Visual art · 1907–1954
Frida KahlopainterMexican painter who spent 1932–33 in Detroit with Diego Rivera and made breakthrough works there, including Henry Ford Hospital.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
- 19 fields
Hungarian ties 31 Detroiters with Hungarian ties →
Origin and citizenship
Field
Connection
Born in
A–Z (family name)
62 people · 1/2 page
Clear filtersVisual art · 1907–1954Frida KahlopainterMexican painter who spent 1932–33 in Detroit with Diego Rivera and made breakthrough works there, including Henry Ford Hospital.
Press & broadcasting · 1932–2014
Casey Kasemradio host, disc jockey, voice actorDetroit-born host of American Top 40 and original voice of Shaggy in Scooby-Doo, who started on the air at Northwestern High and Detroit radio stations.
Science & invention · 1928–2011Jack Kevorkianpathologist, right-to-die activistPontiac-born pathologist who assisted in the deaths of scores of patients in metro Detroit in the 1990s and was convicted of second-degree murder in 1999.Daniel Keyesnovelist, short-story writer, professor of creative writingAuthor of Flowers for Algernon, he taught creative writing at Wayne State University in Detroit in the years before the novel version appeared in 1966.
Comedy · born 1971Keegan-Michael Keyactor, comedian, writer, producerCo-creator of Key & Peele who grew up in Detroit, studied theater at the University of Detroit Mercy and co-founded Hamtramck's Planet Ant Theatre.
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.
Film & TV · born 1949Lawrence Kasdanscreenwriter, film director, producerScreenwriter of The Empire Strikes Back and Raiders of the Lost Ark, who studied at the University of Michigan and spent about five years as a Detroit advertising copywriter before Hollywood.
Auto industry · 1876–1958Charles F. Ketteringinventor, engineer, head of GM ResearchInventor of the electric self-starter, first fitted to the 1912 Cadillac, and head of General Motors research from 1920 to 1947, whose laboratory stood in Detroit's New Center.
Sports · born 1988Patrick Kaneice hockey right wingerOne of the most decorated American-born players in NHL history, Kane trained as a teenager in the Detroit area before returning in 2023 to sign with the Red Wings.
Sports · born 1981
Niklas Kronwallice hockey defensemanLong-serving Red Wings defenseman famous for his open-ice hits, who won the Stanley Cup in 2008 and now advises the team's general manager.
Sports · born 1991Brandon Knightbasketball player, guardGuard selected eighth overall by the Pistons in 2011 who earned All-Rookie honors before being traded to Milwaukee, and briefly returned to Detroit in 2020.
Architecture & design · 1869–1942Albert KahnarchitectGerman-born "architect of Detroit" who designed the Ford Highland Park and River Rouge plants, the Fisher Building and hundreds of other city landmarks.
Music · 1939–1992Eddie Kendrickssinger, songwriterFalsetto lead of the Temptations who came to Detroit with the Primes, sang "Just My Imagination" and later topped the charts solo with "Keep On Truckin'."
Sports · 1935–2012Alex Karrasprofessional football player, actorDominant Lions defensive tackle for twelve seasons who later became a bestselling book subject, sportscaster and Hollywood actor, remembered as much for owning a downtown Detroit bar as for his play.
Sports · born 1996Luke Kennardbasketball playerSharpshooting guard drafted 12th overall by the Pistons in 2017, whose three-point shooting still ranks among the most accurate in NBA history.
Sports · born 1972
Vyacheslav Kozlovice hockey left winger, coachRussian winger drafted by Detroit in 1990 who played a decade for the Red Wings as part of the famed Russian Five and won two Stanley Cups.
Sports · born 1965
Uwe Kruppice hockey defenceman, coachGerman defenceman, already famous for a triple-overtime Stanley Cup-winning goal with Colorado, who won a second championship with the Red Wings in 2002 after overcoming two lost seasons to injury.
Sports · 1927–2019
Red 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.
Sports · born 1982
Tomáš 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.
Music · 1948–2024Wayne Kramerguitarist, songwriter, producerMC5 guitarist from the Downriver suburb of Lincoln Park whose band, the house band of the Grande Ballroom, recorded Kick Out the Jams live there in 1968.
Sports · 1934–2020Al Kalinebaseball player, right fielder, television announcerSigned by the Tigers straight out of high school, Kaline spent his entire 22-year career in Detroit, won ten Gold Gloves, and later spent decades as the team's beloved broadcaster.
Thorsten KayeactorDaytime Emmy-winning soap star (The Bold and the Beautiful's Ridge Forrester) who played classical repertory with Wayne State's Hilberry company and blogs for the Red Wings.
Politics · born 1970Kwame Kilpatrickpolitician, former mayor of DetroitDetroit-born politician who became the city's youngest mayor at 31 in 2002, but resigned in 2008 after a corruption scandal and later served federal prison time before a 2021 commutation.
Sports · born 1982
Ian Kinslerbaseball player, second basemanFour-time All-Star second baseman who anchored the Tigers infield for four seasons after arriving in a blockbuster 2013 trade for Prince Fielder.Robert Kearnsengineer and inventor of the intermittent windshield wiperDetroit-educated engineer who invented the intermittent windshield wiper and fought Ford and Chrysler in court for decades; his story is the film Flash of Genius.
