Deaths in October 1984

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The following is a list of notable deaths in October 1984.

Entries for each day are listed alphabetically by surname. A typical entry lists information in the following sequence:

• Name, age, country of citizenship at birth, subsequent country of citizenship (if applicable), reason for notability, cause of death (if known), and reference.

October 1984

1

• Walter Alston, 72, American baseball manager, managed the Brooklyn / Los Angeles Dodgers from 1954 through 1976, signing 23 one-year contracts with the team, ^[1] complications from a heart attack ^{[2] [3] [4]}

5

• Leonard Rossiter, 57, English actor, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy ^{[5] [6]}

6

• Charlotte Long, 17, English noblewoman and child actress, fatally injured in a car accident when a lorry crashed into her parked car ^{[7] [8]}
• George Gaylord Simpson, 82, American paleontologist, university professor, and museum curator, a major participant in the modern synthesis ^[9]

9

• Joan Young, 84, British character actress ^{[10] [11]}

10

• Ursula Curtiss, 61, American mystery fiction writer, cancer ^{[12] [13]}
• Alan Lake, 43, English actor, suicide by self-inflicted gunshot in the mouth ^[14]

11

• H. Bruce Humberstone, 82, American film director and former child actor, co-founder of the guild Directors Guild of America, pneumonia ^[15]

15

• Gary Vinson, 47, American actor, suicide by self-inflicted gunshot ^[16]

16

• Peggy Ann Garner, 52, American child actress, pancreatic cancer ^[17]

17

• Alberta Hunter, 89, American jazz and blues singer and veteran nurse ^[18]

18

• Jon-Erik Hexum, 26, American actor and model, self-inflicted blank cartridge gunshot to the head in a game of Russian roulette ^{[19] [20] [21] [22] [23]}

19

• Jerzy Popiełuszko, 37, Polish Roman Catholic priest, anti-communist activist, and associate of the anti-authoritarian trade union Solidarity, beaten to death by three Security Police officers who were trying to kidnap him ^{[24] [25]}

20

• Paul Dirac, 82, English theoretical physicist and mathematician, co-founder of quantum mechanics ^{[26] [27]}
• Julian Mayfield, 56, American novelist, playwright, autobiographer, and university professor, editor-in-chief of the magazine African Review , cardiac arrest ^{[28] [29]}

21

• François Truffaut, 52, French filmmaker, actor, and critic, co-founder of the art movement French New Wave, brain tumour ^[30]

22

• Napoleon Whiting, 74, American character actor ^[31]

23

• David Gorcey, 63, American actor, member of the Bowery Boys and the East Side Kids, founder of a halfway house dedicated to helping people with substance abuse problems, complications of diabetes ^[32]
• Oskar Werner, 61, Austrian actor, heart attack ^[33]

24

• Edith Massey, 66, American actress and punk rock singer, member of the Dreamlanders and Edie and the Eggs, complications of lymphoma and diabetes ^{[34] [35]}

26

• Sue Randall, 49, American television actress, lung cancer and larynx cancer ^{[36] [37]}

29

• Soo Yong, 80, Chinese-American actress ^[38]

30

• June Duprez, 66, English actress ^[39]
• Mario Gallo, 61, American actor, liver cancer ^{[40] [41] [42]}

31

• Eduardo De Filippo, 84, Italian actor, director, screenwriter, and playwright, kidney failure ^[43]
• Indira Gandhi, 66, Indian politician, Prime Minister of India, her cumulative tenure of 15 years and 350 days makes her the second-longest-serving Indian prime minister, assassinated by two of her own bodyguards ^{[44] [45] [46] [47]}

