Film & TV · born 1961
Al Jeantelevision writer, producerLongtime showrunner of The Simpsons, born in Detroit and raised in Farmington Hills, where he graduated from Harrison High School.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)
923 people · 5/20 page
Clear filtersFilm & TV · born 1961Al Jeantelevision writer, producerLongtime showrunner of The Simpsons, born in Detroit and raised in Farmington Hills, where he graduated from Harrison High School.
Film & TV · born 1983Jana Krameractress, country singerActress and country singer from Rochester Hills in metro Detroit, known for One Tree Hill and the top-ten country hits "Why Ya Wanna" and "I Got the Boy."
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”.
Notorious figures · born 1963Larry Nassarformer sports physician, convicted sex offenderFormer USA Gymnastics and Michigan State team physician from Farmington Hills, convicted of sexually abusing hundreds of young athletes and imprisoned for life in effect.
Sports · born 1978Michael Russelltennis player, coachDetroit-born professional tennis player who reached a career-high world No. 60 and set the all-time record for USTA Pro Circuit singles titles.
Sports · 1930–2010Clarke Scholescompetitive swimmer, Olympic championDetroit-born and Redford High School-raised swimmer who won the gold medal in the 100-meter freestyle at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics.Quincy Wattssprinter, track coachDetroit-born sprinter who won two gold medals at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, in the 400 meters and the 4 × 400 meters relay.
Music · born 1970John 5guitarist, songwriterGrosse Pointe-raised guitarist of Marilyn Manson, Rob Zombie and Mötley Crüe, who learned blues and rock 'n' roll from a Detroit guitar teacher.
Literature · born 1971Megan Abbottcrime novelist, screenwriterEdgar Award–winning crime novelist born in Detroit and raised in Grosse Pointe, whose suburban noirs about girls and women draw on her Michigan youth.
Film & TV · born 2005Ella Andersonactress, singer-songwriterActress and singer-songwriter born in Ypsilanti, west of Detroit, best known as Piper Hart on Nickelodeon's Henry Danger.
Music · born 1981Danny Brownrapper, songwriter, podcasterDetroit-born rapper whose off-kilter voice and blunt stories of the city made him one of hip-hop's most acclaimed left-field artists.Rex Cawleytrack and field athlete, 400-meter hurdlerHighland Park-born hurdler who set a world record and won Olympic gold in the 400-meter hurdles at the 1964 Tokyo Games.
Film & TV · born 1973Colin EgglesfieldactorAll My Children and Melrose Place actor and romantic lead of Something Borrowed, born in Farmington Hills.
Film & TV · born 1966Anne Fletcherfilm director, choreographer, dancerDirector of Step Up, The Proposal and Hocus Pocus 2, born in Detroit and raised in St. Clair Shores, where she learned to dance and first performed.
Press & broadcasting · born 1969Sanjay Guptaneurosurgeon, CNN chief medical correspondent, authorCNN's chief medical correspondent and a practicing neurosurgeon, born and raised in the Detroit suburb of Novi to parents who were Ford engineers.
Science & invention · born 1958Brent W. Jett Jr.astronaut, naval aviator, test pilotFour-time Space Shuttle astronaut and Navy test pilot, born in Pontiac, Michigan.Thad Jonesjazz trumpeter, cornetist, composer, bandleaderPontiac-born trumpeter and composer who played in the house band of Detroit's Blue Bird Inn before joining Count Basie and co-founding the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra.Marguerite MacIntyreactress, writer, producerDetroit-born actress who played Sheriff Liz Forbes on The Vampire Diaries and Nicole Trager on Kyle XY.
Film & TV · born 1941Robert McKeescreenwriting teacher, author, story consultantDetroit-born story guru whose Story Seminar and book Story have trained generations of screenwriters; he started as a young actor on Detroit stages.
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.
Film & TV · born 1969
Vincenzo Natalifilm director, screenwriterDetroit-born Canadian-American director of the cult science-fiction thriller Cube and the horror film Splice.
