Politics · born 1947Mitt Romneypolitician, businessmanDetroit-born son of automaker and governor George Romney; grew up in Bloomfield Hills, attended Cranbrook, later governed Massachusetts and ran for president in 2012.DETROIT / A living lexicon / ¼
Famous Detroiters
Detroit's famous people in one place: when they were born, what they did, how they are tied to the city, and the Detroit places that were theirs.
- 1,743 famous people
- 96 Detroit places
- 13 fields
Field
Connection
Born in
A–Z (family name)
22 people
Clear filtersPolitics · born 1947Mitt Romneypolitician, businessmanDetroit-born son of automaker and governor George Romney; grew up in Bloomfield Hills, attended Cranbrook, later governed Massachusetts and ran for president in 2012.
Music · born 1944Diana Rosssinger, actressDetroit-born lead singer of the Supremes, Motown's biggest 1960s act, who grew up in the North End and the Brewster-Douglass projects before a long solo and film career.
Music · born 1940Smokey Robinsonsinger, songwriter, record producer, record executiveNorth End native who founded the Miracles, gave Motown its first million-seller and wrote many of the label's defining hits while serving as its vice president.
Film & TV · born 1971Mary Lynn Rajskubactress, comedianDetroit-born, Downriver-raised comedian and actress, known as Chloe O'Brian on 24, who studied art in Detroit before turning to comedy.
Film & TV · born 1985Crystal ReedactressDetroit-raised actress, Allison Argent on Teen Wolf, who graduated from Roseville High School and studied acting at Wayne State.
Music · 1942–2023Sixto Rodriguezsinger-songwriter, guitaristDetroit's “Sugar Man”: a working-class songwriter who spent his whole life in the city, unaware for decades that he was a star in South Africa.
Comedy · 1946–1989Gilda Radnercomedian, actressOriginal Saturday Night Live star who grew up in Detroit, where her father's Seville Hotel housed touring performers and her nanny inspired Emily Litella.
Film & TV · born 1971David Ramseyactor, television directorArrow's John Diggle, a Detroit native who went to Mumford High School and earned a BFA at Wayne State University.
Science & invention · 1934–2015Marshall Rosenbergpsychologist, mediatorPsychologist who created Nonviolent Communication; the Detroit race riot of 1943, which broke out a week after his family moved to the city, shaped his life's work.
Film & TV · born 1965Ted Raimiactor, director, writerDetroit-born character actor of the Evil Dead films and Xena, younger brother of director Sam Raimi, who started out in Detroit industrial films.
Music · 1931–2017Della Reesesinger, actress, television host, ministerBlack Bottom-born singer who went from Detroit gospel choirs and the Flame Show Bar to pop hits, her own talk show and Touched by an Angel.
Sports · born 1983Brandi Rhodesprofessional wrestler, ring announcer, executiveDetroit-suburb-born wrestling personality who rose through WWE and became a founding executive and performer at All Elite Wrestling.
Comedy · born 1984Sam Richardsonactor, comedian, writer, producerVeep and Ted Lasso actor who grew up in Boston-Edison, trained at Planet Ant and Second City Detroit and co-created Detroiters, a comedy shot on Detroit streets.
Politics · born 1949Ann Romneyauthor, philanthropist, former First Lady of MassachusettsDetroit-born, Bloomfield Hills-raised Kingswood graduate who married Mitt Romney and became First Lady of Massachusetts and an advocate for multiple sclerosis research.
Music · 1926–1978Frank Rosolinojazz trombonist, singerDetroit-born trombonist, a Cass Tech alumnus, who became a star of West Coast jazz with Stan Kenton and the Lighthouse All-Stars and wrote the standard "Blue Daniel".The lexicon keeps growing. Every entry lists its sources at the bottom. Dates were checked against Wikidata and Wikipedia. The texts are our own.