List of Famous people who born in 1942

Pamela Tiffin Wonso, better known as Pamela Tiffin, was an American film and television actress.

Barry Richard McCaffrey is a former United States Army officer and current news commentator, professor and business consultant who served on U.S. President Bill Clinton's Cabinet as the Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy. He received three Purple Heart medals for injuries sustained during his service in the Vietnam War, two Silver Stars, and two Distinguished Service Crosses — the second-highest U.S. Army award for valor. He was inducted into U.S. Army Ranger Hall of Fame at U.S. Army Infantry Center at Fort Benning in 2007.

Soe Hok Gie was a Chinese Indonesian activist who opposed the successive dictatorships of Presidents Sukarno and Suharto.

Margarethe von Trotta is a German film director who has been referred to as a "leading force" of the New German Cinema movement. Von Trotta's extensive body of work has won awards internationally. She was married to and collaborated with director Volker Schlöndorff. Although they made a successful team, von Trotta felt she was seen as secondary to Schlöndorff. Subsequently, she established a solo career for herself and became "Germany's foremost female film director, who has offered the most sustained and successful female variant of Autorenkino in postwar German film history". Certain aspects of von Trotta's work have been compared to Ingmar Bergman's features from the 1960s and 1970s.

Keith Hellawell is a British retired police officer, former UK Government drugs-czar, and ex-chairman of Sports Direct plc.

Zafer Ergin is a Turkish actor who plays in Arka Sokaklar.

Faisal bin Bandar bin Abdulaziz Al Saud is a Saudi royal who has served as the governor of Riyadh since 2015.

Mil Máscaras is a Mexican luchador. He is regarded as one of the greatest wrestlers of the lucha libre tradition in Mexico - along with El Santo and Blue Demon - and has been described as the first international superstar of lucha libre. Máscaras is considered one of the most influential wrestlers of all time for enhancing and popularizing the lucha libre style around the world, both in the ring and as the star of 20 films. He is also an accomplished artist and cultural ambassador for his native country and has appeared on three of its postage stamps. Although he has never been unmasked and his true identity is generally kept a secret out of respect for lucha libre traditions, his real name is known due to appearing in the credits of the films he has starred in. His ring name is Spanish for "Thousand Masks".

Akira Nakao is a Japanese actor, TV personality, and artist from Kisarazu, Chiba. Nakao is represented by the Furutachi Project agency.

Dieter Zurwehme is a German criminal and mass murderer. He is responsible for the murder of five people and numerous other serious crimes and gained nationwide attention in the first half of 1999 following a several-month escape from custody. The escapes were followed closely by the media and announced an arrest reward of 10,000 Deutsche Mark.