Science & invention · 1847–1931Thomas Edisoninventor, businessmanAmerica's best-known inventor, who grew up in Port Huron, sold newspapers on the Grand Trunk trains to Detroit, learned telegraphy at Mount Clemens, and whose Menlo Park laboratory Henry Ford rebuilt in Dearborn.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.
- 1,940 famous people
- 366 Detroit places
- 22 fields
Hungarian ties 22 Detroiters with Hungarian ties →
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201 people · 1/5 page
Clear filtersScience & invention · 1847–1931Thomas Edisoninventor, businessmanAmerica's best-known inventor, who grew up in Port Huron, sold newspapers on the Grand Trunk trains to Detroit, learned telegraphy at Mount Clemens, and whose Menlo Park laboratory Henry Ford rebuilt in Dearborn.
Auto industry · 1863–1947Henry Fordautomaker, industrialist, founder of Ford Motor CompanyThe farm boy from Dearborn who built his first car in a Detroit shed, founded Ford Motor Company and turned the region into the world's motor capital.
Music · born 1972Eminemrapper, songwriter, record producer, actorDetroit-raised rapper who came up through the city's open-mic battles and became one of the best-selling artists in music history.
Business & brands · 1916–2009Robert McNamaraFord Motor Company president, U.S. Secretary of DefenseOne of Ford's postwar 'Whiz Kids', he rose to president of Ford in 1960 before leaving for Washington as Secretary of Defense.
Music · born 1975Jack Whiteguitarist, singer, songwriter, producerSouthwest Detroit native who co-founded the White Stripes at the Gold Dollar bar in 1997 and later opened Third Man Records' Cass Corridor store and pressing plant.
Film & TV · born 1943Jerry Bruckheimerfilm and television producerDetroit-born producer of Top Gun, Pirates of the Caribbean and CSI, a Mumford High graduate who put his school's gym shirt on Axel Foley in Beverly Hills Cop.
Auto industry · 1924–2019Lee Iacoccaautomotive executive, president of Ford, chairman of ChryslerSalesman-engineer who launched the Ford Mustang, was fired by Henry Ford II, then saved Chrysler with federal loan guarantees, K-cars and the minivan.
Auto industry · born 1961Mary Barraautomotive executive, engineerMetro Detroit native who rose from a GM co-op student to chair and CEO of General Motors in 2014, the first woman to lead a Big Three automaker.
Music · born 1940Smokey Robinsonsinger, songwriter, record producer, record executiveNorth End native who founded the Miracles, gave Motown its first million-seller and wrote many of the label's defining hits while serving as its vice president.
Auto industry · 1875–1940Walter P. Chryslerfounder of Chrysler CorporationKansas railroad mechanic who ran Buick, founded Chrysler Corporation in Detroit in 1925 and made it one of the Big Three by buying Dodge in 1928.
Music · born 1971Kid Rocksinger, rapper, songwriterMacomb County-born rap-rocker who came up in the 1980s Detroit hip-hop scene and made his breakthrough album Devil Without a Cause at a downtown Detroit studio.
Auto industry · 1917–1987Henry Ford IIautomotive executive, president and chairman of Ford Motor CompanyHenry Ford's grandson rebuilt a failing Ford Motor Company after 1945 and, after the 1967 unrest, pushed the Renaissance Center into Detroit's skyline.
Sports · born 1943Dave Bingbasketball player, businessman, politicianHall of Fame Pistons guard of 1966–1975 who built a Detroit steel company after his playing days and served as the city's 74th mayor from 2009 to 2014.
Sports · born 1963Joe Dumarsbasketball player and executiveHall of Fame Pistons guard who won two championships as a "Bad Boy" and a third as team president, and stayed in Detroit for decades running local businesses.
Music · born 1929Berry Gordyrecord executive, producer, songwriter, film producerDetroit-born founder of Motown, who turned a house on West Grand Boulevard into Hitsville U.S.A. and built the most successful Black-owned business of its era.
Auto industry · 1875–1966Alfred P. Sloanpresident, CEO and chairman of General MotorsThe management architect of General Motors, who led it from its Detroit headquarters past Ford to become the world's largest automaker.
Auto industry · 1925–2005John DeLoreanautomotive engineer and executive, founder of DeLorean Motor CompanyDetroit-born GM maverick who created the Pontiac GTO, ran Chevrolet, then built the stainless-steel DeLorean made famous by Back to the Future.
Auto industry · 1893–1943Edsel Fordpresident of Ford Motor Company, art patronHenry Ford's only son led Ford from 1919 to 1943, brought style to its cars and paid for Diego Rivera's Detroit Industry murals.
Auto industry · 1952–2018Sergio MarchionneCEO of Fiat, Chrysler and Fiat Chrysler AutomobilesItalian-Canadian executive who took over bankrupt Chrysler in 2009 and turned it around from Auburn Hills, merging it with Fiat.
Auto industry · 1861–1947William C. Durantfounder of General Motors, co-founder of ChevroletFlint carriage king who founded General Motors, co-founded Chevrolet in Detroit and ordered the giant GM headquarters on West Grand Boulevard.
