Famous people who died at 40

Celebrities and other famous people who died when they were 40 years old.

The list below is ordered by the person's date of death.

Edgar Allan Poe

Author Deceased
Died on Oct 7, 1849, at the age of 40.
Unknown.

John Lennon

Singer Deceased
Died on Dec 8, 1980, at the age of 40.
Shot dead by a crazed fan.

Rick Rude

Wrestler Deceased
Died on Apr 20, 1999, at the age of 40.
Overdose from mixed medications.

Lana Clarkson

American actress Deceased
Died on Feb 3, 2003, at the age of 40.
Shot dead at the mansion of record producer Phil Spector.

Chris Penn

Actor Deceased
Died on Jan 24, 2006, at the age of 40.
Heart disease.

Adrienne Shelly

Actress / Director Deceased
Died on Nov 1, 2006, at the age of 40.
She was hanged to death in a staged suicide.

Chris Benoit

Wrestler Deceased
Died on Jun 24, 2007, at the age of 40.
Committed suicide after murdering his wife and son.

Chris Kanyon

Professional wrestler Deceased
Died on Apr 2, 2010, at the age of 40.
Suicide by antidepressant overdose.

Paul Walker

Actor Deceased
Died on Nov 30, 2013, at the age of 40.
Car crash.

Jonah Lomu

Rugby player Deceased
Died on Nov 18, 2015, at the age of 40.
Heart attack due to kidney disease.

Caroline Flack

English TV presenter Deceased
Died on Feb 15, 2020, at the age of 40.
Suicide by hanging.

Statistics about the 40-year-olds above

Statistics about the 11 celebrity deaths above:

Men make up the majority of celebrity deaths in this age group. 73% were male, whereas only 27% were female.
These deaths make up 2% of our database (11/663).
27% of them were murdered or assassinated.
Suicide accounted for 27% of the deaths in this age group.
9% of these celebrities died in accidents.
9% of them died from a heart attack.
9% of the deaths above were due to drug overdoses.

Other ages

Other ages that celebrities died at.

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