Sports · born 1988
Jordan Crawfordbasketball playerDetroit-born guard who attended a Detroit public high school before a college and NBA career that took him to Washington, Boston and several other franchises.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
Connection
Born in
A–Z (family name)
1568 people · 12/33 page
Clear filtersSports · born 1988Jordan Crawfordbasketball playerDetroit-born guard who attended a Detroit public high school before a college and NBA career that took him to Washington, Boston and several other franchises.John DeardenCatholic cardinal, Archbishop of DetroitArchbishop of Detroit for 21 years who brought the Second Vatican Council's reforms home and pressed the church to confront racial injustice.
Sports · 1912–1995Richard DegenerdiverDetroit-born diver who won an Olympic bronze in 1932 and gold in 1936, trained at the Detroit Athletic Club, and was honored in his hometown as one of the era's "City of Champions" stars.
Architecture & design · 1893–1969Harley Earlautomotive designer, GM's first head of designHollywood coachbuilder whom GM brought to Detroit in 1927 to create the industry's first styling studio; he gave America the tailfin and the Corvette.
Music · 1943–2018Dennis EdwardssingerDetroit-raised lead singer who replaced David Ruffin in the Temptations and fronted their psychedelic-soul era, from “Cloud Nine” to “Papa Was a Rollin' Stone.”
Sports · 1911–1986Hank Greenbergbaseball first baseman, team executiveHall of Fame slugger and two-time American League MVP who spent twelve of his thirteen major league seasons with the Tigers and led Detroit to two World Series titles.
Politics · 1912–2003Martha Griffithslawyer, judge, politicianDetroit lawyer, first woman judge of the city's Recorder's Court and 20-year congresswoman who forced sex discrimination into the Civil Rights Act and pushed the ERA through the House.
Sports · 1931–2026
Glenn Hallice hockey goaltenderHall of Fame goaltender who broke in with the Red Wings and later set the NHL's iron-man record of 502 consecutive games, mostly earned after leaving Detroit.Brian Hollandsongwriter, record producerDetroit-born songwriter and producer, the musical architect of Holland–Dozier–Holland, whose hits for the Supremes and Four Tops defined the Motown sound.
Sports · born 1992
Tomáš Jurčoice hockey forwardSlovak winger drafted by Detroit who spent parts of several seasons with the Red Wings, shuttling between the NHL club and its Grand Rapids farm team.Mike Kelleyartist, musicianInfluential installation artist from suburban Detroit whose Mobile Homestead, a replica of his childhood home, stands permanently at MOCAD.
Sports · 1927–2019Red Kellyice hockey defenceman, politician, coachHall of Fame defenceman who won four Stanley Cups with Detroit in the 1950s, part of the most decorated career of any player never to suit up for the Montreal Canadiens.
Film & TV · born 1976Page Kennedyactor, rapperDetroit-raised actor and rapper, U-Turn on Weeds and Radon Randell on Blue Mountain State, whose debut album features Detroit rappers.
Sports · born 1982Tomáš Kopeckýice hockey forwardSlovak forward drafted by Detroit in 2000 who won the Stanley Cup with the Red Wings in 2008 after working his way up through the organization's minor-league affiliate.
Sports · born 1965Pat LaFontaineice hockey centerHall of Fame center who grew up in Waterford, Oakland County, after 1972 and became one of the highest-scoring American-born players in NHL history.
Music · born 1946Bettye LaVettesingerDetroit-raised soul singer who cut her first hit at 16 for local producer Johnnie Mae Matthews and found late-career acclaim in the 2000s.
Music · born 1949Lene Lovichsinger, songwriterDetroit-born new-wave singer of “Lucky Number” who spent her childhood in the city before moving to England at 13.
Auto industry · born 1932
Bob Lutzautomotive executive at Ford, Chrysler and GMSwiss-born 'car guy' who held top jobs at all three Detroit automakers, from the Dodge Viper at Chrysler to GM's product revival.
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.
Music · 1918–1987Howard McGheejazz trumpeter, composerOne of the first bebop trumpeters, born in Tulsa and raised in Detroit, who later recorded with Charlie Parker and inspired Fats Navarro.
Music · 1886–1979
Paul Parayconductor, composer, organistFrench conductor who rebuilt the Detroit Symphony after its 1949 collapse and made its celebrated Mercury Living Presence recordings between 1951 and 1962.
Science & invention · 1923–1969Walter Pittslogician, computational neuroscientistSelf-taught Detroit-born logician who, with Warren McCulloch, wrote the 1943 paper that introduced the first mathematical model of a neural network.