Politics · 1907–1995George W. Romneyautomobile executive, governor of MichiganDetroit auto-industry spokesman and American Motors chief who became Michigan's governor (1963–1969) and later U.S. housing secretary.
Politics · born 1958Rick Snyderbusiness executive, governor of MichiganMichigan's governor (2011–2019) who put Detroit under an emergency manager, approved its 2013 bankruptcy filing and backed the 'grand bargain' that ended it.
Auto industry · 1864–1950Ransom E. Oldsautomotive pioneer, founder of Oldsmobile and REOLansing carmaker who opened Detroit's first dedicated auto factory in 1899; after it burned in 1901 his Curved Dash Olds became America's first mass-produced car.
Business & brands · born 1937Roger Penskeracing team owner, businessman, chairman of Penske CorporationFormer racing driver who built a transport and dealership empire based in Bloomfield Hills and became one of Detroit's key civic leaders, reviving the Detroit Grand Prix.
Music · born 1970Richie HawtinDJ, electronic musician, label founderWindsor-raised techno producer who crossed the river into Detroit's clubs, co-founded Plus 8 and became a leading figure of minimal techno as Plastikman.
Auto industry · 1903–1956Preston Tuckerautomobile entrepreneur and designerLincoln Park–raised car dreamer behind the futuristic Tucker 48, whose story became the 1988 film Tucker: The Man and His Dream.
Auto industry · 1868–1920Horace Dodgemachinist, automobile manufacturer, co-founder of Dodge BrothersThe engineering half of the Dodge Brothers, who supplied Ford's first engines, built Dodge Main in Hamtramck and helped create Orchestra Hall.
Science & invention · 1922–2012Stanford R. Ovshinskyinventor, physicist, entrepreneurSelf-taught inventor of the nickel-metal hydride battery and thin-film solar panels, who built his company Energy Conversion Devices in Detroit and Troy over half a century.
Auto industry · 1890–1961Charles Erwin Wilsonautomotive executive, U.S. secretary of defenseGeneral Motors president who ran the company from Detroit through World War II, became Eisenhower's defense secretary, and is buried in suburban Beverly Hills, Michigan.
Science & invention · 1919–2009Russell L. Ackofforganizational theorist, operations researcherPioneer of operations research and systems thinking in management, who began his academic career at Wayne State University in Detroit (1947–1951).
Politics · 1836–1907Russell A. Algerlumber baron, Union general, governor of Michigan, secretary of warCivil War cavalry commander and Detroit-based lumber baron who became Michigan governor and secretary of war; his memorial fountain stands in Grand Circus Park.
Politics · 1813–1879Zachariah Chandlermerchant, mayor of Detroit, U.S. senatorDetroit merchant and abolitionist who backed the Underground Railroad, served as mayor in 1851 and became Michigan's Radical Republican boss in the U.S. Senate.
Auto industry · born 1932Bob Lutzautomotive executive at Ford, Chrysler and GMSwiss-born 'car guy' who held top jobs at all three Detroit automakers, from the Dodge Viper at Chrysler to GM's product revival.
Business & brands · 1933–2021Eli Broadhomebuilder, financier, philanthropistRaised in Detroit, he built his first houses in the city's suburbs, founded what became KB Home, and later became a major art and education philanthropist.
Auto industry · 1864–1920John Dodgemachinist, automobile manufacturer, co-founder of Dodge BrothersThe business mind of the Dodge Brothers, who turned a Detroit machine shop into one of America's biggest automakers.
Business & brands · born 1962Dan Gilbertbusinessman, founder of Rocket Mortgage and BedrockDetroit-born mortgage billionaire who moved Quicken Loans downtown in 2010 and bought and rebuilt dozens of city landmarks through Bedrock.
Music · born 1964Kevin SaundersonDJ, record producer, label ownerOne of the Belleville Three who invented Detroit techno; his Inner City hits carried the city's sound onto pop charts worldwide.
Auto industry · born 1945Alan MulallyCEO of Ford Motor Company, former Boeing executiveBoeing engineer hired by Bill Ford in 2006 who steered Ford through the 2008–2009 crisis without a government bailout.
Music · born 1974Shaggy 2 Doperapper, DJ, record label co-founderThe second half of Insane Clown Posse, a metro Detroit native who co-founded Psychopathic Records and the Juggalo subculture.
Business & brands · 1929–2017Mike Ilitchentrepreneur, founder of Little Caesars, sports team ownerDetroit-born son of Macedonian immigrants who founded Little Caesars, owned the Red Wings and the Tigers, and restored the Fox Theatre, reshaping downtown Detroit.
Visual art · 1843–1942William Henry Jacksonphotographer, painter, explorerPioneer photographer of the American West who joined the Detroit Photographic Company in 1897, helping make Detroit a world center of color postcards.
Sports · 1886–1983Jam HandyOlympic swimmer and water polo player, industrial filmmakerTwo-time Olympic bronze medalist who built the Jam Handy Organization in Detroit into one of America's largest producers of industrial and training films.The lexicon keeps growing. Every entry lists its sources at the bottom. Dates were checked against Wikidata and Wikipedia. The texts are our own. Famous people's places among the sights ↗