List of Famous people who born in 1940

Phillip Chen was a Jamaican bassist. He was one of England's most utilized session bassists during the 1970s and 1980s, including Jeff Beck, and the Rod Stewart band from 1977 to 1980, but is probably best known for his later work with Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger of The Doors.

Janet Neel Cohen, Baroness Cohen of Pimlico is a British lawyer and crime fiction writer. She is the daughter of George Edric Neel and Mary Isabel Budge. She was educated at South Hampstead High School, Hampstead, London, England and graduated from Newnham College, Cambridge University in 1962 with a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), Honours, Law.

Daisuke Inoue is a Japanese businessman best known as the inventor of a karaoke machine. Inoue, a musician in his youth employed in backing businesspeople who wanted to sing in bars, invented the machine as a means of allowing them to sing without live back-up. He did not patent the machine and so did not directly profit, but he continued to work in the industry it generated, including patenting a pesticide for karaoke machines. Named one of Time Magazines "Most Influential Asians of the Century" in 1999, he was awarded the Ig Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 and in 2005 was the subject of the Japanese biographical film Karaoke.

Malcolm Arnold is an athletics coach working for UK Athletics and its predecessors since 1974. Currently, he is the National Event Coach for Hurdles and Senior Performance Coach for UK Athletics. He has attended every Olympic Games since Mexico City in 1968, 13 in all, as a coach to National Teams. He has been responsible for coaching athletes to more than 70 major medals over a 46-year coaching career. He retired on 31 December 2016.

Iranette Ferreira Barcellos is a Brazilian samba singer and actress.

Jacqui (Jacob) Eli Safra is a millionaire Brazilian investor from Geneva. He is a descendant of the Syrian Lebanese-Swiss Jewish Safra banking family.

John Bright is an Academy Award-winning costume designer. John Bright won the Oscar in for Best Costumes for the film A Room with a View during the 1986 Oscars. He shared the win with Jenny Beavan.