Science & invention · 1912–2004
Herbert C. BrownchemistNobel Prize–winning chemist of boron compounds who taught at Wayne University in Detroit from 1943 to 1947, early in his career.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
- 20 fields
Hungarian ties 31 Detroiters with Hungarian ties →
Origin and citizenship
Field
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143 people · 1/3 page
Clear filtersScience & invention · 1912–2004Herbert C. BrownchemistNobel Prize–winning chemist of boron compounds who taught at Wayne University in Detroit from 1943 to 1947, early in his career.
Science & invention · born 1960Eric BetzigphysicistPhysicist who shared the 2014 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for super-resolution fluorescence microscopy; born in Ann Arbor, he spent years back in Michigan at his family's machine-tool company.
Film & TV · born 1943Jerry Bruckheimerfilm and television producerDetroit-born producer of Top Gun, Pirates of the Caribbean and CSI, a Mumford High graduate who put his school's gym shirt on Axel Foley in Beverly Hills Cop.
Auto industry · born 1961Mary Barraautomotive executive, engineerMetro Detroit native who rose from a GM co-op student to chair and CEO of General Motors in 2014, the first woman to lead a Big Three automaker.
Sports · born 1976Chauncey Billupsbasketball player, point guardPoint guard nicknamed "Mr. Big Shot" who ran the Pistons to the 2004 NBA championship and was named Finals MVP; his No. 1 hangs in the rafters.
Sports · born 1989
Bojan Bogdanovićbasketball player, small forwardCroatian forward who anchored the Detroit Pistons' offense for two seasons, signing a contract extension before an injury-shortened tenure ended in a 2024 trade.
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.
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.
Architecture & design · 1846–1912Daniel Burnhamarchitect, urban plannerChicago architect and planner whose firm built two of downtown Detroit's early skyscrapers, the Ford Building and the Dime Building.
Sports · born 1943Dave Bingbasketball player, businessman, politicianHall of Fame Pistons guard of 1966–1975 who built a Detroit steel company after his playing days and served as the city's 74th mayor from 2009 to 2014.
Music · 1932–2013Donald Byrdjazz trumpeter, bandleader, educatorDetroit-born hard-bop trumpeter, a product of Cass Tech and Wayne State, who later fused jazz with funk and soul on the hit album Black Byrd.
Sports · born 1986
Aron Baynesbasketball player, centerAustralian center who spent two seasons as a physical backup big man for the Pistons after winning an NBA championship with the San Antonio Spurs.
Sports · born 1982Kwame Brownbasketball playerFirst player ever drafted No. 1 overall straight out of high school, who spent two seasons as a Pistons forward-center late in his career.
Sports · born 1980Caron Butlerbasketball forward, assistant coachTwo-time NBA All-Star and veteran small forward who spent a season with the Pistons late in his 14-year career.
Sports · born 1940Larry Brownbasketball coachHall of Fame coach who led the Pistons to the 2004 NBA championship over the Lakers, the only coach to win both NCAA and NBA titles.
Music · 1943–1976Florence BallardsingerDetroit-born founding member of the Supremes who named the group, sang on nine No. 1 hits and died in her hometown at 32 as a comeback was beginning.
Sports · 1939–2013Walt Bellamybasketball player, centerHall of Fame center and 1961 Rookie of the Year who spent parts of two seasons with the Pistons after a blockbuster trade for Dave DeBusschere.
Music · born 1931Kenny Burrelljazz guitarist, composer, educatorDetroit-born jazz guitarist who came up in the city's 1950s bebop clubs and Wayne State, then became a Blue Note mainstay and a leading jazz educator.Lester Bangsrock critic, editor, musicianLegendary rock critic who moved to Detroit in 1971 to edit Creem, called the city 'rock's only hope' and spent five wild years there.
Sports · 1931–2017Jim Bunningbaseball pitcher, later U.S. SenatorHall of Fame pitcher who spent nine seasons with the Tigers, throwing a no-hitter and a 20-win season, before a Hall of Fame career and later the U.S. Senate.
Civil rights & activism · 1915–2015Grace Lee Boggsactivist, philosopher, authorChinese American philosopher and activist who lived on Detroit's East Side for 62 years, shaping Black Power, labor and community-renewal movements.
