Politics · 1864–1945Truman Handy Newberryindustrialist, secretary of the Navy, U.S. senatorDetroit-born industrialist and Packard co-founder who was secretary of the Navy (1908–1909) and beat Henry Ford for the U.S. Senate in 1918 in a race that ended in a spending scandal.DETROIT / A living lexicon / ¼
Famous Detroiters
People who were born here, moved here or built their careers in Detroit: musicians, carmakers, athletes, writers, inventors, civil-rights leaders and a few notorious names. With their dates, their Detroit story and the places where they lived, worked and played, closed ones included.
- 1,743 famous people
- 96 Detroit places
- 21 fields
Hungarian ties 21 Detroiters with Hungarian ties →
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A–Z (family name)
184 people · 2/4 page
Clear filtersPolitics · 1864–1945Truman Handy Newberryindustrialist, secretary of the Navy, U.S. senatorDetroit-born industrialist and Packard co-founder who was secretary of the Navy (1908–1909) and beat Henry Ford for the U.S. Senate in 1918 in a race that ended in a spending scandal.
Music · 1944–1991Rob TynersingerDetroit-born lead singer of the MC5, whose incendiary live album Kick Out the Jams was recorded at the Grande Ballroom in October 1968.
Politics · 1814–1892Henry P. Baldwinshoe merchant, banker, governor of Michigan, U.S. senatorDetroit boot and shoe wholesaler and banker who built St. John's Episcopal Church on Woodward, served as governor (1869–1873) and gave Hazen Pingree his first Detroit job.
Business & brands · 1872–1936James CouzensFord Motor Company co-founder and business manager, mayor of Detroit, U.S. senatorCanadian-born railroad clerk who became Ford's hard-driving business manager, then mayor of Detroit and a U.S. senator.
Sports · 1903–1993Charlie Gehringerbaseball player, second basemanMichigan-born Hall of Fame second baseman who played his whole 19-year career with the Tigers; his No. 2 is retired and his statue stands at Comerica Park.
Sports · 1894–1951Harry Heilmannbaseball player, radio announcerFour-time batting champion for the Tigers who hit .403 in 1923, then became the team's beloved radio voice from 1934 to 1950.
Science & invention · 1844–1929Elijah McCoyengineer and inventor of automatic lubricatorsCanadian-born Black engineer whose automatic lubricators kept North America's locomotives running; he spent his last decades inventing in Detroit.
Sports · 1921–1998Hal Newhouserbaseball pitcherDetroit-born left-hander who won back-to-back MVP awards for his hometown Tigers in 1944 and 1945; his No. 16 is retired and his statue stands at Comerica Park.
Music · 1942–2002Barbara Randolphsinger, actressDetroit-born singer and actress, adopted by actress Lillian Randolph, who recorded the northern soul favorite "I Got a Feeling" for Motown and toured with Marvin Gaye.
Music · 1940–2013Bobby Rogerssinger, songwriterDetroit-born founding member of the Miracles (1956–2013) who co-wrote the Temptations' first hit, "The Way You Do the Things You Do".
Sports · 1860–1922Sam Thompsonbaseball player, right fielderHall of Fame slugger of the 1887 champion Detroit Wolverines who later settled in Detroit, played briefly for the Tigers at 46 and is buried at Elmwood Cemetery.
Politics · 1918–1997Coleman Younglabor organizer, state senator, mayor of DetroitDetroit's first Black mayor (1974–1994), a Tuskegee Airman and fiery labor radical who reshaped the city with the Renaissance Center, the People Mover and new auto plants.
Music · 1935–2012Johnnie Bassettblues guitarist, singer, songwriterDetroit-raised blues guitarist who played on Fortune Records sessions in the 1950s and, late in life, became the city's elder statesman of jump blues.
Auto industry · 1880–1936Roy D. Chapinco-founder and president of Hudson Motor Car Company, U.S. Secretary of CommerceOlds test driver who co-founded the Hudson Motor Car Company in Detroit, named it for merchant J. L. Hudson, and later served as U.S. Secretary of Commerce.
Law · 1846–1917Donald M. Dickinsonlawyer, U.S. postmaster generalLeading Detroit trial lawyer and Democratic organizer who served as Grover Cleveland's postmaster general (1888–1889); Dickinson County in the Upper Peninsula is named for him.
Politics · 1922–1998Charles Diggsfuneral director, state senator, congressmanDetroit funeral director who in 1954 became Michigan's first Black member of Congress, attended the Emmett Till murder trial and was the founding chair of the Congressional Black Caucus.
