Literature · 1881–1959
Edgar Guestpoet, newspaper columnist, radio and TV hostDetroit Free Press's 'People's Poet', who wrote some 11,000 homespun verses over six decades, syndicated nationally, and was Michigan's poet laureate.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 →
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116 people · 2/3 page
Clear filtersLiterature · 1881–1959Edgar Guestpoet, newspaper columnist, radio and TV hostDetroit Free Press's 'People's Poet', who wrote some 11,000 homespun verses over six decades, syndicated nationally, and was Michigan's poet laureate.
Press & broadcasting · 1908–1997Bill Kennedyactor, television movie hostFormer Warner Bros. actor who for 27 years hosted old movies for Detroit viewers on CKLW-TV and WKBD, famous for his sardonic Hollywood stories.
Press & broadcasting · born 1958Elvis Mitchellfilm critic, radio host, filmmakerHighland Park-born film critic, Wayne State graduate and former Detroit Free Press critic who became a New York Times critic and host of public radio's The Treatment.
Civil rights & activism · 1903–1942
John Siegjournalist, railroad worker, resistance fighterDetroit-born son of a German mechanic who became a Berlin journalist and a core member of the anti-Nazi resistance network the Gestapo called the Red Orchestra.
Press & broadcasting · born 1939Dick Vitalebasketball coach, broadcasterESPN's famous college basketball voice, who first made his name coaching the University of Detroit Titans and then, briefly, the Pistons.
Music · born 1980Cha Charapper, actress, radio personalityDetroit-born rapper and Cass Tech alumna who released Dear Diary on Epic in 1999, worked with Royce da 5'9″ and later turned to acting and radio.
Politics · 1865–1947Frank E. Doremusnewspaper editor, lawyer, congressman, mayor of DetroitSmall-town Michigan editor turned Detroit lawyer who served five terms in Congress and was mayor in 1923–1924 until ill health forced him to resign.
Press & broadcasting · 1918–2010Ernie Harwellbaseball broadcasterThe voice of the Detroit Tigers for 42 seasons, whose gentle Georgia drawl on WJR radio defined summer for generations of Michiganders.Michael Kinsleypolitical journalist, editor, commentatorDetroit-born political journalist, Cranbrook graduate, editor of The New Republic, co-host of CNN's Crossfire and founding editor of Slate.
Press & broadcasting · born 1950George Nooryradio talk-show host, TV news producerDetroit-born host of the late-night radio show Coast to Coast AM, who started as a newscaster at WCAR and a news producer at WJBK-TV.
Mickey Redmondice hockey right winger, TV color commentatorFirst Red Wing to score 50 goals in a season, who became the team's long-serving TV analyst known for his colorful sayings.
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.
Politics · 1862–1950John C. Lodgejournalist, city council president, mayor of DetroitDetroit-born newspaperman who spent more than 30 years on the City Council, served three stints as mayor in the 1920s and gave his name to the Lodge Freeway.
Theatre & dance · 1898–1993Edith Meiseractress, playwright, radio writerDetroit-born actress and writer who brought Sherlock Holmes to American radio in 1930 and appeared in more than 20 Broadway shows.
Film & TV · born 1962Shaun Robinsontelevision host, journalist, authorDetroit-born Cass Tech graduate who began her TV career at WGPR-TV before hosting Access Hollywood (1999–2015) and the 90 Day Fiancé tell-alls.
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.
Press & broadcasting · 1928–2016Paul Careyradio broadcasterWJR announcer for 36 years and Ernie Harwell's longtime partner on Tigers radio, known for his deep baritone.
Press & broadcasting · 1912–1979Al Hodgeradio and television actorActor who originated the Green Hornet on Detroit's WXYZ (1936–1943) before becoming television's Captain Video.Cub Kodasinger, guitarist, songwriter, DJ, music writerDetroit-born rocker who wrote and sang Brownsville Station's 1973 hit "Smokin' in the Boys Room" and later became a respected blues writer and record compiler.
Literature · 1849–1898Robert Reitzelwriter, editor, speakerGerman-American freethinker who published the radical literary weekly Der arme Teufel in Detroit from 1884 until his death in 1898.George W. Trendleradio and TV producer, broadcaster, theater owner, lawyerDetroit lawyer and theater magnate who founded station WXYZ and created The Lone Ranger (1933) and The Green Hornet, turning Detroit into a national radio drama factory.David Wasmusician, songwriter, record producer, journalistDetroit-born co-founder of Was (Not Was) with his childhood friend Don Was, the art-funk band behind "Walk the Dinosaur."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.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.
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.
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.
