Film & TV · born 1945Ernie Hudsonactor, playwrightGhostbusters' Winston Zeddemore, who came to Detroit as a young man, wrote plays for the Black theater company Concept East and graduated from Wayne State in 1973.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 →
Field
Connection
Born in
A–Z (family name)
23 people
Clear filtersFilm & TV · born 1945Ernie Hudsonactor, playwrightGhostbusters' Winston Zeddemore, who came to Detroit as a young man, wrote plays for the Black theater company Concept East and graduated from Wayne State in 1973.
Music · born 1944Gladys Knightsinger, actressThe “Empress of Soul,” whose family group Gladys Knight & the Pips moved to Detroit in the 1960s and cut the first hit version of “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” for Motown.
Film & TV · born 1949Lawrence Kasdanscreenwriter, film director, producerScreenwriter of The Empire Strikes Back and Raiders of the Lost Ark, who studied at the University of Michigan and spent about five years as a Detroit advertising copywriter before Hollywood.
Film & TV · born 1966Hill Harperactor, author, political candidateActor from CSI: NY and The Good Doctor who moved to Detroit in 2016, bought a downtown coffee roastery and ran for the U.S. Senate from Michigan in 2024.
Comedy · born 1961Tim Meadowscomedian, actorTen-season Saturday Night Live veteran from Highland Park and Detroit's Conant Gardens, who learned improv at the Soup Kitchen Saloon and later moved back to the city.
Music · 1948–2020Ivan Králguitarist, bassist, songwriter, producer, filmmakerPrague-born guitarist of the Patti Smith Group and Iggy Pop, co-writer of “Dancing Barefoot,” who spent his final years recording in Ann Arbor and Detroit.
Film & TV · born 1976Haaz SleimanactorLebanese actor of The Visitor and Killing Jesus who, after immigrating at 21, lived in metro Detroit and earned a computer science degree at Wayne State University.
Comedy · 1926–2009Soupy Salescomedian, television hostPie-throwing comic whose Lunch with Soupy Sales on Detroit's WXYZ-TV (1953–1960) made him a local legend before he went national.
Film & TV · born 1970Larry Joe Campbellactor, comedianAccording to Jim's Andy, a northern Michigan native who earned a theater master's at Wayne State, performed at The Second City Detroit and co-founded the Detroit Creativity Project.
Music · 1911–1991Slim Gaillardjazz singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalistJive singer of “Flat Foot Floogie” and inventor of the “Vout” language, often listed as Detroit-born, who spent his teenage years scraping a living in Detroit.
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.
Film & TV · 1896–1975Cullen Landissilent-film actor, director of industrial filmsSilent-film leading man who starred in the first all-talking feature (1928), then moved to Detroit in 1930 to direct industrial films, joining the Jam Handy studio in 1937.
Press & broadcasting · 1912–1979Al Hodgeradio and television actorActor who originated the Green Hornet on Detroit's WXYZ (1936–1943) before becoming television's Captain Video.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 ↗