Music · born 1958Madonnasinger, songwriter, producer, actressThe “Queen of Pop,” raised in the Detroit suburbs of Pontiac and Rochester Hills, a Rochester Adams High School graduate who left Michigan for New York in 1978.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.
- 1,743 famous people
- 96 Detroit places
- 22 fields
Hungarian ties 21 Detroiters with Hungarian ties →
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167 people · 1/4 page
Clear filtersMusic · born 1958Madonnasinger, songwriter, producer, actressThe “Queen of Pop,” raised in the Detroit suburbs of Pontiac and Rochester Hills, a Rochester Adams High School graduate who left Michigan for New York in 1978.
Film & TV · born 1961Eddie Murphycomedian, actor, singerBrooklyn-born comedy star whose Axel Foley, the wisecracking Detroit police detective of Beverly Hills Cop, is one of the most famous Detroiters in film.
Music · born 1943Joni 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.
Business & brands · 1916–2009Robert McNamaraFord Motor Company president, U.S. Secretary of DefenseOne of Ford's postwar 'Whiz Kids', he rose to president of Ford in 1960 before leaving for Washington as Secretary of Defense.
Science & invention · born 1948Paul MilgromeconomistStanford economist who shared the 2020 Nobel Prize for auction theory and helped design the U.S. radio-spectrum auctions; born in Detroit and raised in Oak Park.
Film & TV · born 2004Kaitlyn Mahersinger, actressSinger and actress born in Novi, northwest of Detroit, who became the youngest top-10 finalist in America's Got Talent history at age four.
Sports · born 1985Darko Miličićbasketball player, centerSerbian center whom the Pistons drafted second overall in 2003, ahead of Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade, and who won an NBA championship ring with Detroit in 2004 despite barely playing.
Architecture & design · 1928–2024Fumihiko MakiarchitectJapanese Pritzker Prize–winning architect who earned his first master's degree at the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills.
Music · 1923–1976Mukeshplayback singerBeloved Hindi film playback singer, the singing voice of Raj Kapoor, who died of a heart attack in Detroit in 1976 while on a North American concert tour.
Religion · 1897–1975Elijah Muhammadleader of the Nation of Islam (1934–1975)Georgia-born autoworker who became W. D. Fard's chief disciple in Detroit and led the Nation of Islam for four decades, first from Detroit, then Chicago.
Music · born 1979Tomo Miličevićguitarist, record producerSarajevo-born lead guitarist of Thirty Seconds to Mars who grew up in Troy, came of age in metro Detroit's metal scene and later moved back to Detroit.
Sports · born 1951Bob McAdoobasketball player, Hall of FamerFormer NBA MVP whose brief, injury-marred stop with the worst team of his career, the 1979–81 Pistons, still produced a 21-point scoring average.
Sports · born 1974Antonio McDyessbasketball player, power forwardPower forward who rebuilt his career with the Pistons after knee injuries, helping Detroit reach the 2005 NBA Finals and later returning as a respected veteran.
Film & TV · 1915–2011Harry MorganactorColonel Potter of M*A*S*H and Officer Gannon of Dragnet, born Harry Bratsberg in Detroit to Norwegian immigrant parents.
Auto industry · 1952–2018Sergio MarchionneCEO of Fiat, Chrysler and Fiat Chrysler AutomobilesItalian-Canadian executive who took over bankrupt Chrysler in 2009 and turned it around from Auburn Hills, merging it with Fiat.
Film & TV · born 1952S. Epatha MerkersonactressLaw & Order's Lt. Anita Van Buren grew up in Detroit, graduated from Cooley High School and earned her theatre degree at Wayne State University.
Visual art · 1875–1955Carl 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.
Comedy · born 1961Tim Meadowscomedian, actorTen-season Saturday Night Live veteran from Highland Park and Detroit's Conant Gardens, who learned improv at the Soup Kitchen Saloon and later moved back to the city.
Sports · born 1990Greg Monroebasketball playerPistons power forward-center for five seasons who was the last Detroit player to wear No. 10 before it was retired for Dennis Rodman.
Religion · born 1930Adam MaidaCardinal Archbishop of Detroit (1990–2009)Pennsylvania-born cardinal who led the Archdiocese of Detroit from 1990 to 2009, a period of shrinking city parishes and growing suburbs.
