Architecture & design · 1886–1969
Ludwig Mies van der RohearchitectGerman-American modernist master whose Lafayette Park near downtown Detroit is the largest collection of his buildings anywhere.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
Connection
Born in
A–Z (family name)
71 people · 1/2 page
Clear filtersArchitecture & design · 1886–1969Ludwig Mies van der RohearchitectGerman-American modernist master whose Lafayette Park near downtown Detroit is the largest collection of his buildings anywhere.
Music · born 1944Diana Rosssinger, actressDetroit-born lead singer of the Supremes, Motown's biggest 1960s act, who grew up in the North End and the Brewster-Douglass projects before a long solo and film career.
Visual art · 1886–1957
Diego Riverapainter, muralistMexican muralist who painted the Detroit Industry Murals at the Detroit Institute of Arts in 1932–33, the city's most celebrated work of art.
Film & TV · born 1959Sam Raimifilm director, producer, screenwriterRoyal Oak-born director who launched The Evil Dead from metro Detroit, premiered it at the Redford Theatre and later shot Crimewave on Detroit streets.
Sports · born 1961Dennis Rodmanbasketball player, forwardBad Boys-era Pistons forward and defensive specialist who won back-to-back NBA titles with Detroit in 1989 and 1990 and became one of the greatest rebounders in league history.
Sports · born 1988Derrick Rosebasketball playerFormer NBA Most Valuable Player who, after years of injury setbacks, found a late-career revival with the Pistons as a prolific sixth man.
Music · born 1940Smokey Robinsonsinger, songwriter, record producer, record executiveNorth End native who founded the Miracles, gave Motown its first million-seller and wrote many of the label's defining hits while serving as its vice president.
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.
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.
Politics · 1907–1995George W. Romneyautomobile executive, governor of MichiganDetroit auto-industry spokesman and American Motors chief who became Michigan's governor (1963–1969) and later U.S. housing secretary.
Sports · born 1972
Željko Rebračabasketball playerSerbian center who spent three seasons as a Pistons reserve big man before being traded away weeks before Detroit's 2004 championship run.
Labor · 1907–1970Walter Reutherpresident of the United Auto Workers (1946–1970)Tool-and-die maker who became the UAW's longest-serving president, building one of America's most powerful and progressive unions from Detroit.
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.
Music · 1941–1991David RuffinsingerThe raspy lead voice of the Temptations' “My Girl,” who helped build Hitsville U.S.A. as a teenager and is buried at Detroit's Woodlawn Cemetery.
Sports · born 1973Theo Ratliffbasketball playerShot-blocking center whom the Pistons drafted in 1995 and briefly brought back in 2008, part of a 16-season NBA career.
Sports · born 1973Brian Rafalskiice hockey defensemanDearborn-born defenseman, an undrafted free agent who signed with his hometown Red Wings in 2007 and won the Stanley Cup with them in 2008.
Music · born 1941Martha Reevessinger, former Detroit City Council memberLead singer of Martha and the Vandellas, who went from Motown secretary to star with “Heat Wave” and “Dancing in the Street”, and later served on the Detroit City Council.
Comedy · born 1984Sam Richardsonactor, comedian, writer, producerVeep and Ted Lasso actor who grew up in Boston-Edison, trained at Planet Ant and Second City Detroit and co-created Detroiters, a comedy shot on Detroit streets.
Sports · born 1979Ruth Rileybasketball player, centerNotre Dame national champion who became the first person to win Most Outstanding Player honors in both the NCAA and WNBA championships, leading the Detroit Shock to its first WNBA title in 2003.
Music · 1936–2014Jimmy Ruffinsoul singerMotown singer of “What Becomes of the Brokenhearted”, older brother of Temptations lead David Ruffin, who built his career at Hitsville in Detroit.Clifford Robinsonbasketball playerSixth Man of the Year and former All-Star forward who played two seasons for the Pistons in the early 2000s, part of an eighteen-year NBA career.
Sports · born 1966
Luc 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.
Sports · 1989–2020
Chris Reedice dancerAmerican-born ice dancer who skated for Japan at three Olympics, trained in Canton in metro Detroit from 2015 and died in Detroit in 2020, aged 30.
Sports · born 1960Mike Ramseyice hockey defenseman1980 "Miracle on Ice" Olympic champion who closed out his long NHL career with a few seasons on the Red Wings' blue line.Don Redmanarranger, composer, saxophonist, bandleaderPioneering swing arranger who left Fletcher Henderson in 1927 to lead McKinney's Cotton Pickers in Detroit, turning the Graystone house band into a national star.