Press & broadcasting · 1933–1995J. P. McCarthyradio host, interviewerWJR's morning man for more than three decades, whose Focus interviews and easy wit made him the most listened-to voice in Detroit radio until his death in 1995.Fran Strikerradio and comics writerBuffalo writer who scripted The Lone Ranger for Detroit's WXYZ and moved to Detroit to run the station's script department, co-creating The Green Hornet and Sergeant Preston.
Politics · 1951–2023JoAnn Watsonactivist, radio host, pastor, city councilwomanDetroit-born activist, talk radio host and pastor who served ten years on the Detroit City Council (2003–2013) as an outspoken voice against the state takeover of the city.
Press & broadcasting · 1932–2014Bill Bondstelevision news anchor, reporterDetroit-born WXYZ Action News anchor whose blunt editorials, 1967 riot coverage and feud with Mayor Coleman Young made him the city's most famous newsman.
Politics · born 1965Kenneth Cockrel Jr.journalist, city council president, interim mayor of DetroitSon of radical lawyer Ken Cockrel Sr., former Free Press writer and council president who served as Detroit's interim mayor after Kwame Kilpatrick resigned (2008–2009).Mick Collinssinger, guitarist, songwriter, radio hostDetroit garage-rock pioneer who co-founded the Gories in 1986 and leads the Dirtbombs, a direct forerunner of the White Stripes-era scene.
Press & broadcasting · 1819–1888John H. Harmonprinter, newspaper publisher, mayor of DetroitPrinter who came to Detroit with the 1838 Patriot raiders, rose to own the Detroit Free Press and served as Democratic mayor in 1852–1853.James Jewellradio director, producer, actorCorktown-raised WXYZ dramatic director who helped shape The Lone Ranger, chose its William Tell Overture theme and gave Tonto the word 'kemo sabe'.Charlie LeDuffjournalist, author, TV reporter, podcasterPulitzer-winning reporter raised in Westland who came home to cover Detroit's collapse for The Detroit News and Fox 2, and wrote Detroit: An American Autopsy.
Politics · 1780–1854Andrew Macksea captain, customs collector, newspaper owner, mayor of DetroitGlobe-circling sailor and Ohio businessman who became Detroit's customs collector, co-owned the early Free Press and was elected mayor in a special election in 1834.The Electrifying Mojoradio DJ and broadcasterGenre-blind Detroit radio DJ whose late-night shows mixed Prince, Parliament and Kraftwerk and inspired the young inventors of Detroit techno.
Press & broadcasting · 1916–1974Van PatricksportscasterPlay-by-play voice of the Detroit Lions and Tigers in the 1950s and 1960s and a fixture of Detroit sports television.Tom Claydisc jockey, radio personality, recording artistFlamboyant Detroit Top 40 DJ at WJBK and CKLW, caught up in the payola scandal, who scored a 1971 hit on Motown's MoWest label with his What the World Needs Now medley.
Csaba Csereautomotive engineer and journalist, Car and Driver editor-in-chiefHungarian-American MIT engineer who left Ford's advanced engine office for Car and Driver in Ann Arbor and ran the magazine as editor-in-chief from 1993 to 2008.Lawson Demingactor, television horror hostCleveland-born actor who, as the cackling vampire Sir Graves Ghastly, hosted Saturday horror movies on Detroit's WJBK-TV 2 for fifteen seasons, from 1967 to 1982.Joe Fallssportswriter, columnistDetroit's most widely read sportswriter for half a century, covering the Tigers for the Times and Free Press and later writing for the Detroit News.Hoyt W. Fullereditor, critic, journalistEditor of Negro Digest/Black World, the key magazine of the Black Arts Movement, who was raised in Detroit, graduated from Wayne State and began as a Detroit newspaperman.
Press & broadcasting · born 1970Stephen Hendersonjournalist, columnist, radio and TV hostDetroit-born editorial writer who won the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for commentary on the city's bankruptcy and hosts WDET's Detroit Today.
Religion · 1907–1971Prophet Jonespastor, televangelist and faith healerFlamboyant preacher who founded the Church of Universal Triumph, Dominion of God, in Detroit and became the first Black preacher in the city with a weekly TV show.
Business & brands · 1874–1952John H. Kunskymovie theater magnate, broadcasterDetroit-born son of Czech immigrants who built the city's first great chain of movie palaces, from nickelodeons to the Michigan and the Fisher, then co-founded WXYZ.Budd Lynchhockey broadcaster, public-address announcerOne-armed World War II veteran who spent 63 years with the Red Wings, first as play-by-play voice from 1949 and later as the beloved PA announcer at Joe Louis Arena.Bruce Martynhockey radio broadcasterRadio voice of the Detroit Red Wings from 1964 to 1995, famous for his call "He shoots, he scores!"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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