Sports · 1931–1994
Hank Aguirrebaseball pitcher, businessmanTigers left-hander who led the league in ERA in 1962 and later founded Mexican Industries, a Detroit auto-parts company that employed hundreds of Hispanic Detroiters.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
- 22 fields
Hungarian ties 31 Detroiters with Hungarian ties →
Origin and citizenship
Field
Connection
Born in
A–Z (family name)
1747 people · 29/37 page
Clear filtersSports · 1931–1994Hank Aguirrebaseball pitcher, businessmanTigers left-hander who led the league in ERA in 1962 and later founded Mexican Industries, a Detroit auto-parts company that employed hundreds of Hispanic Detroiters.
Politics · 1889–1962Eugene Van Antwerpcivil engineer, city councilman, mayor of DetroitRailroad civil engineer and World War I veteran who sat on the City Council for nearly three decades and was mayor in 1948–1950.
Music · 1943–2026Rosalind AshfordsingerDetroit-born soprano and original member of Martha and the Vandellas, heard on "Heat Wave", "Dancing in the Street" and "Nowhere to Run".Sada BabyrapperEast-side Detroit rapper and one of the defining voices of the city's late-2010s street-rap wave, known for “Bloxk Party” and “Whole Lotta Choppas”.General Bakerautoworker, labor organizer, revolutionary activistDetroit autoworker who co-founded the Dodge Revolutionary Union Movement and the League of Revolutionary Black Workers in the late 1960s.Brace Beemerradio actor and announcerWXYZ announcer and the best-known radio voice of the Lone Ranger (1941–1954), who lived on a horse ranch in Oakland County and is buried in Troy.Janie BradfordsongwriterMotown's first receptionist, who as a teenager co-wrote "Money (That's What I Want)" with Berry Gordy at Hitsville.
Music · born 1961John BrannonsingerPontiac-born singer of Negative Approach, the Detroit band that pioneered Midwest hardcore punk in 1981, and later of the Ann Arbor noise-rock band Laughing Hyenas.Walter O. Briggsauto-body manufacturer, owner of the Detroit TigersYpsilanti-born industrialist whose Briggs Manufacturing built car bodies for Detroit's automakers and who expanded the Tigers' ballpark into Briggs Stadium.
City history · 1853–1932Clarence M. Burtonlawyer, businessman, historian and collectorDetroit title lawyer and historian whose private archive became the Burton Historical Collection, the backbone of Detroit history research.G. C. CameronsingerLead singer of the Spinners' 1970 Motown hit "It's a Shame" who stayed with Motown as a solo artist and later sang with the Temptations.
Civil rights & activism · 1920–2002Lily Chincivil rights activistChinese immigrant mother of Vincent Chin who, after his 1982 killing, became the moral voice of the national campaign for justice that launched the Asian American civil rights movement.Jacky Clark Chisholmsinger, songwriterEldest of the Clark Sisters, the Detroit gospel group that became the best-selling female gospel act in history.Dorinda Clark-Colesinger, songwriter, evangelist, television hostDetroit gospel singer of the Clark Sisters, known as the "Rose of Gospel Music", who later led her mother's Clark Conservatory of Music.
Law · 1924–2022Avern Cohnlawyer, federal judgeDetroit-born lawyer and civic leader who chaired the Detroit Board of Police Commissioners and served as a federal judge in Detroit for more than four decades (1979–2022).Ed Coleautomotive engineer, president of General MotorsGM engineer behind the Chevrolet small-block V8 and the Corvair who rose to president of General Motors from 1967 to 1974.
Politics · 1792–1866Levi Cookmerchant, banker, mayor of DetroitDry-goods merchant and banker who held nearly every Detroit civic office of his era, including mayor in 1832 and 1835–1836 and chief of the fire department.
Sports · 1898–1941Andy Cooperbaseball pitcher and managerHall of Fame left-hander who pitched nine seasons for the Negro-league Detroit Stars; one historian called him the greatest pitcher ever to play for a Detroit team.Kenny Coxjazz pianist, bandleader, label founderDetroit pianist whose Contemporary Jazz Quintet recorded two Blue Note albums in 1968–1969 and who founded the city's Strata label and later the Guerilla Jam Band.C. Howard CranearchitectTheater architect who gave Detroit its movie palaces and concert halls, including the Fox Theatre, Orchestra Hall and the old Olympia Stadium.
Music · 1943–2012Michael DavisbassistBassist of the MC5, a Wayne State art student who joined the band in 1964 and played on Kick Out the Jams, recorded live at Detroit's Grande Ballroom.
Music · 1945–1982Rusty DaysingerDetroit rock singer who fronted the Amboy Dukes and the hard-driving blues-rock band Cactus, and later tried to revive the band Detroit.David DiChieraopera impresario, composer, musicologistFounder of Michigan Opera Theatre (now Detroit Opera), who built Detroit a resident opera company in 1971 and a restored opera house in 1996.
