Marguerite MacIntyreactress, writer, producerDetroit-born actress who played Sheriff Liz Forbes on The Vampire Diaries and Nicole Trager on Kyle XY.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
- 20 fields
Hungarian ties 31 Detroiters with Hungarian ties →
Origin and citizenship
Field
Connection
Born in
A–Z (family name)
180 people · 2/4 page
Clear filtersMarguerite MacIntyreactress, writer, producerDetroit-born actress who played Sheriff Liz Forbes on The Vampire Diaries and Nicole Trager on Kyle XY.
Film & TV · born 1969
Vincenzo Natalifilm director, screenwriterDetroit-born Canadian-American director of the cult science-fiction thriller Cube and the horror film Splice.
Literature · born 1967Ruta Sepetyshistorical novelistCarnegie Medal–winning author of Between Shades of Gray, born in Detroit to a Lithuanian refugee family and raised in the city's northwestern suburbs.Mark Watersfilm directorDirector of Mean Girls and Freaky Friday, born in Wyandotte and raised in South Bend, Indiana.B. J. Armstrongbasketball player, executiveDetroit-born point guard who attended Brother Rice High School in Bloomfield Township and went on to win three NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls.Elden Campbellbasketball forward and centerVeteran big man who turned down bigger offers to join the Pistons in 2003 and became a key defensive piece off the bench for Detroit's 2004 championship team.Derrick Colemanbasketball player, entrepreneurSyracuse star raised in Detroit who returned late in his career to play for the Pistons, then came home for good as a local developer and Flint water crisis volunteer.Dale Davisbasketball playerVeteran power forward and rebounding specialist who closed out his long NBA career with two seasons on the Pistons.
Music · born 1963Jeff MillsDJ, record producer, composerDetroit-born techno DJ and producer, "The Wizard" of WJLB radio, who co-founded Underground Resistance before taking Detroit techno to Berlin and the world.
Film & TV · born 1960Bill Pradytelevision writer and producerDetroit-born co-creator of The Big Bang Theory, a Cranbrook graduate who studied at Wayne State, which later gave him an honorary doctorate.
Sports · born 1962Kevin Willisbasketball forward and centerLong-serving NBA big man who came up through Detroit's Pershing High School before a 21-season career that made him one of the oldest players ever to play in the league.Rose Abdooactress, comedianDetroit-born comic actress, Gypsy the mechanic on Gilmore Girls and Josefina on Hacks, who grew up in Southfield.
Sports · born 1961Paul Coffeyice hockey defencemanHall of Fame defenceman, second all-time among NHL blueliners in points, who spent three and a half seasons with the Red Wings and won a Norris Trophy in Detroit.
Science & invention · born 1969Tony Fadellengineer, designer, entrepreneurEngineer known as the 'father of the iPod', co-creator of the iPhone and founder of Nest Labs; he grew up in the Detroit area and graduated from Grosse Pointe South High School.
Music · born 1960Kenny Garrettjazz alto and soprano saxophonist, flutist, composerDetroit-born alto saxophonist who went straight from Mackenzie High School into the Duke Ellington Orchestra and later played in Miles Davis's band.
Sports · born 1967Curtis Josephice hockey goaltenderVeteran goaltender nicknamed "Cujo" who signed with the Red Wings in 2002 hoping to finally win a Stanley Cup, and helped Detroit finish first overall the next season.
Sports · born 1967Aaron Kricksteintennis playerAnn Arbor-born tennis pro who reached a career-high world No. 6 and still holds Michigan's high school record for consecutive match wins.
Sports · born 1968Barry Sandersfootball running backHeisman Trophy winner who spent all ten NFL seasons with the Detroit Lions, widely regarded as one of the most elusive running backs in football history.
Sports · born 1964
Otmar Szafnauerengineer, Formula One team principalRomanian-born, Detroit-raised engineer who went from Ford program manager to running Force India, Racing Point, Aston Martin and Alpine in Formula One.Norah Vincentjournalist, columnist, authorColumnist and author of Self-Made Man, the account of living as a man for 18 months, who was born in Detroit to a Ford Motor Company lawyer.
Theatre & dance · born 1963Neil LaButeplaywright, film director, screenwriterPlaywright and director of In the Company of Men and The Shape of Things, born in Detroit to a hospital receptionist and a long-haul trucker and raised in Spokane.
Politics · born 1965Thaddeus McCotterpolitician, radio hostDetroit-born Republican congressman for the northwestern suburbs (2003–2012) and 2012 presidential hopeful who later hosted talk radio in Detroit.Rockwellsinger, songwriterSon of Motown founder Berry Gordy, born and raised in Detroit, who scored a 1984 hit with "Somebody's Watching Me" featuring Michael Jackson.
