- Oct 9 Roy Black, German singer/actor (Kinderarzt Dr Froehlich), dies
- Oct 9 Thalmus Rasulala, actor (Blacula), dies of heart attack at 51
- Oct 11 Redd Foxx, American comedian (Sanford & Sons), dies of heart attack at 68
- Oct 12 Aline MacMahon, American actress (Backdoor to Heaven), dies at 92
- Oct 12 Sheila Florance, Australian actress (Cactus), dies of cancer at 75
- Oct 13 Donald Houston, actor (Battle Hell, Study in Terror), dies at 67
- Oct 16 Tonny Huurdeman, singer/actress (Frills), dies
- Oct 17 J. G. Devlin, Northern Irish actor (No Surrender), dies at 84
- Oct 17 Tennessee Ernie Ford, American country music singer and actor (Sixteen Tons), dies of liver disease at 72
- Oct 22 Peter Willes, British actor/producer (Way We Live), dies
- Oct 24 Gene Roddenberry, creator (Star Trek), dies of cardiac arrest at 70
- Oct 25 Khigh Dhiegh, actor (Forbidden Nights), dies of heat failure at 75
- Oct 28 John Korbal, film historian (Marlene Dietrich), dies at 51
- Oct 29 Maria Monica, silent film actress, dies
- Oct 31 Bert Bertram, Australian actor (How to Steal a Million, Shamus), dies of cancer at 97
- Oct 31 Johan Schmitz, actor (Gysbregt van Aemstel/Soldat van Orange), dies
- Oct 31 Gene Anderson, American professional wrestler (b. 1933)