Architecture & design · 1910–1961Eero Saarinenarchitect, industrial designerFinnish-American architect who grew up at Cranbrook in Bloomfield Hills and ran his office there; his first masterpiece was the GM Technical Center in Warren.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
- 16 fields
Hungarian ties 21 Detroiters with Hungarian ties →
Field
Connection
Born in
A–Z (family name)
27 people
Clear filtersArchitecture & design · 1910–1961Eero Saarinenarchitect, industrial designerFinnish-American architect who grew up at Cranbrook in Bloomfield Hills and ran his office there; his first masterpiece was the GM Technical Center in Warren.
Science & invention · 1915–2008Thomas Huckle Wellervirologist, physicianVirologist who shared the 1954 Nobel Prize for growing poliovirus in tissue culture, the step that made polio vaccines possible; born and raised in Ann Arbor.
Science & invention · 1918–2011Robert Ettingerphysics teacher, author, founder of cryonics'Father of cryonics' who taught physics and mathematics at Wayne State and Highland Park Community College and founded the Cryonics Institute, now in Clinton Township.
Music · 1918–2014Gerald Wilsonjazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, arranger, educatorBig-band leader and arranger for Ellington, Ella and Billie Holiday, who came to Detroit at 16, graduated from Cass Tech, and returned in 2009 with a suite named “Detroit.”
Architecture & design · 1912–1988Ray Eamesartist, designerAmerican artist and designer who studied at Cranbrook in 1940–41, where she met Charles Eames and began one of design history's great partnerships.
Architecture & design · 1917–2019Florence Knollarchitect, interior and furniture designerMichigan-born designer who grew up at Cranbrook's Kingswood School under the Saarinens' wing and went on to build Knoll into a modern furniture giant.
Film & TV · 1915–1968William TalmanactorPerry Mason's perpetually defeated district attorney Hamilton Burger, born in Detroit, who founded the drama club at Cranbrook in Bloomfield Hills.
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.
Visual art · 1915–1978Harry Bertoiasculptor, furniture and jewelry designerItalian-born artist who grew up in Detroit, studied at Cass Tech and Cranbrook, and later created the Diamond Chair and sounding sculptures.
Music · 1917–1988J. C. Heardjazz drummer, bandleaderDetroit-raised swing and bop drummer who played with Teddy Wilson, Cab Calloway and Jazz at the Philharmonic, then returned to Detroit in 1966 as a bandleader and mentor.
Music · 1919–1985Johnny Desmondsinger, entertainerDetroit-born big-band singer, the featured vocalist of Glenn Miller's Army Air Forces Orchestra in wartime Europe and a popular radio and television star afterward.
Labor · 1911–2001Leonard WoodcockUAW president (1970–1977), first US ambassador to the People's Republic of ChinaDetroit machine assembler who succeeded Walter Reuther as UAW president in 1970, then became the first US ambassador to Communist China.
Military · 1917–1944Raymond Zussmansoldier, Medal of Honor recipientHamtramck-born Jewish tank officer who received the Medal of Honor for leading an attack on a French village in September 1944; a park in front of Hamtramck City Hall bears his name.
Politics · 1914–1972Cora Brownsocial worker, policewoman, lawyer, state senatorCass Tech graduate, Detroit social worker and policewoman who in 1952 became the first African American woman elected to any state senate in the United States.
Religion · 1911–2000Albert Cleage Jr.minister, Black nationalist leaderDetroit minister who founded the Shrine of the Black Madonna and the Black Christian Nationalist movement, a leading voice of Detroit's Black Power era.The lexicon keeps growing. Every entry lists its sources at the bottom. Dates were checked against Wikidata and Wikipedia. The texts are our own.