Music · 1925–2000Lucia Dlugoszewskicomposer, poet, instrument inventorDetroit-born Polish American avant-garde composer who invented the 'timbre piano' and dozens of percussion instruments and was music director of the Erick Hawkins Dance Company.ElzhirapperDetroit lyricist who sharpened his skills at the Hip Hop Shop, joined Slum Village after J Dilla left and won acclaim for albums such as Elmatic and Lead Poison.
Sports · 1944–2015Mel FarrAmerican football running back, car dealerLions running back of 1967–1973 who became Detroit's famous caped TV car dealer, "Mel Farr Superstar", heading the nation's largest Black-owned business in the late 1990s.
Sports · 1954–2009Mark Fidrychbaseball pitcherEccentric rookie pitcher who talked to the ball and packed Tiger Stadium during a magical 1976 season before arm injuries cut his career short.Fred Foyradio and television announcer, narratorDetroit-born announcer whose 'Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear' opening for The Lone Ranger (WXYZ, 1948–1954) became radio's most famous introduction.
Labor · 1916–2008Douglas Fraserpresident of the United Auto Workers (1977–1983)Scottish-born Detroit autoworker who led the UAW from 1977 to 1983, helped save Chrysler in 1979 and became the first union leader on a major US corporate board.Paul FreemanconductorAfrican American conductor who was associate conductor of the Detroit Symphony from 1970 to 1979 and first led its new youth orchestra before founding the Chicago Sinfonietta.Gwen Gordy Fuquasongwriter, record executiveDetroit-born Gordy sister who co-wrote Jackie Wilson's "Lonely Teardrops", co-founded Anna Records and later ran artist development and management at Motown.Frank Gantjazz drummerDetroit drummer who backed Billie Holiday and Thelonious Monk in local clubs, recorded extensively with Yusef Lateef and spent a decade in Ahmad Jamal's trio.Anna Gordy Gayerecord executive, songwriterGordy sister and namesake of Anna Records, which distributed Motown's first hit; later a Motown songwriter and Marvin Gaye's first wife.Morris Goodmanmolecular evolutionistWayne State University scientist whose protein and DNA comparisons showed how closely humans are related to chimpanzees and gorillas.
Press & broadcasting · 1917–1977Lou Gordontelevision interviewer, columnist, political reporterCombative Detroit TV interviewer whose Lou Gordon Program on WKBD (1966–1977) drew George Romney's 1967 'brainwashing' remark that sank his presidential hopes.Paris Greysinger, songwriterChicago-area singer whose voice fronted Kevin Saunderson's Inner City, the Detroit act that took techno-house to the top of the world's pop charts.Johnny GriffithkeyboardistDetroit-born Funk Brothers keyboardist who played the electric piano on "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" and the organ on "Stop! In the Name of Love".
Music · 1913–2005Karl Haasclassical music radio host, pianist, musicologistGerman Jewish émigré who settled in Detroit and in 1959 launched Adventures in Good Music on WJR, which became the world's most widely heard classical music radio program.
Music · born 1973Deitrick Haddongospel singer, songwriter, producer, pastorDetroit-born progressive gospel singer and producer, leader of Voices of Unity, known for "Sinner's Prayer" and the reality series Preachers of L.A.Kelli HandDJ, producer, label owner“First Lady of Detroit techno”, who opened doors for Black women in electronic music and ran her own Acacia label for three decades.
Music · born 1986Illa Jrapper, singer, producerJ Dilla's younger brother, who carried on the family's musical legacy with albums built on Dilla's beats and a stint in Slum Village.
Politics · 1900–1950Edward Jeffrieslawyer, mayor of DetroitDetroit-born lawyer and son of a crusading judge who was mayor through World War II (1940–1948), including the deadly 1943 race riot; the Jeffries Freeway honors him.
Literature · born 1965Tyehimba JesspoetDetroit-born poet whose Olio, a daring book about Black musicians and performers before the Harlem Renaissance, won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.
Auto industry · 1864–1936Henry B. Joypresident of the Packard Motor Car Company, Lincoln Highway promoterDetroit railroad heir who brought Packard to the city, commissioned Albert Kahn's giant plant on East Grand Boulevard and championed the Lincoln Highway.
Music · 1888–1957
Victor Kolarconductor, composer, violinistBudapest-born conductor who spent two decades on the podium of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, rising from assistant to principal conductor, and died in Detroit.
Visual art · 1926–2013Balthazar Korabarchitectural photographer, architectHungarian-born architect-photographer who joined Eero Saarinen's Michigan office in 1955 and became one of America's leading architectural photographers from his Detroit-area base.Shirley Loveoperatic mezzo-sopranoDetroit-born mezzo-soprano, a Wayne State graduate who sang at the Metropolitan Opera for twenty consecutive seasons from 1963.
Politics · 1899–1970Thaddeus M. Machrowiczlawyer, judge, congressmanPolish-born lawyer who rose from Hamtramck city attorney and judge to represent the Detroit area in Congress for a decade, then served as a federal judge in Detroit.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 ↗