Music · born 1942Freda Paynesinger, actressDetroit-born singer of the 1970 smash “Band of Gold”, recorded for Invictus, the label her hometown friends Holland–Dozier–Holland founded after leaving Motown.
Tiffany Portertrack and field athlete, hurdlerBritish-American 100-meter hurdler, born in Ypsilanti, who won five NCAA titles at the University of Michigan before becoming a European champion for Great Britain.
Film & TV · 1920–1989Richard Quinefilm director, actor, singerDetroit-born child actor turned director of Bell, Book and Candle and The World of Suzie Wong.
Sports · born 1973Jalen Rosebasketball player, sports analyst, authorDetroit-born guard who starred at Southwestern High School and with Michigan's 'Fab Five' before a long NBA career and a second career as a national broadcaster and Detroit philanthropist.
Literature · born 1967Ruta Sepetyshistorical novelistCarnegie Medal–winning author of Between Shades of Gray, born in Detroit to a Lithuanian refugee family and raised in the city's northwestern suburbs.
Eddie SlovikU.S. Army privateDetroit-born private who became the only American soldier executed for desertion since the Civil War; his remains were brought home to Woodmere Cemetery in 1987.
Music · born 1952Don Wasbassist, record producer, label executiveDetroit-born producer of Bonnie Raitt and the Rolling Stones, co-founder of Was (Not Was) and president of Blue Note Records, who still champions the Detroit music scene.Mark Watersfilm directorDirector of Mean Girls and Freaky Friday, born in Wyandotte and raised in South Bend, Indiana.
Music · 1930–1986Pepper Adamsjazz baritone saxophonist, composerHighland Park-born baritone saxophonist who came of age in Detroit's 1950s bebop clubs, running the bandstand at the Blue Bird Inn before a career in New York.Dave Alexanderbassist, songwriterOriginal bassist of the Stooges, the Ann Arbor proto-punk band that came up through Detroit's Grande Ballroom alongside the MC5.B. J. Armstrongbasketball player, executiveDetroit-born point guard who attended Brother Rice High School in Bloomfield Township and went on to win three NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls.
Music · 1927–2003Hank Ballardsinger, songwriterDetroit-born leader of the Midnighters, a Ford assembly-line worker turned rock and roll pioneer who wrote and first recorded “The Twist.”
Music · born 1976BizarrerapperDetroit rapper and founding member of D12, recruited by Proof in 1995, who still lives and makes music in his hometown.
Film & TV · 1931–1983Christopher Georgetelevision and film actorRoyal Oak-born son of Greek immigrants who starred as Sergeant Sam Troy in the 1960s war series The Rat Patrol.
Music · born 1991Angel Hazerapper, singerDetroit-born rapper and singer (now performing as ROES) known for the album Dirty Gold and raw, confessional verses; they grew up in the city before moving to New York at 15.Tim LaHayeevangelical minister, novelist, activistDetroit-born co-author of the best-selling Left Behind novels and a key organizer of the Christian right, the son of a Ford autoworker.
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.
Film & TV · born 1982Simone MissickactressMarvel's Misty Knight and All Rise's Judge Lola Carmichael, a Detroit native and graduate of Renaissance High School.
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.
Science & invention · 1907–1988Seth NeddermeyerphysicistCo-discoverer of the muon and champion of the implosion design for the atomic bomb, born in Richmond, Michigan, in northern Macomb County.Johnny Pacaractor, musicianDearborn-born actor of Flight 29 Down and Make It or Break It, a Wayne Memorial High School graduate of Romanian descent.
Film & TV · born 1960Bill Pradytelevision writer and producerDetroit-born co-creator of The Big Bang Theory, a Cranbrook graduate who studied at Wayne State, which later gave him an honorary doctorate.
Sports · 1924–2016Norbert SchemanskyweightlifterDetroit-born weightlifter, the first to win four Olympic medals in the sport, who lived most of his life in nearby Dearborn, where a park is named for him.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 ↗
Save the plan. Share the moment.
