Famous People Who Died in October a to z

Henry Fielding was an English writer and justice of the peace who crafted novels like Tom Jones and Amelia.

Pretty Boy Floyd is best known for his constant run-ins with police and violent bank robberies.

Tennessee Ernie Ford was an American recording artist and television host who enjoyed success in the country and Western, pop and gospel musical genres.

Psychiatrist Anna Freud, daughter of Sigmund Freud, pioneered the field of child psychoanalysis and further defined the function of the ego in psychology.

Indira Gandhi was India's third prime minister, serving from 1966 until 1984, when her life ended in assassination. She was the daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first prime minister.

Clifford Geertz was a leading proponent of a form of anthropology that stresses the importance of symbols and interpretation in human social life.

Roberto Críspulo Goizueta served as chairman and CEO of the Coca-Cola Company. Over 16-years, he increased Coca-Cola's market value from $4 to $150 billion.

Hermann Göring was a leader of the Nazi Party. He was condemned to hang as a war criminal in 1946 but took his own life instead.

Bill Graham was a legendary rock concert promoter who arranged tours for bands like Jefferson Airplane, the Grateful Dead and the Rolling Stones from the 1960s until the '90s.

Che Guevara was a Marxist revolutionary allied with Fidel Castro who went on to become an iconic cultural hero.

Woody Guthrie was a singer-songwriter, and one of the legendary figures of American folk music.

John Hancock was an 18th century U.S. merchant who was president of the Continental Congress and the first person to sign the Declaration of Independence.

Mata Hari was a professional dancer and mistress who became a spy for France during World War I. Suspected of being a double agent, she was executed in 1917.

Known for his self-portraits and biblical scenes, Dutch artist Rembrandt is considered to be one of the greatest painters in European history.

Irish actor Richard Harris is best known for his performances as King Arthur in Broadway's Camelot and Albus Dumbledore in the first two Harry Potter films.

Caroline Harrison married future U.S. President Benjamin Harrison in 1853. As first lady, she oversaw the installation of electricity in the White House.

Sonja Henie was a Norwegian figure skater who won three Olympic gold medals. After retiring from skating, she acted in Hollywood films like The Thin Ice.

American manufacturer and philanthropist who founded the Hershey Chocolate Corporation and popularized chocolate candy throughout much of the world.

Herbert Hoover was the 31st president of the United States (1929–1933), whose term was notably marked by the stock market crash of 1929 and the beginnings of the Great Depression.

Harry Houdini's grand illusions and daring, spectacular escape acts made him one of the most famous magicians of all time.

Inventor Elias Howe patented his plans for the first practical sewing machine in 1846, and successfully sued Isaac Singer for the rights in 1854.

Noted for his exceptional good looks and comedic film performance, Rock Hudson was an iconic actor who, later in life, contracted and died from the AIDS virus.

Writer Ted Hughes wrote poetry, non-fiction and children’s books. He was married to poet Sylvia Plath who committed suicide a year after he left her.

Anna Ivanovna was empress of Russia from 1730 to 1740.

Danish silversmith Georg Jensen was one of the first people to use steel for cutlery and recognize modern silverware as profitable.

Steve Jobs co-founded Apple Computers with Steve Wozniak. Under Job's guidance, the company pioneered a series of revolutionary technologies, including the iPhone and iPad.

Al Jolson was a Russian-born U.S. singer, songwriter, and blackface comedian who performed in vaudeville and minstrel shows and starred in The Jazz Singer.

Singer Janis Joplin rose to fame in the late 1960s and was known for her powerful, blues-inspired vocals. She died of an accidental drug overdose in 1970.

Luc Jouret was a homeopathic doctor who founded the New Age cult Solar Templar in the 1980s.

Raúl Juliá was a Puerto Rican actor best known for his work in film, including Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985) and The Addams Family (1991).

W.K. Kellogg founded the Kellogg Company, which makes cereal products that have become popular around the world.

Jack Kerouac was an American writer best known for the novel On the Road, which became an American classic, pioneering the Beat Generation in the 1950s.

Deborah Kerr was a Scottish actress known for the poise and serenity she exhibited in portraying complex, prim characters.

Henry Knox was a bookstore owner who became a Major General under George Washington during the American Revolution and later Secretary of War.

Member of the legendary Four Musketeers of French tennis, Renee Lacoste also invented the metal tennis racket and was founder of the Lacoste line of sportswear.

Dorothea Lange was a photographer whose portraits of displaced farmers during the Great Depression greatly influenced later documentary photography.

Robert E. Lee was the leading Confederate General during the U.S. Civil War and has been venerated as a heroic figure in the South.

Film actress Janet Leigh, once Tony Curtis’s wife, is best remembered for her shower scene as Marion Crane in Alfred Hitchcock’s classic thriller, Psycho.

English philosopher John Locke's works lie at the foundation of modern philosophical empiricism and political liberalism.

Jeffrey Lundgren was an Ohio-based cult leader who murdered a family of five.

Bernarr MacFadden was a well known physical culturist, and became the preeminent advocate for healthy living and exercise.

The oldest of the Marx Brothers, Chico Marx had an antic personality and a savvy eye for how to keep the group going, but that was also because he had a weakness for both gambling and chasing women.

Bat Masterson was a prominent lawman, gambler, saloon keeper and sports writer of the American West. He was a good friend of legendary lawman Wyatt Earp.

Maximilian I was the first king of Bavaria (1806–25), a member of the house of Wittelsbach.

Louis B. Mayer was a film mogul and the most influential person in Hollywood from the mid-1920s to the late-1940s.

Elijah McCoy was a 19th century African-American inventor best known for inventing lubrication devices used to make train travel more efficient.

Actress and radio performer Hattie McDaniel became the first African American to win an Oscar in 1940, for her supporting role as Mammy in Gone with the Wind.

Actor Roddy McDowall had a recurring role on the Batman television series, and played Cornelius in the film and TV versions of Planet of the Apes.

Though he helped reform the Democratic Party, U.S. Senator George S. McGovern lost his 1972 presidential campaign to Richard Nixon.

Native American activist and actor Russell Means is known for leading an armed takeover of Wounded Knee, South Dakota in 1973, and for appearing in films like The Last of the Mohicans. In 2007, he helped draft a proposal to create a new nation for the Lakota tribe.

Charles Edward Merrill was an American investment banker who co-founded Merrill Lynch & Company and arranged the merger that created the Safeway food chain.

Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Edna St. Vincent Millay was such a bright young thing of the jazz age that she coined the term "my candle burns at both ends."

Tom Mix was an America actor, producer and director and one of the most famous silent film cowboys.

Dwight Morrow (1873–1931) helped draft an early workers' compensation law, devised a national aviation policy, and served as ambassador to Mexico.

As housewife and mother on the hit series The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, Harriet Nelson became one of television's best-loved characters during the 1950s.

Tanzanian statesman and president Julius Kambarage was premier when Tanganyika was granted internal self-government, and was made president on independence.

Bernardo O'Higgins is best known for being the leader of Chilean independence from Spain and its first leader.

Ugandan statesman, prime minister and president Apollo Milton Obote founded the Uganda People's Congress.

William S. Paley was a businessman who started what would become the CBS television network.