Sports · born 1968Sandy Brondellobasketball player and coachAustralian basketball legend who was on the founding roster of the WNBA's Detroit Shock in 1998 and played in the league's first-ever All-Star Game the next year.
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.
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.”
Architecture & design · 1925–2017
Gunnar BirkertsarchitectLatvian-American modernist who worked for Saarinen and Yamasaki and ran his own firm from Birmingham, Michigan, for four decades.
Music · born 1976BizarrerapperDetroit rapper and founding member of D12, recruited by Proof in 1995, who still lives and makes music in his hometown.
Sports · born 1933
Scotty Bowmanice hockey coachThe NHL's winningest coach, who led the Red Wings to Stanley Cups in 1997, 1998 and 2002, ending Detroit's 42-year drought.
Sports · born 1991Reggie Bullockbasketball playerThree-and-D wing who spent four seasons with the Pistons, developing from a fringe rotation player into a reliable three-point shooter.
Sports · 1932–2016Andy Bathgateice hockey right wingerHall of Fame right winger who spent two seasons with the Red Wings after a trade from Toronto, part of a 17-year NHL career later honored among the 100 greatest players ever.Lilian Jackson Braunmystery novelist, newspaper editorCreator of The Cat Who… mysteries, who spent 30 years as the Detroit Free Press's Good Living editor and modeled her newspaperman hero on the Detroit press world.
Military · 1769–1812Isaac BrockBritish Army generalBritish general who captured Detroit and General Hull's army on August 16, 1812, with his Shawnee ally Tecumseh.
Sports · born 1996Bruce Brown Jr.basketball guard-forwardVersatile guard-forward who began his NBA career with two seasons in Detroit before becoming a key bench contributor to the Denver Nuggets' 2023 championship run.
Auto industry · 1854–1929David Dunbar Buickinventor, founder of BuickScottish-born Detroit plumber and inventor who founded the Buick Motor Company, lost it within a few years, and died nearly broke in Detroit in 1929.
Sports · born 1999Marvin Bagley IIIbasketball playerFormer No. 2 overall pick who spent nearly three seasons as a Pistons forward after a 2022 trade-deadline deal from Sacramento.
Sports · born 1989Evan Batesice dancerOlympic champion ice dancer born and raised in Ann Arbor, who trained for years in suburban Canton and won national silver in Detroit in 2019 with Madison Chock.
Sports · born 1985Reggie Bushfootball running backHeisman Trophy winner and Super Bowl champion who spent two seasons with the Lions late in his career, helping Detroit reach the 2014 playoffs.
Sports · born 1983Will Bynumbasketball player and coachUndrafted guard who became a Pistons fan favorite for seven seasons, setting a franchise record with 26 points in a single quarter.
Sports · born 1967Dana Barrosbasketball player, guardSharpshooting guard, a former All-Star elsewhere, who closed out his NBA career with two seasons off the Pistons' bench.
Music · born 1970Brendan Bensonsinger-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producerPower-pop songwriter born in Royal Oak whose Detroit attic was where he and Jack White wrote the first song of the Raconteurs in 2005.
Sports · born 1975Todd Bertuzziice hockey wingerPower forward who joined the Red Wings at the 2008 trade deadline and returned for a five-season second stint, reaching the 2009 Western Conference finals.
Sports · born 1954Kent Bensonbasketball playerFormer No. 1 overall pick and 1976 NCAA champion who anchored the Pistons' center position for six seasons in the early 1980s.
Sports · born 1968Jud Buechlerbasketball player, coachRole player from Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls championship teams who spent three seasons with the Pistons at the end of his NBA career.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.
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.Marvin Barnesbasketball playerFlashy, immensely talented forward, nicknamed 'Bad News', whose chaotic two seasons with the Pistons in the late 1970s became one of the most colorful chapters in franchise history.
Sports · born 1988Jonathan Bernierice hockey goaltenderStanley Cup-winning goaltender who signed with Detroit in 2018 and spent three seasons backing up, then sharing duties with, Jimmy Howard.
Music · born 1939Cindy BirdsongsingerFormer Bluebelle who was flown to Detroit in 1967 to replace Florence Ballard in the Supremes and sang with the group through 1976.
Sports · 1931–2021Leo Boivinice hockey player, defensemanHard-hitting defenseman who joined the Red Wings in a 1966 trade and helped Detroit reach that year's Stanley Cup Final.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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