Press & broadcasting · 1918–2012
Mike Wallacebroadcast journalist, 60 Minutes correspondentLegendary 60 Minutes interviewer who, fresh out of the University of Michigan, worked as an announcer at Detroit's WXYZ radio in 1940.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 · 3/33 page
Clear filtersPress & broadcasting · 1918–2012Mike Wallacebroadcast journalist, 60 Minutes correspondentLegendary 60 Minutes interviewer who, fresh out of the University of Michigan, worked as an announcer at Detroit's WXYZ radio in 1940.
Sports · 1887–1975Avery Brundagesports administrator, former athleteDetroit-born fifth president of the International Olympic Committee, the only American to hold the post, who led the Olympic movement from 1952 to 1972.
Music · born 1941George Clintonsinger, songwriter, producer, bandleaderLeader of Parliament-Funkadelic, who worked as a Motown staff writer and built P-Funk on Detroit labels and in Detroit studios such as United Sound Systems.
Labor · 1913–1975Jimmy HoffaTeamsters union president (1957–1971)Detroit-raised Teamsters boss who built the union's power from Local 299, went to prison and vanished outside a suburban restaurant in 1975.
Music · 1948–2004Rick Jamessinger, songwriter, producerFunk star of “Super Freak” and “Mary Jane,” who first came to Detroit's Motown in 1966 with the Mynah Birds and later wrote and produced there as Ricky Matthews.
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.
Film & TV · born 1956Rob Paulsenvoice actor, voice directorDetroit-born voice of Yakko and Pinky in Animaniacs and of two different Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Music · 1941–2006Wilson Pickettsinger, songwriterSoul singer of "In the Midnight Hour" and "Mustang Sally" who moved to Detroit at 14 and learned his craft in its gospel groups and with the Falcons.
Film & TV · born 1971Mary Lynn Rajskubactress, comedianDetroit-born, Downriver-raised comedian and actress, known as Chloe O'Brian on 24, who studied art in Detroit before turning to comedy.
Music · born 1971Kid Rocksinger, rapper, songwriterMacomb County-born rap-rocker who came up in the 1980s Detroit hip-hop scene and made his breakthrough album Devil Without a Cause at a downtown Detroit studio.
Press & broadcasting · 1920–2013Helen Thomasjournalist, White House correspondent, columnistThe pioneering White House reporter who covered ten presidents grew up in a Lebanese immigrant family in Detroit, studied at Wayne University and is buried in the city.
Film & TV · born 1952Billy Westvoice actor, musicianDetroit-born voice of Futurama's Fry, Farnsworth and Zoidberg, Ren & Stimpy and the red M&M, who grew up in Boston and New Jersey.
Literature · born 1960Jeffrey Eugenidesnovelist, short-story writerDetroit-born, Grosse Pointe-raised novelist whose The Virgin Suicides and Pulitzer-winning Middlesex are among the best-known literary portraits of the city and its suburbs.
Press & broadcasting · born 1959Chris Hansentelevision journalist, presenterDateline NBC's To Catch a Predator host, who grew up in the Detroit suburbs and learned investigative reporting at WXYZ and WDIV.
Film & TV · born 1945Ernie Hudsonactor, playwrightGhostbusters' Winston Zeddemore, who came to Detroit as a young man, wrote plays for the Black theater company Concept East and graduated from Wayne State in 1973.
Politics · 1920–2009Janet Jaganpolitician, President of GuyanaChicago-born activist who became Guyana's first woman president (1997–1999); as a young woman she studied at the University of Detroit and Wayne University.
Fashion · born 1955Anna Suifashion designerDetroit-born fashion designer whose rock-and-roll, vintage-inspired label became a global brand; she keeps returning to her hometown.
Music · 1903–1931Bix Beiderbeckejazz cornetist, pianist, composerLegendary 1920s cornetist who played in Jean Goldkette's Detroit-based orchestra, headlining at the Graystone Ballroom in 1926–1927 before his greatest recordings.
Sports · born 1965
Dominik Hašekice hockey goaltenderCzech Hall of Fame goaltender, widely considered among the greatest ever, who won both of his Stanley Cups with the Detroit Red Wings.
Film & TV · born 1953Tom Hulceactor, theater producerOscar-nominated Mozart of Amadeus, born in Detroit and raised in Plymouth, the son of a Ford Motor Company employee.
Sports · born 1985
Darko 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.
Science & invention · born 1932Alvin PlantingaphilosopherLeading Christian philosopher of religion and Templeton Prize laureate, born in Ann Arbor, who began his professorial career at Wayne State University in Detroit (1958–1963).
Sports · born 1980Tayshaun Princebasketball player, small forwardDefensive-minded small forward on the Pistons' 2004 championship team, remembered in Detroit for "The Block," his chase-down rejection of Reggie Miller in the 2004 playoffs.
Film & TV · born 1985Crystal ReedactressDetroit-raised actress, Allison Argent on Teen Wolf, who graduated from Roseville High School and studied acting at Wayne State.
