Laurence Rosenthalcomposer, arranger, conductorDetroit-born composer and arranger for Broadway, film and television, whose scores include The Miracle Worker, Becket and Clash of the Titans and who won seven Emmy Awards.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
- 21 fields
Hungarian ties 31 Detroiters with Hungarian ties →
Origin and citizenship
Field
Connection
Born in
A–Z (family name)
101 people · 2/3 page
Clear filtersLaurence Rosenthalcomposer, arranger, conductorDetroit-born composer and arranger for Broadway, film and television, whose scores include The Miracle Worker, Becket and Clash of the Titans and who won seven Emmy Awards.Bruce Joel Rubinscreenwriter, meditation teacher, photographerOscar-winning screenwriter of Ghost and Jacob's Ladder, raised in Detroit, a Mumford High School graduate who discovered film at the city's Krim Theater and studied at Wayne State.
Science & invention · 1919–2011Mildred Rebstockpharmaceutical chemistParke-Davis research chemist in Detroit who led the first complete synthesis of an antibiotic, chloramphenicol (Chloromycetin), in 1947.
Business & brands · born 1971Paul Rosenbergtalent manager, record executive, former entertainment lawyerDetroit-born lawyer turned manager who guided Eminem from the local scene to world fame, co-founded Shady Records and later ran Def Jam.
Music · 1926–1978Frank Rosolinojazz trombonist, singerDetroit-born trombonist, a Cass Tech alumnus, who became a star of West Coast jazz with Stan Kenton and the Lighthouse All-Stars and wrote the standard "Blue Daniel".Tim Robinsoncomedian, actor, writerCreator of I Think You Should Leave and co-creator of Detroiters, born in Detroit to a Chrysler employee, raised in Waterford and trained at The Second City Detroit.
Music · 1942–2002Barbara Randolphsinger, actressDetroit-born singer and actress, adopted by actress Lillian Randolph, who recorded the northern soul favorite "I Got a Feeling" for Motown and toured with Marvin Gaye.
Music · born 1934Roger ReynoldscomposerDetroit-born composer, trained first as an engineer, who pioneered computer and spatial music and won the 1989 Pulitzer Prize for Whispers Out of Time.
Music · 1940–2013Bobby Rogerssinger, songwriterDetroit-born founding member of the Miracles (1956–2013) who co-wrote the Temptations' first hit, "The Way You Do the Things You Do".Doctor Rossblues one-man band: singer, guitarist, harmonica player, drummerMississippi one-man blues band who moved to Michigan in 1954 to work for General Motors and recorded his best-known sides for Detroit's Fortune Records.Sonny Redjazz alto saxophonist, flutist, composerDetroit alto saxophonist who began with Barry Harris as a teenager and recorded hard bop for Blue Note, Jazzland and Donald Byrd before dying in his hometown at 48.Lloyd Richardstheatre director, actor, educatorDetroit-raised director of A Raisin in the Sun, the first Black director of a Broadway play, later dean of the Yale School of Drama and August Wilson's longtime collaborator.
Theatre & dance · born 1951Roz Ryanactress, singer, comedianDetroit nightclub singer who jumped to Broadway in Ain't Misbehavin' (1978) and became the longest-serving Matron 'Mama' Morton in Chicago.Dudley Randallpoet, publisher, librarianFounder of Detroit's Broadside Press (1965), the pioneering Black poetry publisher, author of Ballad of Birmingham and Detroit's poet laureate from 1981.
Music · born 1942Claudette RobinsonsingerMember of the Miracles from 1957 to 1972, called the "First Lady of Motown" by Berry Gordy as the first woman signed to a Motown label.
Comedy · 1915–2006Timmie Rogerscomedian, singer-songwriter, bandleaderDetroit-born comedian called the 'Jackie Robinson of comedy', one of the first Black comics to work solo and speak directly to white audiences, without blackface.Mack Ricesongwriter, singerDetroit singer-songwriter of the Falcons who wrote "Mustang Sally" and co-wrote "Respect Yourself", and whose songs include "Cadillac Assembly Line".
Music · born 1938Sugar Chile Robinsonjazz and boogie-woogie pianist, singerDetroit child prodigy who won a Paradise Theatre talent show at three, played for President Truman in 1946, then quit music for college and a Detroit career.
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.
Religion · 1767–1832
Gabriel RichardCatholic priest, educator, territorial delegate to CongressFrench priest of Sainte-Anne's who wrote Detroit's motto after the fire of 1805, co-founded the University of Michigan and printed Michigan's first newspaper.
