Music · born 1948Ted Nugentguitarist, singer, songwriterThe “Motor City Madman,” Detroit-born hard-rock guitarist of the Amboy Dukes and “Cat Scratch Fever,” a fixture of the Grande Ballroom era.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
- 515 Detroit places
- 14 fields
Hungarian ties 22 Detroiters with Hungarian ties →
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17 people
Clear filtersMusic · born 1948Ted Nugentguitarist, singer, songwriterThe “Motor City Madman,” Detroit-born hard-rock guitarist of the Amboy Dukes and “Cat Scratch Fever,” a fixture of the Grande Ballroom era.
Film & TV · born 1978Jaime Ray Newmanactress, producer, singerTelevision actress (Veronica Mars, Eureka, The Punisher) who grew up in Farmington Hills, acted in Detroit-area regional theaters and graduated from Cranbrook in 1996.
Notorious figures · born 1963Larry Nassarformer sports physician, convicted sex offenderFormer USA Gymnastics and Michigan State team physician from Farmington Hills, convicted of sexually abusing hundreds of young athletes and imprisoned for life in effect.
Science & invention · 1907–1988Seth NeddermeyerphysicistCo-discoverer of the muon and champion of the implosion design for the atomic bomb, born in Richmond, Michigan, in northern Macomb County.
Sports · born 1992Vladislav Namestnikovice hockey forwardRussian-born centre who moved to Michigan as an infant and grew up in the state before eventually returning to play two NHL seasons for his boyhood-area team, the Red Wings.
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.
Film & TV · born 1944Denise Nicholasactress, writerRoom 222's Liz McIntyre and In the Heat of the Night's Harriet DeLong, born in Detroit, raised there and in Milan, Michigan, who left the University of Michigan to join the civil rights theater movement.
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.
Politics · 1925–2025Lucien Nedzilawyer, congressmanHamtramck-born Polish American lawyer who represented Detroit's east side and Hamtramck in Congress for twenty years (1961–1981) and led the first House inquiry into the CIA.
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.
Law · 1955–2020Benny Napoleonpolice chief, lawyer, Wayne County sheriffDetroit-born minister's son who rose from patrolman to Detroit police chief (1998–2001), served as Wayne County sheriff (2009–2020) and ran for mayor in 2013.
Music · born 1955Niagarasinger, painterDetroit-born singer of the art-punk band Destroy All Monsters and a painter of pop-noir women whose shows made her the “Queen of Detroit” of lowbrow art.
MusicKaren NewmansingerSinger known as “the voice” of the Detroit Red Wings for more than 30 years of national anthems, and for the local holiday favorite “Christmas Eve on Woodward Avenue.”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 ↗