert/transvestite, dies
- Oct 31 Hugh McPhillips, dies at 70