References

1. Elderkin, Phil (October 5, 1984). "Walter Alston's 'one-year contract' added up to seven pennants". Christian Science Monitor . Retrieved May 20, 2015.
2. "Alston dies at age 72". Milwaukee Sentinel. October 2, 1984. p. 2, part 2.^{[ permanent dead link ]}
3. "Sports World "Blue" Over Alston Death". The Vindicator . October 2, 1984. Retrieved August 5, 2013.
4. "Walter Alston Dies, Ex-Dodgers Manager". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . October 2, 1984. Retrieved August 5, 2013.
5. Shawn G. Kennedy (October 7, 1984). "Leonard Rossiter, Actor Dies". New York Times . Retrieved September 13, 2015. Leonard Rossiter, one of Britain's most popular comic actors, collapsed during a performance in London and died Friday night, apparently of a heart attack. Mr. Rossiter, who was 57 years old, was declared dead at Middlesex Hospital. ...
6. "Memorial Service to Leonard Rossiter at St Paul's Church, Covent Garden yesterday". The Daily Telegraph . November 16, 1984.
7. The Times, Friday, 21 December 1984; pg. 5; Issue 62018
8. Clark, Alan (February 2004). Diaries: In Power 1983-1992. London: Phoenix. Entries for Saturday, 10 September 1983 & Friday, 12 October 1984. ISBN   978-1-85799-142-0. Archived from the original on July 4, 2008. Retrieved March 25, 2008.
9. McFadden, Robert D. (October 8, 1984). "GEORGE G. SIMPSON, 82, DIES; A VERTEBRATE PALEONTOLOGIST". The New York Times. Retrieved July 2, 2025.
10. "Joan Young Dies at 84". Scunthorpe Evening Telegraph . 10 October 1984. p. 1. "ACTRESS and singer Joan Young has died in a London hospital aged 84 after a short illness. She was known throughout the war years for her radio broadcasting and her regular singing spot on the popular programme Navy Mixture. She leaves a husband, John."
11. Smith, Paul (20 May 1994). "Actor Leaves £500 in his will for friends to 'have a drink'". The Richmond and Twickenham Informer. p. 4. "COMEDY actor John Blythe, who lived in Teddington, has bequeathed his bumper joke book to his agent. [...] Mr Blythe's daughter, Jaquie Whewell, said: 'His agent, April Young, and I feel the book should be sold and the proceeds given to charity.'"
12. "City Author Ursula Curtiss Dies After Illness" Albuquerque Journal (October 15, 1984): 31. via Newspapers.com
13. "Ursula Reilly Curtiss is Dead; New Mexican Mystery Writer" New York Times (October 12, 1984): D18.
14. Donnelley, Paul (2003) Fade to Black: A Book of Movie Obituaries, Omnibus Press, ISBN   978-0-7119-9512-3, p. 221-2
15. Aaker, Everett (2013). George Raft: The Films. McFarland. p. 33. ISBN   9780786493135 . Retrieved November 8, 2016.
16. "The Tragedy of Actor Gary Vinson". The Life and Times of Hollywood.^{[ dead link ]}
17. Peggy Ann Garner obituary, latimes.com; accessed December 14, 2017.
18. Wilson, John S. (October 19, 1984). "Alberta Hunter, 89, Cabaret Star, Dies". The New York Times. Retrieved July 7, 2015.
19. "Actor remains in critical condition". Eugene Register-Guard . Associated Press. October 14, 1984. p. 9A.
20. Donnelley, Paul (June 1, 2003). Fade to Black: A Book of Movie Obituaries (2nd ed.). Omnibus Press. pp. 333–334. ISBN   978-0-7119-9512-3 . Retrieved August 28, 2022.
21. "Actor Wounds Himself On Set of TV Series" . The New York Times . October 14, 1984.
22. "Las Vegas Escort Operator Is Given Heart of TV Actor" . The New York Times. October 23, 1984. Retrieved August 16, 2008.
23. "Jon-Erik Hexum's Fatal Joke". Entertainment Weekly . October 14, 1994. Retrieved August 16, 2008.
24. "Popiełuszko Jerzy - Encyklopedia PWN - źródło wiarygodnej i rzetelnej wiedzy". pwn.pl. Archived from the original on March 30, 2014. Retrieved July 2, 2015.
25. "Biography: Blessed Jerzy Popiełuszko, priest, martyr". Archived from the original on January 22, 2016. Retrieved October 28, 2015.
26. Simmons, John (1997). The Scientific 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Scientists, Past and Present. Secaucus, New Jersey: Carol Publishing Group. pp. 104–108. ISBN   978-0806517490.
27. "Dirac takes his place next to Isaac Newton". Florida State University. Archived from the original on April 27, 1997. Retrieved April 4, 2013.
28. Guy, James Cameron, "Mayfield, Julian (1928–1984)", BlackPast.org.
29. "Julian Mayfield, Novelist and Actor, Dies at 56", Washington Post , October 23, 1984.
30. "Francois Truffaut, New Wave Director, Dies". The New York Times . October 22, 1984. Archived from the original on April 10, 2009. Retrieved May 26, 2011.
31. Doyle, Billy; Slide, Anthony (1999). The Ultimate Directory of Silent and Sound Era Performers: A Necrology of Actors and Actresses. Scarecrow Press. p. 583. ISBN   9780810835474 – via Google Books.
32. "David Gorcey, 'Bowery Boy,' Is Dead at 63". Washington Post . Washington D.C. October 28, 1984. Retrieved August 20, 2025.
33. Robert Dachs, Oskar Werner Gebundene Ausgabe: 224 Seiten Verlag: Kremayr & Scheriau; Auflage: N.-A. (1 January 1992); ISBN   3218004780/ ISBN   978-3218004787.(in German)
34. "Veteran actress dies at 66". Lodi News-Sentinel. October 25, 1984. p. 20. Retrieved October 14, 2014.
35. "Massey". Film Review (675–677). Orpheus Pub.: 84 2006.
36. Rubin, Steven (2017). Twilight Zone Encyclopedia. Chicago Review Press. ISBN   978-1-61373-891-7 . Retrieved July 15, 2020.
37. "Miss Landers, 49, Of 'Leave It To Beaver' Dies Of Cancer". Tyrone Daily Herald . United Press International. October 29, 1984. p. 7. Retrieved June 23, 2017– via Newspapers.com.
38. "29 Nov 1984, 34 - The Honolulu Advertiser at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved August 25, 2021.
39. "June Duprez, 66, an ActressIn Movies and on Broadway (Published 1984)". The New York Times . November 14, 1984.
40. "Actor Mario Gallo, 'Delvecchio' character, dies in Ontario at 61". The San Bernardino County Sun . California. November 3, 1984. p. 37. Retrieved September 4, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
41. "Actor Mario Gallo, 61; 'Delvecchio' Character". Los Angeles Times . California. November 3, 1984. p. 67. Retrieved September 4, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
42. "Mario Gallo". The San Francisco Examiner . California. November 3, 1984. p. 14. Retrieved September 4, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
43. Gilbert, Mark; Lamberti Moneta, Sara (2020). Historical Dictionary of Modern Italy. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN   978-1-5381-0254-1.
44. "Smt. Indira Gandhi". pmindia.gov.in. Retrieved January 25, 2025.
45. Crossette, Barbara (1989). "India Hangs Two Sikhs Convicted In Assassination of Indira Gandhi". The New York Times . ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on December 6, 2017. Retrieved December 5, 2017.
46. Indira Gandhi: Death in the Garden Archived 3 November 2012 at the Wayback Machine – TIME
47. Fighting for Faith and Nation: Dialogues With Sikh Militants – Cynthia Keppley Mahmood – Google Books

External links

• List of October 1984 deaths at IMDb