Music · 1936–2008Levi Stubbssinger, voice actorLifelong Detroiter and lead voice of the Four Tops, formed with Pershing High School friends, who sang “Reach Out I'll Be There” and is buried at Woodlawn Cemetery.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
- 20 fields
Hungarian ties 21 Detroiters with Hungarian ties →
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141 people · 2/3 page
Clear filtersMusic · 1936–2008Levi Stubbssinger, voice actorLifelong Detroiter and lead voice of the Four Tops, formed with Pershing High School friends, who sang “Reach Out I'll Be There” and is buried at Woodlawn Cemetery.
Film & TV · born 1958Ellen Sandweissactress, singerCheryl in The Evil Dead, a Detroit-born high school friend of Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell whose film premiered at Detroit's Redford Theatre in 1981.
Film & TV · born 1939Robert Shayefilm executive, producer, director, actorDetroit-born founder of New Line Cinema, the studio behind A Nightmare on Elm Street and The Lord of the Rings, and a graduate of Mumford High School.
Comedy · 1926–2009Soupy Salescomedian, television hostPie-throwing comic whose Lunch with Soupy Sales on Detroit's WXYZ-TV (1953–1960) made him a local legend before he went national.
Theatre & dance · born 1956Ruben Santiago-Hudsonactor, playwright, directorTony-winning actor, playwright of Lackawanna Blues and August Wilson director, who earned his master's degree at Wayne State University, which later gave him an honorary doctorate.
Science & invention · 1956–2018Richard A. Searfossastronaut, Air Force pilot, test pilotAir Force colonel and three-time Space Shuttle astronaut, commander of the 1998 Neurolab mission, born in Mount Clemens, Michigan.
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.
Sports · born 1988Matthew StaffordAmerican football quarterbackFirst overall pick of 2009 who quarterbacked the Lions for twelve seasons at Ford Field and holds the franchise's career passing records.
Film & TV · born 1955Joel Surnowtelevision writer and producerCo-creator of the thriller series 24 and La Femme Nikita, born in Detroit and raised first in Michigan and then in Los Angeles.
Film & TV · born 1981Joe Swanbergindependent filmmakerLeading figure of the mumblecore movement and creator of Netflix's Easy, born in Detroit.
Music · born 1964Kevin SaundersonDJ, record producer, label ownerOne of the Belleville Three who invented Detroit techno; his Inner City hits carried the city's sound onto pop charts worldwide.
Film & TV · born 1975Michael Schurtelevision writer, producer, director, actorCreator of The Good Place and co-creator of Parks and Recreation and Brooklyn Nine-Nine, born at the University of Michigan Hospital in Ann Arbor.
Literature · 1941–2024John Sinclairpoet, activist, music manager, radio hostJazz poet, MC5 manager and White Panther co-founder who helped build Detroit's 1960s Cass Corridor counterculture and died in the city in 2024.
Science & invention · born 1963Ulana Suprunphysician, activist, health minister of UkraineDetroit-born radiologist from the city's Ukrainian community who trained at Wayne State and Henry Ford Hospital and later served as Ukraine's acting health minister (2016–2019).
Film & TV · born 1976Dan Scanlonanimation director, writer, storyboard artistPixar director of Monsters University and the Oscar-nominated Onward, who grew up in Clawson and drew Onward from the loss of his father.
Military · born 1946Peter SchoomakerU.S. Army generalDetroit-born special operations officer who was recalled from retirement to serve as the 35th Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army (2003–2007).
Sports · 1926–2003The Sheikprofessional wrestler, promoterLebanese-American wrestler from Lansing who owned Detroit's Big Time Wrestling and packed Cobo Arena as the wild 'Sheik' in his long feud with Bobo Brazil.
Sports · 1908–1963Horton Smithprofessional golferWinner of the first Masters Tournament in 1934 and again in 1936, who was head professional at the Detroit Golf Club from 1946 until his death.
Sports · born 1967John Smoltzbaseball pitcher, broadcasterWarren-born Hall of Fame pitcher, drafted by his boyhood Tigers, whose 1987 trade for Doyle Alexander is one of the most debated deals in Detroit history.
Music · born 1987Kierra Sheardsinger, songwriter, evangelistDetroit-born gospel singer, daughter of Karen Clark Sheard and granddaughter of Mattie Moss Clark, with five No. 1 gospel albums.
Music · 1948–1994Fred "Sonic" Smithguitarist, songwriterMC5 guitarist who led Sonic's Rendezvous Band, met Patti Smith at Detroit's Lafayette Coney Island in 1976, and spent his life in metro Detroit.
Music · born 1975Colin Stetsonsaxophonist, multi-reedist, composerAnn Arbor–born saxophonist, trained at the University of Michigan, known for circular-breathing solo records and work with Arcade Fire and Bon Iver.
Sports · 1932–2024Joe SchmidtAmerican football linebacker and coachHall of Fame middle linebacker who spent his whole 13-year career with the Lions, won two NFL titles, coached the team and then worked in Detroit's auto industry.
Music · born 1934George Shirleyoperatic tenor, music educatorDetroit-raised tenor who became the first African American tenor to sing leading roles at the Metropolitan Opera, and the first Black music teacher in Detroit's high schools.
Music · 1942–2013Richard StreetsingerDetroit-born singer of the Distants and the Monitors who joined the Temptations in 1971 and sang with them until 1993.
Civil rights & activism · 1903–1942John 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.
Sports · born 1949Ted Simmonsbaseball catcherHighland Park-born, Southfield-raised switch-hitting catcher, one of the best-hitting catchers in baseball history and a 2020 Hall of Fame electee.
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.
Theatre & dance · 1910–1998Roger L. Stevenstheatrical producer, arts administrator, real estate executiveDetroit-born real estate dealmaker turned Broadway producer of West Side Story, founding chairman of the Kennedy Center and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Politics · 1903–1961George G. Sadowskilawyer, politicianDetroit-born son of a Polish-American family who went from the city's east-side schools to the Michigan Senate and three terms in Congress in the 1930s.
Sports · 1946–2015Charlie SandersAmerican football tight end, broadcaster, scoutHall of Fame tight end who played his whole career with the Lions (1968–1977) and served the franchise for decades afterward as broadcaster, coach and scout.
Music · 1932–2015Joseph Silversteinviolinist, conductorDetroit-born violinist, the son of a Detroit school music teacher, who was concertmaster of the Boston Symphony for 22 years and music director of the Utah Symphony.
Sports · born 1955Billy SimsAmerican football running backHeisman Trophy winner and first overall pick of 1980 who revived the Lions in the Pontiac Silverdome before a knee injury ended his career in 1984.
Music · 1947–2024Paul Schoenfieldcomposer, pianistDetroit-born composer and pianist who blended classical music with folk, Jewish and popular styles, best known for the piano trio Café Music.
Press & broadcasting · 1835–1906James 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.The lexicon keeps growing. Every entry lists its sources at the bottom. Dates were checked against Wikidata and Wikipedia. The texts are our own.