List of Famous people who died at 40

Christopher Morgan Klucsarits was an American professional wrestler. He was best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) from 1994 to 2004, under the ring names Chris Kanyon, Kanyon, and Mortis.

Jonah Tali Lomu was a New Zealand rugby union player. He became the youngest ever All Black when he played his first international in 1994 at the age of 19 years and 45 days. Playing on the wing Lomu finished his international career with 63 caps and 37 tries. He is regarded as the first true global superstar of rugby and consequently had a huge impact on the game. Lomu was inducted into the International Rugby Hall of Fame on 9 October 2007, and the IRB Hall of Fame on 24 October 2011.

Jean Dorothy Seberg was an American actress who lived half her life in France. Her performance in Jean-Luc Godard's 1960 film Breathless immortalized her as an icon of French New Wave cinema.

Christopher Michael Benoit was a Canadian professional wrestler. During his 22-year career, he worked for numerous promotions including the World Wrestling Federation/World Wrestling Entertainment (WWF/WWE), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), and New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). Industry journalist Dave Meltzer considered him "one of the top 10, maybe even the top 5, all-time greats".

Lana Jean Clarkson was an American actress and fashion model. During the 1980s, she rose to prominence in several sword-and-sorcery films. In 2003, record producer Phil Spector shot her dead in his Alhambra, California home. He was charged with second-degree murder, and was convicted on April 13, 2009.

Anne Therese Saxelby was an American artisanal cheesemaker and cheesemonger. She was the founder of Saxelby Cheesemongers, the first shop dedicated to American artisanal cheeses in New York City. She was a major figure in the growth and promotion of the American artisanal cheese industry.

Joseph William Coyle was an unemployed longshoreman in Philadelphia who, in February 1981, found $1.2 million in the street, after it had fallen out of the back of an armored car, and kept it. His story was made into the 1993 film Money for Nothing, starring John Cusack, as well as a 2002 book by Mark Bowden, Finders Keepers: The Story of a Man Who Found $1 Million.

Jeanna Vladimirovna Friske, better known by the stage name Zhanna Friske, was a Russian actress, singer and model. She was a member of the girl group Blestyashchiye.

Kalpana Chawla was an American astronaut, engineer, and the first woman of Indian origin to go to space. She first flew on Space Shuttle Columbia in 1997 as a mission specialist and primary robotic arm operator. In 2003, Chawla was one of the seven crew members who died in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster when the spacecraft disintegrated during its re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere. Chawla was posthumously awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor, and several streets, universities, and institutions have been named in her honor. She is regarded as a national hero in India. Chawla's mortal remains were cremated and scattered at the Zion National Park in Utah, United States, as per her last wishes.

Mikhail Vladirmirovich Vorobyov, known professionally as Mikhail Krug, was a Russian singer. Krug was one of the most popular singers of the style of music known as blatnaya pesnya or Russian chanson, a genre of music that has been popular in Russia since the beginning of the twentieth century.