List of Famous people who died at 40

Vytautas Kevin Gerulaitis was an American professional tennis player. In 1975, Gerulaitis won the men's doubles title at Wimbledon, partnering with Sandy Mayer. He won the men's singles title at one of the two Australian Open tournaments held in 1977. Gerulaitis also won two Italian Open titles, in 1977 and 1979, and the WCT Finals in Dallas, in 1978.

Paulo Gonçalves was a Portuguese rally racing motorcycle rider. He won the FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship in 2013.

Raymond Neil Combs Jr. was an American stand-up comedian, actor and game show host.

Heinrich Schmieder was a German actor.

Shinya Hashimoto was a Japanese professional wrestler, promoter and actor. Along with Masahiro Chono and Keiji Mutoh, Hashimoto was dubbed one of the "Three Musketeers" that began competing in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) in the mid-1980s and dominated the promotion in the 1990s.

Terry Ray Gordy Sr. was an American professional wrestler. Gordy is best known for his appearances in the United States with promotions such as World Class Championship Wrestling, Jim Crockett Promotions/World Championship Wrestling and the Universal Wrestling Federation as a member of The Fabulous Freebirds, as well as his appearances in Japan with All Japan Pro Wrestling as one-half of The Miracle Violence Connection.

Orlando Claude Brown Sr. was an American football player who played offensive tackle in the NFL for the Baltimore Ravens and Cleveland Browns. He attended Howard D. Woodson High School. He played college football for Willie Jeffries at South Carolina State University. He was nicknamed "Zeus".

Francys Arsentiev became the first woman from the United States to reach the summit of Mount Everest without the aid of bottled oxygen, on May 22, 1998. She then died during the descent.

Robert Cooper Phillips, better known by his stage name Koopsta Knicca, was an American rapper. He was best known as one of the members of the Memphis rap group Three 6 Mafia, as well as a member of the rap collective Da Mafia 6ix alongside DJ Paul, Crunchy Black and Gangsta Boo.

Anwar Nasser al-Awlaki was a Yemeni-American imam and a supposed key ideological supporter of terrorism. According to U.S. government officials, as well as being a senior recruiter and motivator, he was centrally involved in planning terrorist operations for the Islamist militant group al-Qaeda, but have not released evidence that could support this statement. Al-Awlaki became the first U.S. citizen to be targeted and killed by a U.S. drone strike without the rights of due process being afforded. President Barack Obama ordered the strike which was effectively ordering the execution of a U.S. citizen without a trial. His son, Abdulrahman al-Awlaki, was killed in a U.S. drone strike two weeks later. On January 29, 2017, al-Awlaki's 8-year-old daughter, Nawar al-Awlaki, was killed in a U.S. commando attack in Yemen that was ordered by President Donald Trump. With a blog, a Facebook page, the al-Qaeda magazine Inspire, and many YouTube videos, al-Awlaki was described by Saudi news station Al Arabiya as the "bin Laden of the Internet". After a request from the U.S. Congress in November 2010, Google removed many of al-Awlaki's videos from YouTube. According to The New York Times, al-Awlaki's public statements and videos have been more influential in inspiring acts of terrorism in the wake of his killing than before his death.