Press & broadcasting · 1932–2014Casey Kasemradio host, disc jockey, voice actorDetroit-born host of American Top 40 and original voice of Shaggy in Scooby-Doo, who started on the air at Northwestern High and Detroit radio stations.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
- 22 fields
Hungarian ties 21 Detroiters with Hungarian ties →
Field
Connection
Born in
A–Z (family name)
49 people · 1/2 page
Clear filtersPress & broadcasting · 1932–2014Casey Kasemradio host, disc jockey, voice actorDetroit-born host of American Top 40 and original voice of Shaggy in Scooby-Doo, who started on the air at Northwestern High and Detroit radio stations.
Press & broadcasting · 1920–2013Helen Thomasjournalist, White House correspondent, columnistThe pioneering White House reporter who covered ten presidents grew up in a Lebanese immigrant family in Detroit, studied at Wayne University and is buried in the city.
Press & broadcasting · born 1959Chris Hansentelevision journalist, presenterDateline NBC's To Catch a Predator host, who grew up in the Detroit suburbs and learned investigative reporting at WXYZ and WDIV.
Film & TV · born 1975Dax Shepardactor, comedian, filmmaker, podcasterActor and Armchair Expert podcast host who grew up in Detroit's northwestern suburbs, the car-loving son of a GM employee.
Sports · born 1970Alexi Lalassoccer player and executive, broadcasterMetro Detroit-born soccer star of the 1994 World Cup and MLS era, raised in Birmingham and schooled at Cranbrook, now a leading American soccer broadcaster.
Press & broadcasting · born 1969Sanjay Guptaneurosurgeon, CNN chief medical correspondent, authorCNN's chief medical correspondent and a practicing neurosurgeon, born and raised in the Detroit suburb of Novi to parents who were Ford engineers.
Press & broadcasting · born 1971Kenya Moorebeauty queen, actress, television personality, entrepreneurMiss USA 1993 and Real Housewives of Atlanta star, raised in Detroit by her grandmother, a Cass Tech graduate who studied at Wayne State.
Politics · born 1965Thaddeus McCotterpolitician, radio hostDetroit-born Republican congressman for the northwestern suburbs (2003–2012) and 2012 presidential hopeful who later hosted talk radio in Detroit.
Fashion · born 1984Naima Morafashion modelWinner of America's Next Top Model Cycle 4, raised on Detroit's northwest side and a graduate of Cass Technical High School.
Music · born 1979Andrew W.K.singer, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, motivational speakerAnn Arbor–raised rocker who cut his teeth in Detroit punk, metal and noise bands before his anthem “Party Hard” made him a star in 2001.
Fashion · born 1965Veronica Webbmodel, actress, writer, television personalityDetroit-born supermodel who in 1992 became the first Black model with an exclusive cosmetics contract (Revlon), and who acted in Spike Lee's Jungle Fever.
Music · born 2002Chloe Moriondosinger-songwriter, YouTuberMetro Detroit singer-songwriter who began posting ukulele covers on YouTube as a child in 2014 and grew into an indie pop and pop-punk artist with millions of followers.
Business & brands · 1914–2010John Klugemedia entrepreneur, founder of MetromediaGerman immigrant who grew up in Detroit, studied at Wayne State and built Metromedia into a television empire, once ranked America's richest man.
Press & broadcasting · 1950–2026Dave Marshrock critic, editor, author, radio hostPontiac-born rock critic who left Wayne State in 1969 to help build Creem, Detroit's irreverent rock magazine, before becoming a Rolling Stone editor and Springsteen biographer.
Press & broadcasting · born 1964Robin Givhanfashion critic, journalistDetroit native, Renaissance High valedictorian and former Detroit Free Press writer who in 2006 became the first fashion critic to win a Pulitzer Prize.
Music · born 1942Wendell Harrisonjazz saxophonist, clarinetist, label founder, educatorDetroit saxophonist and clarinetist who co-founded Tribe, the 1970s Black-consciousness jazz label and magazine, and later the Rebirth education organization.
Press & broadcasting · born 1961Bob Woodrufftelevision journalistABC News correspondent and former World News Tonight co-anchor from Bloomfield Hills, gravely wounded in Iraq in 2006, who co-founded a foundation for injured veterans.
Music · born 1997DDGrapper, YouTuber, streamerPontiac-raised rapper and YouTube star whose 2020 hit “Moonwalking in Calabasas” went double platinum.
Press & broadcasting · born 1958Elvis Mitchellfilm critic, radio host, filmmakerHighland Park-born film critic, Wayne State graduate and former Detroit Free Press critic who became a New York Times critic and host of public radio's The Treatment.
Civil rights & activism · 1903–1942John Siegjournalist, railroad worker, resistance fighterDetroit-born son of a German mechanic who became a Berlin journalist and a core member of the anti-Nazi resistance network the Gestapo called the Red Orchestra.
Music · born 1980Cha Charapper, actress, radio personalityDetroit-born rapper and Cass Tech alumna who released Dear Diary on Epic in 1999, worked with Royce da 5'9″ and later turned to acting and radio.
Press & broadcasting · born 1950George Nooryradio talk-show host, TV news producerDetroit-born host of the late-night radio show Coast to Coast AM, who started as a newscaster at WCAR and a news producer at WJBK-TV.
Politics · 1862–1950John C. Lodgejournalist, city council president, mayor of DetroitDetroit-born newspaperman who spent more than 30 years on the City Council, served three stints as mayor in the 1920s and gave his name to the Lodge Freeway.
Theatre & dance · 1898–1993Edith Meiseractress, playwright, radio writerDetroit-born actress and writer who brought Sherlock Holmes to American radio in 1930 and appeared in more than 20 Broadway shows.
Film & TV · born 1962Shaun Robinsontelevision host, journalist, authorDetroit-born Cass Tech graduate who began her TV career at WGPR-TV before hosting Access Hollywood (1999–2015) and the 90 Day Fiancé tell-alls.
Press & broadcasting · 1933–1995J. P. McCarthyradio host, interviewerWJR's morning man for more than three decades, whose Focus interviews and easy wit made him the most listened-to voice in Detroit radio until his death in 1995.
Politics · 1951–2023JoAnn Watsonactivist, radio host, pastor, city councilwomanDetroit-born activist, talk radio host and pastor who served ten years on the Detroit City Council (2003–2013) as an outspoken voice against the state takeover of the city.
Press & broadcasting · 1932–2014Bill Bondstelevision news anchor, reporterDetroit-born WXYZ Action News anchor whose blunt editorials, 1967 riot coverage and feud with Mayor Coleman Young made him the city's most famous newsman.
Politics · born 1965Kenneth Cockrel Jr.journalist, city council president, interim mayor of DetroitSon of radical lawyer Ken Cockrel Sr., former Free Press writer and council president who served as Detroit's interim mayor after Kwame Kilpatrick resigned (2008–2009).
Press & broadcasting · born 1970Stephen Hendersonjournalist, columnist, radio and TV hostDetroit-born editorial writer who won the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for commentary on the city's bankruptcy and hosts WDET's Detroit Today.
Press & broadcasting · born 1948Harvey Ovshinskyjournalist, broadcaster, documentary producer, teacherDetroit storyteller who founded the underground newspaper Fifth Estate at 17 in 1965, then chronicled the city for decades on radio and television.The lexicon keeps growing. Every entry lists its sources at the bottom. Dates were checked against Wikidata and Wikipedia. The texts are our own.