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.Dennis Rowlandjazz singer, actorDetroit-born jazz singer who worked as a singer and actor in the city before Count Basie hired him in 1977 as his band vocalist for seven years.Omar Reganstand-up comedian, actor, former rapperDetroit-born, Highland Park-raised comedian who first did stand-up in Detroit clubs and became a leading voice of Muslim comedy and 'Halalywood' films.
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.
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.DJ Rolandotechno DJ and producerMexicantown-raised Underground Resistance DJ whose “Knights of the Jaguar” became one of the most celebrated techno tracks of all time.Phil Ranelinjazz trombonist, composer, label founderIndianapolis-born trombonist who moved to Detroit, played Motown sessions, and co-founded the Tribe collective and label, whose 1970s records later became prized by collectors.
Music · born 1991Babyface RayrapperEast-side Detroit rapper whose laid-back, luxurious flow made him a central figure of 2020s Detroit hip-hop, peaking with the album Face in 2022.Tracy Reesefashion designerDetroit-born fashion designer and Cass Tech graduate who dressed Michelle Obama and later returned home to build a sustainable label in Detroit.
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.
Religion · 1791–1871
Frederick Resefirst Catholic Bishop of DetroitGerman-born priest who became the first Catholic bishop of Detroit in 1833, taking Ste. Anne's as his cathedral and bringing religious orders to the frontier diocese.Baba RexhebSufi dervish leader (Bektashi baba)Albanian Bektashi Sufi master who founded the First Albanian Bektashi Tekke in America in Taylor, just outside Detroit, in 1954; his shrine there is visited by pilgrims.Todd Rhodespianist, arranger, bandleaderPianist of McKinney's Cotton Pickers who stayed in Detroit and led one of its top R&B bands, whose "Blues for the Red Boy" became Alan Freed's radio theme.Wirt C. RowlandarchitectArchitect behind Detroit's golden-age skyscrapers, including the Guardian, Penobscot and Buhl buildings on Griswold Street.
Music · 1948–2020Alto ReedsaxophonistDetroit-born saxophonist of Bob Seger's Silver Bullet Band, whose horn lines on “Turn the Page” and “Old Time Rock and Roll” are part of Detroit's soundtrack.
Politics · 1858–1912William Richertgrocer, council president, acting mayor of DetroitGerman-born grocer and liquor wholesaler who, as council president, served two weeks as acting mayor in 1897 after Hazen Pingree became governor.
Law · born 1951Gerald Rosentrial lawyer, federal judge, bankruptcy mediatorDetroit trial lawyer and chief federal judge who, as chief mediator in the city's bankruptcy, assembled the 'grand bargain' that saved the Detroit Institute of Arts collection and softened pension cuts.
Law · 1858–1933Horace Rackhamlawyer, original Ford Motor Company shareholder, philanthropistDetroit lawyer who drew up Ford Motor Company's incorporation papers, bought 50 shares against his banker's advice, and gave his fortune to the zoo, a golf course and education.
Politics · 1882–1952Richard Readingcity clerk, mayor of DetroitLongtime Detroit city clerk and former semi-pro wrestler who was mayor in 1938–1940 and was later imprisoned for taking bribes to protect the numbers rackets.Boogie Woogie Redblues and boogie-woogie pianist, singerDetroit-raised boogie-woogie pianist who backed John Lee Hooker and Sonny Boy Williamson as a teenager and later became a star of Ann Arbor's Blind Pig.
Music · born 1948Lois ReevessingerMartha Reeves's younger sister, who joined Martha and the Vandellas in 1967 and still lives and performs in Detroit.
Music · born 1975Karriem Rigginsjazz drummer, record producer, DJDetroit drummer and producer who went from Betty Carter's and Ray Brown's bands to producing hip-hop with J Dilla and Common, bridging Detroit jazz and beat culture.
Sports · 1910–1961Schoolboy Rowebaseball pitcherFolksy Arkansas right-hander who won 16 straight games for the 1934 Tigers and became one of Depression-era Detroit's favorite players.Bill Rauhauserphotographer, educatorDetroit street photographer who documented the city from the 1940s onward and taught photography at the College for Creative Studies for over thirty years.
Labor · 1909–1968Roy ReutherUAW organizer and political directorMiddle Reuther brother, a leader of the 1936–1937 Flint sit-down strike and later the UAW's political action chief and civil rights ally.
Labor · 1912–2004Victor ReutherUAW organizer and education directorYoungest of the organizing Reuther brothers, a key voice of the 1936–1937 sit-down strikes and the UAW's education and international director.Fannie M. Richardsteacher, desegregation pioneerDetroit's first Black public school teacher, who fought school segregation, started Michigan's first kindergarten program and taught in the city for decades.Paul Riserarranger, trombonistCass Tech-trained trombonist who became one of Motown's key arrangers, scoring "My Girl", "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" and "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone".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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