Politics · 1945–2025Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrickteacher, politicianDetroit schoolteacher who served 18 years in the Michigan House and 14 in Congress (1997–2011), chaired the Congressional Black Caucus and was the mother of Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.Vladimir Konstantinovice hockey defensemanFearsome Soviet-born defenseman of the Red Wings' "Russian Five" whose career ended in a limousine crash in Birmingham six days after the 1997 Stanley Cup.
Religion · born 1970Francis KalabatChaldean Catholic bishopKuwait-born Chaldean priest trained in Detroit who has led the Chaldean Catholic Eparchy of St. Thomas the Apostle of Detroit since 2014, the church of Metro Detroit's large Iraqi Christian community.
Sports · 1922–2009George Kellbaseball player, television announcerHall of Fame third baseman who won the 1949 batting title for the Tigers and then spent 37 years as the soft-spoken voice of Tigers broadcasts.
Literature · born 1960Kathe Kojanovelist, short-story writer, theatre directorDetroit-born author of the Bram Stoker Award–winning horror novel The Cipher who still lives in metro Detroit and directs the immersive theatre company nerve.Anybody KillarapperEast-side Detroit rapper of Lumbee heritage who performs as a Native American warrior and became a Psychopathic Records mainstay.
Music · born 1974Uncle Krackersinger, songwriter, DJMount Clemens-born singer who started as Kid Rock's DJ in Twisted Brown Trucker and scored solo hits with “Follow Me” and “Drift Away”.Ernest Kirkendallchemist, metallurgistMetallurgist raised in Highland Park who discovered the Kirkendall effect in atomic diffusion while teaching at Wayne State University in 1947.KunivarapperDetroit rapper and founding member of D12, one of the few members who stayed with the group from its 1996 start to its 2026 comeback album.
Press & broadcasting · 1908–1997Bill Kennedyactor, television movie hostFormer Warner Bros. actor who for 27 years hosted old movies for Detroit viewers on CKLW-TV and WKBD, famous for his sardonic Hollywood stories.
Auto industry · 1879–1948William S. Knudsenpresident of General Motors, wartime production chiefDanish immigrant who ran production at Ford's Highland Park, turned Chevrolet into GM's powerhouse and organized America's World War II arms output.
Law · 1924–2021Frank J. Kelleylawyer, Michigan attorney generalDetroit-born lawyer nicknamed 'the Eternal General,' who served as Michigan's attorney general for 37 years (1961–1999) and pioneered state consumer protection.
Politics · 1895–1971Harry Kellylawyer, governor of Michigan, state Supreme Court justiceOne-legged World War I hero and Detroit lawyer who governed Michigan during the 'Arsenal of Democracy' years (1943–1947) and later sat on the state Supreme Court.
Auto industry · 1868–1957Charles Brady Kingengineer, automotive pioneerEngineer who drove the first gasoline car on Detroit's streets on March 6, 1896, with Henry Ford following on a bicycle.
Music · 1923–2011Eddie Kirklandblues guitarist, harmonica player, singerJamaica-born, Alabama-raised bluesman who met John Lee Hooker at Detroit house parties while working at Ford's Rouge plant and toured with him from 1949 to 1962.
Music · born 1967Kemsinger, songwriter, producerMetro Detroit R&B singer, raised in Pontiac and Southfield, who self-financed his debut Kemistry and was signed by Motown in 2001.
Theatre & dance · 1937–2026Woodie King Jr.theatre producer, director, filmmakerDetroit-raised founder of Concept East Theatre and New York's New Federal Theatre, a Ford welder turned producer who championed generations of Black playwrights.
Peter Karmanos Jr.software entrepreneur, hockey ownerDetroit-born son of Greek immigrant restaurant owners who co-founded the software giant Compuware, built amateur hockey in Detroit and owned the Carolina Hurricanes.
Law · 1922–2019Damon Keithfederal judge, civil rights lawyerDetroit-born federal judge whose rulings desegregated Pontiac schools, struck down warrantless wiretaps and declared that 'democracies die behind closed doors'; he served on the bench for over 50 years.
Science & invention · 1825–1911Herman Kieferphysician, civic leader, diplomatGerman revolutionary of 1848 who fled to Detroit, practiced medicine there for six decades, led German-American civic life and gave his name to the city's public health hospital.
Business & brands · 1867–1966S. S. Kresgemerchant, founder of the S. S. Kresge Company (Kmart), philanthropistPennsylvania salesman who opened a five-and-dime in downtown Detroit in 1897, built the Kresge chain that became Kmart and founded the Kresge Foundation.Hryhory Kytastycomposer, conductor, banduristUkrainian émigré composer and conductor who brought the Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus to Detroit in 1949, making the city the world center of the bandura tradition in exile.
Music · 1888–1957
Victor Kolarconductor, composer, violinistBudapest-born conductor who spent two decades on the podium of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, rising from assistant to principal conductor, and died in Detroit.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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