Auto industry · 1863–1947
Henry 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.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.
- 1,949 famous people
- 516 Detroit places
- 13 fields
Hungarian ties 31 Detroiters with Hungarian ties →
Origin and citizenship
Field
Connection
Born in
A–Z (family name)
18 people
Clear filtersAuto 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 · 1934–1984Jackie Wilsonsinger“Mr. Excitement” grew up in Highland Park, boxed and sang in Detroit clubs, and his early hits, written by Berry Gordy, helped bankroll the founding of Motown.
Film & TV · born 1965Butch Hartmananimator, writer, producerCreator of The Fairly OddParents and Danny Phantom, born in Highland Park and raised in Roseville and New Baltimore in Macomb County.
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.Rex Cawleytrack and field athlete, 400-meter hurdlerHighland Park-born hurdler who set a world record and won Olympic gold in the 400-meter hurdles at the 1964 Tokyo Games.
Music · 1930–1986Pepper Adamsjazz baritone saxophonist, composerHighland Park-born baritone saxophonist who came of age in Detroit's 1950s bebop clubs, running the bandstand at the Blue Bird Inn before a career in New York.
Film & TV · 1923–2010Adele Maraactress, dancer, singerHighland Park-born dancer and actress of 1940s westerns and Sands of Iwo Jima, the daughter of Spanish immigrants, who started out in Xavier Cugat's show.
Architecture & design · 1869–1942Albert KahnarchitectGerman-born "architect of Detroit" who designed the Ford Highland Park and River Rouge plants, the Fisher Building and hundreds of other city landmarks.Richard Ellmannliterary biographer, critic, professorHighland Park-born biographer of James Joyce and Oscar Wilde, whose Joyce is often called the greatest literary biography of the 20th century.
Sports · born 1948Tim Woodfigure skaterHighland Park native, Detroit Skating Club product and 1968 Olympic silver medalist who won the world championship in 1969 and 1970.Ernest Kirkendallchemist, metallurgistMetallurgist raised in Highland Park who discovered the Kirkendall effect in atomic diffusion while teaching at Wayne State University in 1947.
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.
Sports · 1927–2015Billy Piercebaseball pitcherDetroit-born, Highland Park-raised left-hander who debuted with his hometown Tigers at 18 and became a seven-time All-Star for the Chicago White Sox.
Sports · born 1949Ted Simmonsbaseball catcherHighland Park-born, Southfield-raised switch-hitting catcher, one of the best-hitting catchers in baseball history and a 2020 Hall of Fame electee.
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.Donald GoinesnovelistDetroit-born pioneer of urban crime fiction who wrote 16 novels in five years, among them Dopefiend and Whoreson, before being murdered in Highland Park in 1974.Omar Reganstand-up comedian, actor, former rapperDetroit-born, Highland Park-raised comedian who first did stand-up in Detroit clubs and became a leading voice of Muslim comedy and 'Halalywood' films.
MusicDJ MinxDJ, producer, label founderDetroit house and techno DJ who founded the Women on Wax collective, played the first DEMF in 2000 and is honored with a mural in Highland Park.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 ↗
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