Visual art · 1907–1954
Frida KahlopainterMexican painter who spent 1932–33 in Detroit with Diego Rivera and made breakthrough works there, including Henry Ford Hospital.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
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73 people · 1/2 page
Clear filtersVisual art · 1907–1954Frida KahlopainterMexican painter who spent 1932–33 in Detroit with Diego Rivera and made breakthrough works there, including Henry Ford Hospital.
Visual art · 1886–1957Diego Riverapainter, muralistMexican muralist who painted the Detroit Industry Murals at the Detroit Institute of Arts in 1932–33, the city's most celebrated work of art.
Music · born 1943
Joni Mitchellsinger-songwriter, guitarist, painterThe Canadian songwriter spent 1965–1967 in Detroit's Cass Corridor, playing the city's folk coffeehouses with her husband Chuck Mitchell and developing her open-tuned guitar style.Art Clokeyanimator, director, producerCreator of Gumby, born Arthur Farrington in Detroit, who named his clay hero after the sticky 'gumbo' mud of his grandfather's Michigan farm.
Visual art · 1924–2019
Robert Frankphotographer, documentary filmmakerSwiss-American photographer whose landmark book The Americans includes pictures made in Detroit and Dearborn on his 1955 road trip.
Visual art · 1904–1988
Isamu Noguchisculptor, landscape architect, designerJapanese-American sculptor who shaped Hart Plaza on Detroit's riverfront and created its Dodge Fountain and 120-foot Pylon.
Visual art · 1924–2013Arthur C. Dantoart critic, philosopher, professorInfluential philosopher of art and longtime critic for The Nation who grew up in Detroit and studied art and history at Wayne University.
Auto industry · 1893–1943Edsel Fordpresident of Ford Motor Company, art patronHenry Ford's only son led Ford from 1919 to 1943, brought style to its cars and paid for Diego Rivera's Detroit Industry murals.
Visual art · 1875–1955
Carl MillessculptorSwedish sculptor who spent twenty years as Cranbrook's sculptor-in-residence, filling its gardens with fountains and leaving works in Detroit and Ann Arbor.
Visual art · 1821–1872Robert S. Duncansonlandscape and portrait painterThe first internationally known African American painter; he grew up in Monroe, Michigan, painted portraits in Detroit in the 1840s and died here in 1872.
Literature · born 1949Jim Starlincomics writer and artistDetroit-born comics artist and writer who created Thanos, Gamora and Drax and wrote The Infinity Gauntlet, the source of Marvel's biggest film saga.
Film & TV · 1913–1984Bob Clampettanimator, director, puppeteerLooney Tunes director and creator of Beany and Cecil, who died in Detroit in 1984 while touring to promote his cartoons on home video.Mike Kelleyartist, musicianInfluential installation artist from suburban Detroit whose Mobile Homestead, a replica of his childhood home, stands permanently at MOCAD.
Film & TV · born 1955Newton Thomas Sigelcinematographer, directorDetroit-born cinematographer, a painter turned camera artist, who shot The Usual Suspects, the first X-Men films and Drive.
Business & brands · 1933–2021Eli Broadhomebuilder, financier, philanthropistRaised in Detroit, he built his first houses in the city's suburbs, founded what became KB Home, and later became a major art and education philanthropist.
Visual art · 1843–1942William Henry Jacksonphotographer, painter, explorerPioneer photographer of the American West who joined the Detroit Photographic Company in 1897, helping make Detroit a world center of color postcards.
Visual art · 1927–1995Ray Johnsoncollage and mail artistDetroit-born collagist and pioneer of mail art, a forerunner of Pop art often called New York's most famous unknown artist.
Visual art · born 1960James O'Barrcomics artist, writerDetroit comics artist who created The Crow, a dark revenge story shaped by personal loss and by a Detroit murder case, later a cult film.
Politics · born 1957Hansen Clarkepolitician, artistEast Side Detroiter of Bengali and African American parentage, trained as a painter, who served in both houses of the Michigan Legislature and as the first Bangladeshi American in Congress (2011–2013).
Visual art · 1860–1932Gari Melcherspainter, muralistDetroit-born naturalist painter, son of sculptor Julius Melchers, who later painted murals of Detroit history for the city's Main Library.
Visual art · 1934–2022Jerry UelsmannphotographerDetroit-born master of the darkroom whose seamless, dreamlike photomontages made him one of the most original American photographers of his era.Allee Willissongwriter, artist, art directorDetroit-born songwriter of “September” and the Friends theme, who as a teenager stood outside Motown's studio to hear the music through the walls.Alfred H. Barr Jr.art historian, museum directorDetroit-born art historian who became the first director of New York's Museum of Modern Art and shaped how the world sees modern art.