Law · 1889–1982Homer S. Fergusonjudge, U.S. senator, diplomatDetroit lawyer and Wayne County circuit judge whose one-man grand jury exposed city corruption (1939–1941), launching him into the U.S. Senate (1943–1955).
Sports · 1907–1985Ebbie Goodfellowice hockey forward and defensemanRed Wings captain who won three Stanley Cups, became the first Red Wing to win the Hart Trophy and founded the Red Wings Alumni Association.
Politics · 1811–1843Stevens T. Masonterritorial secretary, first governor of MichiganThe 'Boy Governor' who ran Michigan Territory from Detroit at 19, led it to statehood in 1837 as its first governor and now lies under his statue in Capitol Park.
Business & brands · 1838–1902James McMillanindustrialist, U.S. senatorCanadian-born Detroit railcar and shipping magnate who led Michigan's Republican machine as a U.S. senator (1889–1902) and chaired the McMillan Commission that reshaped Washington's National Mall.
Politics · 1894–1966Patrick V. McNamarapipefitter, union leader, U.S. senatorDetroit pipefitter and union local president who upset Senator Homer Ferguson in 1954 and served in the U.S. Senate until 1966; Detroit's federal building bears his name.
Military · 1810–1878Alpheus S. Williamslawyer, newspaper editor, Union general, congressmanDetroit lawyer, editor and postmaster who became one of the Union's most dependable division commanders; his equestrian statue stands on Belle Isle and he is buried at Elmwood.
Politics · 1780–1861William Woodbridgeterritorial secretary, governor of Michigan, U.S. senatorLewis Cass's lifelong friend who came to Detroit in 1814 as territorial secretary and became Michigan's second governor; his farm became the site of Tiger Stadium, and the Woodbridge neighborhood bears his name.
Music · 1936–2015Marcus Belgravejazz trumpeter, educatorTrumpeter who left Ray Charles's band for Detroit in 1963 to record at Motown and became the city's great jazz teacher, mentoring a generation of Detroit stars.
Sports · 1925–2014William Clay Ford Sr.owner of the Detroit Lions, Ford Motor Company executiveHenry Ford's youngest grandson owned the Detroit Lions for fifty years and brought them back downtown to Ford Field in 2002.
Architecture & design · 1832–1909Elijah E. MyersarchitectArchitect of the Michigan, Texas and Colorado state capitols, who ran his national practice from Detroit for nearly four decades.
Music · 1936–2005Renaldo "Obie" Bensonbass singer, songwriterDetroit-born bass singer of the Four Tops who wrote the first draft of "What's Going On" and persuaded Marvin Gaye to record it.
Law · 1836–1913Henry Billings Brownlawyer, federal judge, U.S. Supreme Court justiceDetroit admiralty lawyer and federal judge who rose to the U.S. Supreme Court (1891–1906) and wrote the notorious Plessy v. Ferguson 'separate but equal' opinion; he is buried at Elmwood.
Politics · 1894–1955John Dingell Sr.printer, labor organizer, congressmanSon of Polish immigrants from Detroit who went from Free Press printer to New Deal congressman (1933–1955), founding a father-and-son dynasty that held the seat for 82 years.
Literature · 1881–1959Edgar Guestpoet, newspaper columnist, radio and TV hostDetroit Free Press's 'People's Poet', who wrote some 11,000 homespun verses over six decades, syndicated nationally, and was Michigan's poet laureate.
Science & invention · 1809–1845Douglass Houghtongeologist, physician, mayor of DetroitDetroit's beloved 'little doctor,' Michigan's first state geologist whose surveys set off the Keweenaw copper boom, and mayor of Detroit in 1842.
Auto industry · 1879–1948William S. Knudsenpresident of General Motors, wartime production chiefDanish immigrant who ran production at Ford's Highland Park, turned Chevrolet into GM's powerhouse and organized America's World War II arms output.
Politics · 1928–1979Jerome Cavanaghlawyer, mayor of DetroitDetroit-born Kennedy-era liberal who won an upset in 1961, marched with Martin Luther King Jr. in 1963 and was mayor during the 1967 uprising; first mayor to live in the Manoogian Mansion.
Civil rights & activism · 1955–1982Vincent Chindraftsman, hate-crime victimChinese American draftsman from Highland Park whose 1982 beating death by two autoworkers, and the killers' lenient sentences, sparked the Asian American civil rights movement.
Politics · 1865–1947Frank E. Doremusnewspaper editor, lawyer, congressman, mayor of DetroitSmall-town Michigan editor turned Detroit lawyer who served five terms in Congress and was mayor in 1923–1924 until ill health forced him to resign.The lexicon keeps growing. Every entry lists its sources at the bottom. Dates were checked against Wikidata and Wikipedia. The texts are our own.