Music · born 1945Mitch Ryderrock and soul singer, songwriterHamtramck-born singer whose Detroit Wheels fused rock and roll with Detroit soul on 1960s hits such as "Devil with a Blue Dress On & Good Golly Miss Molly."
Science & invention · 1919–2011Mildred Rebstockpharmaceutical chemistParke-Davis research chemist in Detroit who led the first complete synthesis of an antibiotic, chloramphenicol (Chloromycetin), in 1947.
Business & brands · born 1971Paul Rosenbergtalent manager, record executive, former entertainment lawyerDetroit-born lawyer turned manager who guided Eminem from the local scene to world fame, co-founded Shady Records and later ran Def Jam.Tim Robinsoncomedian, actor, writerCreator of I Think You Should Leave and co-creator of Detroiters, born in Detroit to a Chrysler employee, raised in Waterford and trained at The Second City Detroit.
Music · 1942–2002Barbara Randolphsinger, actressDetroit-born singer and actress, adopted by actress Lillian Randolph, who recorded the northern soul favorite "I Got a Feeling" for Motown and toured with Marvin Gaye.
Music · 1940–2013Bobby Rogerssinger, songwriterDetroit-born founding member of the Miracles (1956–2013) who co-wrote the Temptations' first hit, "The Way You Do the Things You Do".Doctor Rossblues one-man band: singer, guitarist, harmonica player, drummerMississippi one-man blues band who moved to Michigan in 1954 to work for General Motors and recorded his best-known sides for Detroit's Fortune Records.Sonny Redjazz alto saxophonist, flutist, composerDetroit alto saxophonist who began with Barry Harris as a teenager and recorded hard bop for Blue Note, Jazzland and Donald Byrd before dying in his hometown at 48.
Theatre & dance · born 1951Roz Ryanactress, singer, comedianDetroit nightclub singer who jumped to Broadway in Ain't Misbehavin' (1978) and became the longest-serving Matron 'Mama' Morton in Chicago.Dudley Randallpoet, publisher, librarianFounder of Detroit's Broadside Press (1965), the pioneering Black poetry publisher, author of Ballad of Birmingham and Detroit's poet laureate from 1981.
Music · born 1942Claudette RobinsonsingerMember of the Miracles from 1957 to 1972, called the "First Lady of Motown" by Berry Gordy as the first woman signed to a Motown label.Mack Ricesongwriter, singerDetroit singer-songwriter of the Falcons who wrote "Mustang Sally" and co-wrote "Respect Yourself", and whose songs include "Cadillac Assembly Line".
Music · born 1938Sugar Chile Robinsonjazz and boogie-woogie pianist, singerDetroit child prodigy who won a Paradise Theatre talent show at three, played for President Truman in 1946, then quit music for college and a Detroit career.Mickey Redmondice hockey right winger, TV color commentatorFirst Red Wing to score 50 goals in a season, who became the team's long-serving TV analyst known for his colorful sayings.
Visual art · 1858–1930Julius Rolshovenpainter, teacherDetroit-born painter who trained in Germany, taught in Paris and London, lived in a castle near Florence and painted the Southwest.Dennis Rowlandjazz singer, actorDetroit-born jazz singer who worked as a singer and actor in the city before Count Basie hired him in 1977 as his band vocalist for seven years.
Visual art · 1888–1964Betsy Graves Reyneauportrait painterPainter raised in Detroit whose portraits of prominent African Americans, including Detroit's Joe Louis, toured the nation from 1944 to 1954.
Film & TV · born 1962Shaun Robinsontelevision host, journalist, authorDetroit-born Cass Tech graduate who began her TV career at WGPR-TV before hosting Access Hollywood (1999–2015) and the 90 Day Fiancé tell-alls.DJ Rolandotechno DJ and producerMexicantown-raised Underground Resistance DJ whose “Knights of the Jaguar” became one of the most celebrated techno tracks of all time.Phil Ranelinjazz trombonist, composer, label founderIndianapolis-born trombonist who moved to Detroit, played Motown sessions, and co-founded the Tribe collective and label, whose 1970s records later became prized by collectors.
Music · born 1991Babyface RayrapperEast-side Detroit rapper whose laid-back, luxurious flow made him a central figure of 2020s Detroit hip-hop, peaking with the album Face in 2022.Tracy Reesefashion designerDetroit-born fashion designer and Cass Tech graduate who dressed Michelle Obama and later returned home to build a sustainable label 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 ↗
Save the plan. Share the moment.