Sports · born 1966Luc Robitailleice hockey executive and former playerHighest-scoring left winger in NHL history who capped his long career with a two-season stint in Detroit and his only Stanley Cup, in 2002.
Sports · born 1971Iván Rodríguezbaseball player, catcherHall of Fame catcher who signed with Detroit in 2004 and helped rebuild the Tigers into a 2006 American League pennant winner.
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.
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 · 1944–2012Emanuel Stewardboxing trainer, commentator, former boxerThe 'godfather of Detroit boxing', who built the Kronk Gym into a world-famous training ground and coached forty-one world champions, among them Thomas Hearns, Lennox Lewis and Wladimir Klitschko.George Stultsactor, modelDetroit-born actor who played Kevin Kinkirk, the police officer who marries Lucy Camden, on the long-running family drama 7th Heaven.
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.Tiny Thompsonice hockey goaltender, scoutFour-time Vezina Trophy winner and Hockey Hall of Famer who closed his 12-season NHL career with two seasons in Detroit after a decade starring for Boston.
Film & TV · 1903–1954Tom Tylerfilm actor, weightlifterHamtramck-raised B-Western star and screen Captain Marvel, who came home to Hamtramck to die and is buried in Detroit's Mount Olivet Cemetery.
Religion · born 1948Allen VigneronCatholic Archbishop of Detroit (2009–2025)Mount Clemens native who studied and later served as rector at Sacred Heart Major Seminary, then led the Archdiocese of Detroit as archbishop from 2009 to 2025.
Music · 1940–2017Leon Waresongwriter, producer, singerDetroit-born Motown songwriter and producer behind Marvin Gaye's I Want You, Michael Jackson's “I Wanna Be Where You Are” and Minnie Riperton's “Inside My Love.”
Sports · born 1997Zach Werenskiice hockey defensemanGrosse Pointe-born defenseman who trained with Detroit's Belle Tire youth club and the University of Michigan before becoming one of the NHL's top blueliners with the Columbus Blue Jackets.Sharon Wichmancompetition swimmerDetroit-born breaststroke swimmer who left the city as a young child but went on to win Olympic gold in 1968.
Music · born 1949James Williamsonguitarist, songwriter, engineerThe Stooges' Raw Power guitarist, who came of age in the Detroit area in the 1960s and formed his first band there with future SRC singer Scott Richardson.Mike Binderfilmmaker, stand-up comedian, actorBirmingham-raised comedian and filmmaker whose directing debut, Crossing the Bridge, turns his teenage years in suburban Detroit into drama.Stephen Braysongwriter, drummer, record producerDetroit-born songwriter and producer, Madonna's early bandmate and co-writer of "Into the Groove" and "Express Yourself," who later won a Grammy for The Color Purple.
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.
Film & TV · born 1970Larry Joe Campbellactor, comedianAccording to Jim's Andy, a northern Michigan native who earned a theater master's at Wayne State, performed at The Second City Detroit and co-founded the Detroit Creativity Project.
Music · born 1969James Carterjazz saxophonist, multi-reedistDetroit-born saxophone virtuoso, trained in Donald Washington's youth ensemble, whose 1988 sit-in with Lester Bowie at the Detroit Institute of Arts launched his career.
Music · born 1966Regina Carterjazz violinistDetroit-born jazz violinist, trained at Cass Tech and Oakland University, who rose with the all-female group Straight Ahead and later won a MacArthur “genius” grant.
Film & TV · born 1971Sharon Caseactress, former modelDetroit-born soap star who has played Sharon Newman on The Young and the Restless since 1994, winning a Daytime Emmy in 1999.
Sports · born 1946Don Chaneybasketball coach, former playerTwo-time NBA champion as a player elsewhere who worked as a Pistons assistant coach and later served two seasons as Detroit's head coach in the mid-1990s.
Sports · born 1960Dino Ciccarelliice hockey player, right wingerHall of Fame goal-scorer who reached his 500th career goal with the Red Wings and later opened Detroit-area sports bars named for his jersey number.
Comedy · born 1978Eugene Corderoactor, comedian, writerFilipino American comic actor of The Good Place, Loki and Star Trek: Lower Decks, raised in Detroit's northern suburbs and a 1996 graduate of Brother Rice High School.
Music · born 1969Carl Craigelectronic music producer, DJ, label founderDetroit techno's leading second-wave producer, founder of Planet E Communications and co-creator of the Detroit Electronic Music Festival in Hart Plaza.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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