Politics · 1890–1949
Frank Murphymayor of Detroit, governor, U.S. Supreme Court justiceRecorder's Court judge and Depression-era mayor of Detroit (1930–1933) who went on to govern Michigan and sit on the U.S. Supreme Court.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)
1379 people · 6/29 page
Clear filtersPolitics · 1890–1949Frank Murphymayor of Detroit, governor, U.S. Supreme Court justiceRecorder's Court judge and Depression-era mayor of Detroit (1930–1933) who went on to govern Michigan and sit on the U.S. Supreme Court.
Sports · born 1984Frans Nielsenice hockey forwardThe first Danish-born NHL player, who signed a six-year free agent deal with the Red Wings in 2016 and spent five seasons in Detroit.
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.
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.
Sports · born 1976
Mikael Samuelssonice hockey player, right wingerSwedish winger who found his best NHL form with the Red Wings, winning the 2008 Stanley Cup and joining hockey's Triple Gold Club, and later returned to Detroit for two more seasons.
Sports · born 1971
Jiří Šlégrice hockey defenceman, later politicianCzech defenceman picked up by the Red Wings in a late-season trade in March 2002, just in time to win the Stanley Cup with Detroit that spring.Edwin Starrsinger, songwriterSoul singer who launched his career on Detroit's Ric-Tic label with "Agent Double-O-Soul" and then sang Norman Whitfield's protest anthem "War" for Motown.
Sports · born 1983Justin Verlanderbaseball pitcherAce right-hander who anchored the Tigers' rotation for 13 seasons, threw two no-hitters, and won the 2011 AL MVP and Cy Young awards in a unanimous vote.
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.
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.
Sports · born 1974Chucky Atkinsbasketball player, point guardJourneyman point guard who arrived in Detroit in the same 2000 trade that brought Ben Wallace, then returned for a brief encore nine years later.
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 · born 1983
Miguel Cabrerabaseball player, first baseman, third baseman, designated hitterVenezuelan-born slugger who spent sixteen seasons with the Tigers, won the 2012 Triple Crown, two American League MVP awards, and remains one of only three players with 3,000 hits, 500 home runs and a .300 career average.Elden Campbellbasketball forward and centerVeteran big man who turned down bigger offers to join the Pistons in 2003 and became a key defensive piece off the bench for Detroit's 2004 championship team.
Sports · born 1979Swin Cashbasketball player, broadcaster, executiveWNBA Hall of Famer who was the second overall pick of the Detroit Shock in 2002 and led the team to championships in 2003 and 2006.Derrick Colemanbasketball player, entrepreneurSyracuse star raised in Detroit who returned late in his career to play for the Pistons, then came home for good as a local developer and Flint water crisis volunteer.Dale Davisbasketball playerVeteran power forward and rebounding specialist who closed out his long NBA career with two seasons on the Pistons.
Visual art · 1821–1872Robert S. Duncansonlandscape and portrait painterThe first internationally known African American painter; he grew up in Monroe, Michigan, painted portraits in Detroit in the 1840s and died here in 1872.Ed Gordonathletics competitor, later science teacher1932 Olympic long jump gold medalist who settled in Detroit later in life, earned a delayed college degree at Wayne State University, and taught science there until his death.
Sports · born 1971Allan Houstonbasketball player, shooting guard, executiveSharpshooting guard who began his NBA career with three seasons in Detroit before becoming a two-time All-Star with the Knicks.James Jamersonbassist (Funk Brothers session musician)Motown's great uncredited bassist, a Funk Brother who played on nearly every Hitsville hit of the 1960s and is buried in Detroit's Woodlawn Cemetery.
Music · 1937–1968Little Willie Johnsinger, songwriterDetroit-raised R&B singer who first recorded “Fever” and “Need Your Love So Bad,” and is buried at Detroit Memorial Park East in Warren.
Sports · born 1938Hayes Joneshurdler, public officialPontiac-raised hurdler who won Olympic gold in the 110 meters hurdles in Tokyo in 1964 and later led metro Detroit's suburban bus system.
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.
Sports · 1948–2022Bob Lanierbasketball player, centreHall of Fame centre and the Pistons' first overall draft pick in 1970, who anchored Detroit for a decade and remains the franchise's all-time leader in scoring average.
Science & invention · 1903–1981Rensis Likertsocial psychologistPsychologist behind the Likert scale and founder of the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research in Ann Arbor.
Sports · born 1997
Thon Makerbasketball playerSouth Sudanese-Australian center-forward who hit a tiebreaking three-pointer for the Pistons before departing as a free agent.
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.
Religion · born 1877Wallace Fard Muhammadfounder of the Nation of IslamMysterious peddler-preacher who founded the Nation of Islam in Detroit in 1930 among Black migrants from the South, then vanished in 1934.
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.
Edmund SzokaCatholic cardinal, Archbishop of Detroit, Vatican administratorArchbishop of Detroit in the 1980s who hosted Pope John Paul II in 1987, then became the Vatican's top financial officer and governor of Vatican City.
Music · 1931–2010Shirley Verrettopera singer (mezzo-soprano and soprano), voice teacherCelebrated Verdi and Donizetti star who spent her final 14 years teaching voice at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where she died in 2010.
Music · 1943–1992Mary Wellssinger, songwriterDetroit-born "Queen of Motown" who pitched her first song to Berry Gordy in a nightclub at 17 and topped the Hot 100 with "My Guy" in 1964.
Sports · 1902–1995Margaret Woodbridgecompetition swimmerDetroit-born Olympic gold medalist who swam for the Detroit Athletic Club and was a member of the first-ever U.S. women's Olympic swim team in 1920.
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 · 1769–1812
Isaac 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 1961Paul Coffeyice hockey defencemanHall of Fame defenceman, second all-time among NHL blueliners in points, who spent three and a half seasons with the Red Wings and won a Norris Trophy in Detroit.
Comedy · born 1959Dave Couliercomedian, actor, voice actorFull House's Joey Gladstone, born in Detroit and raised in St. Clair Shores, who started in stand-up at Royal Oak's Comedy Castle, where he met Bob Saget.
Music · 1932–2021Curtis Fullerjazz trombonist, composerDetroit-born hard-bop trombonist who played on John Coltrane's Blue Train and in Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, and who died in his hometown in 2021.
Sports · 1892–1969Walter Hagenprofessional golferFlamboyant winner of eleven major championships, "the father of professional golf", who became the first head professional at Oakland Hills and made Michigan his home.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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