Same Day / Decades
The 1940s
111 icons active, 28 born, 38 at their peak.
The twelve longest careers
Born in the 1940s
- Bruce Lee1940
- John Lennon1940
- Otis Redding1941
- Ritchie Valens1941
- Cass Elliot1941
- Linda McCartney1941
- Jimi Hendrix1942
- Brian Jones1942
- Aretha Franklin1942
- Jerry Garcia1942
- Sharon Tate1943
- George Harrison1943
- Janis Joplin1943
- Jim Morrison1943
- Jim Croce1943
- Bob Marley1945
- Keith Moon1946
- Gram Parsons1946
- Bon Scott1946
- Freddie Mercury1946
- Syd Barrett1946
- Duane Allman1946
- Marc Bolan1947
- Sandy Denny1947
- John Bonham1948
- Nick Drake1948
- Ronnie Van Zant1948
- Phil Lynott1949
At their peak in the 1940s
- Alfred EisenstaedtPhotographer
- Ansel AdamsPhotographer
- Barbara StanwyckFilm
- Bette DavisFilm
- Billie HolidayMusic
- Bing CrosbyFilm
- Cary GrantFilm
- Cecil BeatonPhotographer
- Charlie ParkerMusic
- Dorothea LangePhotographer
- Edward G. RobinsonFilm
- Frank CapraDirector
- Gary CooperFilm
- Gene KellyFilm
- Glenn MillerMusic
- Henry FondaFilm
- Horst P. HorstPhotographer
- Howard HawksDirector
- Humphrey BogartFilm
- Ingrid BergmanFilm
- James StewartFilm
- Joan CrawfordFilm
- John FordDirector
- Judy GarlandFilm
- Katharine HepburnFilm
- Lana TurnerFilm
- Lauren BacallFilm
- Lead BellyMusic
- Margaret Bourke-WhitePhotographer
- Myrna LoyFilm
- Nat King ColeMusic
- Rita HayworthFilm
- Spencer TracyFilm
- Toni FrissellPhotographer
- Tyrone PowerFilm
- Vivien LeighFilm
- Walt DisneyDirector
- Woody GuthrieMusic
Active in the 1940s
- Akira Kurosawa1943 to 1993
- Alfred Eisenstaedt1927 to 1993
- Alfred Hitchcock1920 to 1976
- Anna May Wong1919 to 1960
- Ansel Adams1927 to 1984
- Audrey Hepburn1948 to 1989
- Ava Gardner1941 to 1986
- Barbara Stanwyck1927 to 1986
- Bela Lugosi1917 to 1956
- Bette Davis1931 to 1989
- Bill Haley1946 to 1981
- Billie Holiday1930 to 1959
- Billy Wilder1929 to 1981
- Bing Crosby1926 to 1977
- Boris Karloff1919 to 1968
- Bruce Lee1941 to 1973
- Burt Lancaster1946 to 1991
- Busby Berkeley1930 to 1971
- Buster Keaton1917 to 1966
- Carole Lombard1921 to 1942
- Cary Grant1932 to 1966
- Cecil B. DeMille1914 to 1956
- Cecil Beaton1925 to 1974
- Charlie Chaplin1914 to 1976
- Charlie Parker1937 to 1955
- Clark Gable1924 to 1960
- Dean Martin1940 to 1991
- Diane Arbus1946 to 1971
- Doris Day1939 to 1973
- Dorothea Lange1918 to 1965
- Dorothy Dandridge1935 to 1964
- Duke Ellington1923 to 1974
- Édith Piaf1935 to 1963
- Edward G. Robinson1916 to 1973
- Edward Steichen1898 to 1962
- Elizabeth Taylor1942 to 2001
- Ella Fitzgerald1934 to 1993
- Errol Flynn1933 to 1959
- Fats Domino1947 to 2007
- Frank Capra1922 to 1961
- Frank Sinatra1935 to 1995
- Fred Astaire1905 to 1981
- Fritz Lang1919 to 1960
- Gary Cooper1925 to 1961
- Gene Kelly1938 to 1994
- George Hurrell1925 to 1992
- Ginger Rogers1929 to 1984
- Glenn Miller1924 to 1944
- Gloria Swanson1914 to 1975
- Gregory Peck1944 to 2000
- Greta Garbo1922 to 1941
- Groucho Marx1905 to 1976
- Hank Williams1937 to 1953
- Henry Fonda1928 to 1981
- Horst P. Horst1931 to 1991
- Howard Hawks1926 to 1970
- Howlin' Wolf1930 to 1975
- Humphrey Bogart1928 to 1956
- Ingmar Bergman1944 to 2003
- Ingrid Bergman1935 to 1982
- Irving Penn1943 to 2009
- Jack Lemmon1949 to 2000
- James Cagney1930 to 1984
- James Stewart1932 to 1991
- Jim Reeves1948 to 1964
- Joan Crawford1925 to 1972
- John Coltrane1945 to 1967
- John Ford1914 to 1971
- John Wayne1926 to 1976
- Judy Garland1928 to 1969
- Katharine Hepburn1928 to 1994
- Kirk Douglas1946 to 2008
- Lana Turner1937 to 1991
- Lauren Bacall1942 to 2014
- Lead Belly1903 to 1949
- Lillian Gish1912 to 1987
- Little Richard1947 to 2013
- Louis Armstrong1919 to 1971
- Mae West1907 to 1978
- Mahalia Jackson1927 to 1971
- Man Ray1915 to 1976
- Margaret Bourke-White1927 to 1957
- Marilyn Monroe1947 to 1962
- Marlene Dietrich1923 to 1978
- Miles Davis1944 to 1991
- Montgomery Clift1935 to 1966
- Muddy Waters1941 to 1982
- Myrna Loy1925 to 1981
- Nat King Cole1934 to 1965
- Natalie Wood1943 to 1981
- Oliver Hardy1914 to 1955
- Orson Welles1934 to 1985
- Patsy Cline1948 to 1963
- Peter Lorre1930 to 1964
- Peter Sellers1948 to 1980
- Ray Charles1947 to 2004
- Richard Avedon1944 to 2004
- Rita Hayworth1934 to 1972
- Robert Mitchum1943 to 1997
- Sammy Davis Jr.1933 to 1990
- Slim Aarons1942 to 1990
- Spencer Tracy1921 to 1967
- Stan Laurel1906 to 1955
- The Big Bopper1949 to 1959
- Toni Frissell1931 to 1970
- Tyrone Power1932 to 1958
- Vincent Price1938 to 1993
- Vivien Leigh1935 to 1965
- W. C. Fields1898 to 1946
- Walt Disney1921 to 1966
- Woody Guthrie1930 to 1954