Comedy · born 1963Mary Scheeractress, comedian, writer, producerDetroit-born comedian, an original MADtv cast member and Freddie's overprotective mother Marissa Benson on Nickelodeon's iCarly.
Sports · born 1967Dana Barrosbasketball player, guardSharpshooting guard, a former All-Star elsewhere, who closed out his NBA career with two seasons off the Pistons' bench.
Politics · born 1964Dave Bratpolitician, economist, diplomatEconomics professor and Virginia congressman who unseated House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in 2014; born in Detroit and raised in Alma, Michigan.
Politics · born 1967Jon HustedpoliticianOhio Republican, U.S. senator since 2025, who was born in the Detroit suburb of Royal Oak and adopted as an infant by an Ohio family.
Sports · born 1965
Uwe Kruppice hockey defenceman, coachGerman defenceman, already famous for a triple-overtime Stanley Cup-winning goal with Colorado, who won a second championship with the Red Wings in 2002 after overcoming two lost seasons to injury.
Dmitri Mironovice hockey defencemanRussian defenceman traded to the Red Wings during the 1997–98 season, in time to win the Stanley Cup with Detroit that spring.
Sports · born 1964
Tomas Sandströmice hockey right wingerSwedish power forward whose brief 1997 trade to Detroit paid off immediately: he assisted on Darren McCarty's championship-winning goal in the Red Wings' first Stanley Cup in 42 years.
Music · born 1964CeCe Winansgospel singer, songwriterDetroit-born member of the Winans gospel family who became the most awarded female gospel singer, with 18 Grammy Awards.Chuck BehlerdrummerLivonia-born drummer who played on Megadeth's So Far, So Good... So What! and later returned to the Detroit area, where he plays with Motor City Freaks.
Sports · born 1968Jud Buechlerbasketball player, coachRole player from Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls championship teams who spent three seasons with the Pistons at the end of his NBA career.
Business & brands · born 1963Dick Costolotechnology executive, former CEO of TwitterRoyal Oak–born University of Michigan graduate who co-founded FeedBurner and ran Twitter as CEO from 2010 to 2015.Bison Delebasketball player, centerNBA champion center, then known as Brian Williams, who set career highs with the Pistons before walking away from a $36 million contract in a dispute with the team.
Film & TV · born 1960Don HarveyactorCharacter actor of Eight Men Out, Casualties of War and The Thin Red Line, born and raised in St. Clair Shores, where he began acting at Lake Shore High School.
Sports · born 1965Pat LaFontaineice hockey centerHall of Fame center who grew up in Waterford, Oakland County, after 1972 and became one of the highest-scoring American-born players in NHL history.Clifford Robinsonbasketball playerSixth Man of the Year and former All-Star forward who played two seasons for the Pistons in the early 2000s, part of an eighteen-year NBA career.
Sports · born 1966Luc Robitailleice hockey executive and former playerHighest-scoring left winger in NHL history who capped his long career with a two-season stint in Detroit and his only Stanley Cup, in 2002.
Music · born 1969James Carterjazz saxophonist, multi-reedistDetroit-born saxophone virtuoso, trained in Donald Washington's youth ensemble, whose 1988 sit-in with Lester Bowie at the Detroit Institute of Arts launched his career.
Music · born 1966Regina Carterjazz violinistDetroit-born jazz violinist, trained at Cass Tech and Oakland University, who rose with the all-female group Straight Ahead and later won a MacArthur “genius” grant.
Sports · born 1960Dino Ciccarelliice hockey player, right wingerHall of Fame goal-scorer who reached his 500th career goal with the Red Wings and later opened Detroit-area sports bars named for his jersey number.
Music · born 1969Carl Craigelectronic music producer, DJ, label founderDetroit techno's leading second-wave producer, founder of Planet E Communications and co-creator of the Detroit Electronic Music Festival in Hart Plaza.
Business & brands · born 1962Dan Gilbertbusinessman, founder of Rocket Mortgage and BedrockDetroit-born mortgage billionaire who moved Quicken Loans downtown in 2010 and bought and rebuilt dozens of city landmarks through Bedrock.
Film & TV · born 1966Walter Emanuel Jonesactor, martial artist, dancer, singerThe original Black Ranger, Zack Taylor, of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, born and raised in Detroit.Zeke Joneswrestler, coachSoutheastern Michigan-born Olympic silver medalist wrestler who later led USA Wrestling's freestyle program as national head coach.
Film & TV · born 1962John Knollvisual effects supervisor, co-creator of PhotoshopOscar-winning Industrial Light & Magic effects supervisor and co-creator of Adobe Photoshop, born and raised in Ann Arbor, where his brother wrote the first version.
Music · born 1963Derrick MayDJ, electronic music producerDetroit-born techno pioneer, one of the Belleville Three, whose 1987 track "Strings of Life" became an anthem and who ran the Transmat label from Detroit's Eastern Market.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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