Music · 1942–2023Sixto Rodriguezsinger-songwriter, guitaristDetroit's “Sugar Man”: a working-class songwriter who spent his whole life in the city, unaware for decades that he was a star in South Africa.
Music · born 1988Big Seanrapper, songwriterRapper raised in Detroit from infancy whose albums Detroit and Detroit 2 honor his hometown; he runs a youth foundation in the city and works with the Pistons.
Music · born 1958Anita Bakersinger, songwriterEight-time Grammy winner of “Sweet Love,” raised in Detroit, who started out singing in the city's nightclubs and still lives in metro Detroit.
Sports · 1886–1961Ty Cobbbaseball player, center fielder, player-managerWidely regarded as one of the greatest hitters in baseball history, Cobb played 22 of his 24 major-league seasons with the Detroit Tigers and served as the team's player-manager for his last six.
Notorious figures · 1873–1901Leon Czolgoszanarchist, assassin of President William McKinleyDetroit-born wireworker and anarchist who shot President William McKinley in Buffalo in 1901; his birth in the city is his main tie to Detroit.
Civil rights & activism · 1931–2023Daniel Ellsbergmilitary analyst, whistleblower, activistThe Pentagon Papers whistleblower grew up in the Detroit area and graduated from Cranbrook School in Bloomfield Hills.
Film & TV · 1931–2024
Mitzi Gaynoractress, dancer, singerMusical film star of South Pacific, the daughter of a Hungarian-descended musician, who spent part of her childhood in Detroit before her family moved to Hollywood.
Sports · born 1972Grant Hillbasketball player, team executiveHall of Fame forward the Pistons drafted third overall in 1994; for six seasons he was Detroit's franchise player before an injury and free agency sent him to Orlando.
Film & TV · 1921–2007Betty Huttonactress, singer, comedian, dancerParamount's high-energy musical star of the 1940s grew up poor in Depression-era Detroit and was discovered singing in the city's nightclubs.
Science & invention · 1944–1986Gregory Jarvisengineer, astronautDetroit-born satellite engineer who died as a payload specialist aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger in January 1986.
Sports · born 1959Kevin Nashprofessional wrestler, actorWWE and WCW headliner born in southwest Detroit, whose ring name Diesel was a nod to his hometown's nickname, the Motor City.
Comedy · 1946–1989Gilda Radnercomedian, actressOriginal Saturday Night Live star who grew up in Detroit, where her father's Seville Hotel housed touring performers and her nanny inspired Emily Litella.
Music · born 1945Bob Segersinger, songwriter, musicianHeartland rocker born at Detroit's Henry Ford Hospital who was a regional star for years before Live Bullet, recorded at Cobo Arena, made him a national name.
Science & invention · 1928–2018Hayden Whitehistorian, literary theoristHistorian whose Metahistory (1973) changed how scholars think about historical writing; he studied and then taught at Wayne State University in Detroit.
Music · 1934–1984Jackie Wilsonsinger“Mr. Excitement” grew up in Highland Park, boxed and sang in Detroit clubs, and his early hits, written by Berry Gordy, helped bankroll the founding of Motown.
Literature · 1940–2015Wayne Dyerself-help author, motivational speaker, psychologistBest-selling self-help author of Your Erroneous Zones who spent part of his childhood in an east-side Detroit orphanage and earned three degrees at Wayne State.
Film & TV · 1945–2016Curtis Hansonfilm director, screenwriter, producerOscar-winning director who shot 8 Mile (2002) in Detroit, reworking the script to ground Eminem's story in the city's plants, radio and rap battles.
Music · born 1944Gladys Knightsinger, actressThe “Empress of Soul,” whose family group Gladys Knight & the Pips moved to Detroit in the 1960s and cut the first hit version of “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” for Motown.
Music · 1923–1976
Mukeshplayback 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.
Film & TV · born 1946Paul Schraderscreenwriter, film director, criticMichigan-born writer of Taxi Driver whose directing debut, Blue Collar (1978), was shot in Detroit and at the Ford Rouge plant about three autoworkers robbing their union.
Film & TV · born 1944Jeffrey TamboractorArrested Development and Larry Sanders Show actor who earned his master's degree in theater at Wayne State University in Detroit.
Literature · 1909–1981Nelson Algrennovelist, short-story writerDetroit-born author of The Man with the Golden Arm, the first National Book Award winner for fiction, who became the great chronicler of Chicago's down-and-out.
Auto industry · 1878–1941
Louis Chevroletracing driver, engineer, co-founder of ChevroletSwiss-born racer who designed the first Chevrolet in a Detroit workshop in 1911 and later returned to the city's factories as a mechanic.
Science & invention · 1872–1942Heber Doust CurtisastronomerAstronomer who argued in the 1920 'Great Debate' that spiral nebulae are other galaxies; he went to school and briefly taught Latin in Detroit, and later ran the University of Michigan's observatories.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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