Science & invention · born 1942Deirdre McCloskeyeconomist, economic historianEconomic historian known for The Rhetoric of Economics and the Bourgeois Era trilogy, born in Ann Arbor in 1942.
Science & invention · born 1964Leland Melvinastronaut, engineer, former football playerNASA astronaut who flew two Space Shuttle missions after an NFL career that ended in the Detroit Lions' 1986 training camp.
Sports · born 1970Mike Modanoice hockey centerThe NHL's all-time leading American-born goal scorer, born and raised in Livonia, who closed out his 21-season career with a single season for his hometown Red Wings.
Sports · born 1978Corina Morariutennis playerDetroit-born doubles specialist who won Wimbledon in 1999, reached the world No. 1 doubles ranking, and became a prominent voice for leukemia survivors.
Film & TV · 1902–1992George Murphyactor, dancer, U.S. senatorSong-and-dance star of 1930s–40s Hollywood musicals and U.S. senator from California, who spent part of his boyhood in Detroit.
Science & invention · born 1954Geoffrey MarcyastronomerAstronomer whose team found many of the first known planets around other stars; born in the Detroit suburb of St. Clair Shores.
Music · 1927–1999Guy Mitchellpop singer, actorDetroit-born son of Croatian immigrants who became one of the top-selling pop singers of the 1950s with “Singing the Blues”.
Film & TV · 1931–2015Martin MilneractorStar of the TV classics Route 66 and Adam-12, born in Detroit to a Paramount circuit dancer and a film distributor.
Press & broadcasting · born 1971Kenya Moorebeauty queen, actress, television personality, entrepreneurMiss USA 1993 and Real Housewives of Atlanta star, raised in Detroit by her grandmother, a Cass Tech graduate who studied at Wayne State.
Politics · 1890–1949Frank Murphymayor of Detroit, governor, U.S. Supreme Court justiceRecorder's Court judge and Depression-era mayor of Detroit (1930–1933) who went on to govern Michigan and sit on the U.S. Supreme Court.
Film & TV · 1923–2010Adele Maraactress, dancer, singerHighland Park-born dancer and actress of 1940s westerns and Sands of Iwo Jima, the daughter of Spanish immigrants, who started out in Xavier Cugat's show.
Press & broadcasting · 1923–2009Ed McMahonannouncer, TV host, actorJohnny Carson's announcer and sidekick for thirty years on The Tonight Show, born in Detroit.
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.
Law · 1913–1988John N. Mitchelllawyer, U.S. attorney generalDetroit-born bond lawyer who became Richard Nixon's attorney general and campaign manager, and later the highest-ranking official imprisoned over Watergate.
Religion · born 1877Wallace Fard Muhammadfounder of the Nation of IslamMysterious peddler-preacher who founded the Nation of Islam in Detroit in 1930 among Black migrants from the South, then vanished in 1934.
Literature · born 1947John C. Maxwellleadership author, speaker, pastorBest-selling leadership author of The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, born in the western Detroit suburb of Garden City.
Film & TV · born 1974David Robert Mitchellfilm director, screenwriterClawson-born director of It Follows, who has set three of his four features in metro Detroit and shot It Follows around the city.
Sports · born 1973Brian Maisonneuvesoccer playerMetro Detroit-born midfielder who played youth soccer around the city before representing the United States at the 1996 Olympics and the 1998 World Cup.
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.
Fashion · born 1984Naima Morafashion modelWinner of America's Next Top Model Cycle 4, raised on Detroit's northwest side and a graduate of Cass Technical High School.
Sports · born 1976Kate Markgrafsoccer player and executiveBloomfield Hills-born defender who starred at Detroit Country Day School before a decorated international career that included three Olympic medals and a World Cup title.
Sports · born 1958Rick Mahornbasketball player, coach, broadcasterEnforcer on the late-1980s "Bad Boys" Pistons who won the 1989 NBA title in Detroit and has stayed connected to the city for decades as a coach and broadcaster.The lexicon keeps growing. Every entry lists its sources at the bottom. Dates were checked against Wikidata and Wikipedia. The texts are our own.