Visual art · 1912–1999Harry Callahanphotographer, educatorDetroit-born photographer who took up the camera while working at Chrysler and became one of the great innovators of American modernist photography.
Visual art · 1915–1978
Harry 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.
Visual art · born 1947Suzy Lakephotographer, performance and video artistDetroit-born, Toronto-based photographer and performance artist, a pioneer of feminist art whose early work was shaped by 1960s Detroit.
Politics · 1830–1913Thomas W. Palmerlumberman, U.S. senator, philanthropistDetroit-born lumber fortune heir and senator who founded the Detroit Museum of Art (today's DIA) and gave the city Palmer Park, with its 1885 log cabin.
Visual art · 1856–1942Amelia Van Burenphotographer, painterDetroit-born portrait photographer, a student of Thomas Eakins and the subject of his celebrated painting Miss Amelia Van Buren.Lynn Goldsmithphotographer, recording artist, film directorDetroit-born rock and celebrity photographer, a University of Michigan graduate, whose portrait of Prince became the center of a landmark 2023 Supreme Court copyright case.
Visual art · 1924–2021Charles McGeepainter, sculptor, teacherDetroit painter and sculptor who shaped the city's art scene for seven decades, from Gallery 7 to his giant Unity mural on 28 Grand.
Visual art · born 1951Ming SmithphotographerDetroit-born photographer, the first African American woman photographer whose work was acquired by the Museum of Modern Art.
Visual art · 1814–1872John Mix Stanleypainter, artist-explorerPainter of the American West and Native American life who began his career in frontier Detroit and returned to spend his last years there.
Visual art · 1875–1941
Géza Marótisculptor, architect, applied artistHungarian sculptor and designer whom Eliel Saarinen brought to Detroit in 1927; he created the Fisher Building's arcade paintings and sculpture and the reliefs of Belle Isle's Livingstone Lighthouse.Nicholas NixonphotographerDetroit-born large-format photographer best known for The Brown Sisters, his annual portrait of his wife and her three sisters since 1975.
Visual art · 1858–1930Julius Rolshovenpainter, teacherDetroit-born painter who trained in Germany, taught in Paris and London, lived in a castle near Florence and painted the Southwest.Dana SchutzpainterPainter from Livonia, in suburban Detroit, known for inventive, colorful figurative canvases that stage strange scenarios and imagined events.
Press & broadcasting · 1864–1949George Gough Boothnewspaper publisher, arts patronDetroit News publisher who, with his wife Ellen Scripps Booth, founded Cranbrook in Bloomfield Hills and championed the Arts and Crafts movement in Detroit.Jimmy DeSanaphotographerDetroit-born photographer who became a key figure of New York's East Village punk and No Wave art scene of the late 1970s and 1980s.
Music · born 1983Jimmy Edgarelectronic producer, sound designer, visual artistDetroit-born producer who played the city's raves at 15, signed to Warp at 18 and set out to “capture the essence of Detroit” on his debut Color Strip.
Business & brands · 1854–1919Charles Lang Freerrailcar manufacturer, art collector, founder of the Freer GalleryDetroit railcar industrialist whose Asian and Whistler collection, once housed in his Ferry Avenue home, became the Smithsonian's Freer Gallery of Art.
Visual art · 1888–1964Betsy Graves Reyneauportrait painterPainter raised in Detroit whose portraits of prominent African Americans, including Detroit's Joe Louis, toured the nation from 1944 to 1954.
Press & broadcasting · 1835–1906
James E. Scrippsnewspaper publisher, founder of The Detroit News, art patronLondon-born publisher who founded The Evening News (today's Detroit News) in 1873 and helped create the Detroit Museum of Art, forerunner of the DIA.
Business & brands · 1924–2015A. Alfred Taubmanshopping-mall developer, owner of Sotheby's, philanthropistPontiac-born developer who helped define the American indoor shopping mall, owned Sotheby's and gave large sums to Detroit-area art and education.
William Valentinerart historian, museum directorGerman-born director of the Detroit Institute of Arts from 1924 to 1945, who built its collections and brought Diego Rivera to paint Detroit Industry.
Visual art · 1905–2000Todd WebbphotographerDetroit-born documentary photographer of New York, Paris and the American West, who learned his craft at the Detroit Camera Club while working for Chrysler.
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.
Music · born 1955Niagarasinger, painterDetroit-born singer of the art-punk band Destroy All Monsters and a painter of pop-noir women whose shows made her the “Queen of Detroit” of lowbrow art.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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