Sports · born 1982
Tara Lipinskifigure skater, sports commentator1998 Olympic champion, the youngest in figure skating history, who trained at the Detroit Skating Club in Bloomfield Hills during her rise.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
- 15 fields
Hungarian ties 31 Detroiters with Hungarian ties →
Origin and citizenship
Field
Connection
Born in
A–Z (family name)
22 people
Clear filtersSports · born 1982Tara Lipinskifigure skater, sports commentator1998 Olympic champion, the youngest in figure skating history, who trained at the Detroit Skating Club in Bloomfield Hills during her rise.
Sports · born 1960
Igor Larionovice hockey center, coach, agentSoviet-trained center nicknamed 'the Professor' who anchored Detroit's famed Russian Five and won three Stanley Cups with the Red Wings.
Sports · 1925–2019Ted Lindsayice hockey player, left wing, general managerFierce Red Wings left wing of the 'Production Line' who won four Stanley Cups with Detroit, led the first serious attempt to unionize NHL players, and stayed part of the club for the rest of his life.
Auto industry · 1843–1932Henry M. Lelandmachinist, engineer, automakerPrecision machinist who founded both Cadillac and Lincoln in Detroit, pushed through the electric self-starter, and was a leading voice of Progressive-era reform in the city.
Auto industry · born 1932
Bob Lutzautomotive executive at Ford, Chrysler and GMSwiss-born 'car guy' who held top jobs at all three Detroit automakers, from the Dodge Viper at Chrysler to GM's product revival.Viola Liuzzocivil rights activistDetroit homemaker and Wayne State student who drove to Alabama for the 1965 Selma march and was murdered by the Ku Klux Klan; a park and statue honor her in Detroit.
Film & TV · 1896–1975Cullen Landissilent-film actor, director of industrial filmsSilent-film leading man who starred in the first all-talking feature (1928), then moved to Detroit in 1930 to direct industrial films, joining the Jam Handy studio in 1937.Kurt Luedtkejournalist, screenwriterDetroit Free Press executive editor turned Oscar-winning screenwriter of Out of Africa, who wrote Absence of Malice from his newsroom experience.
Sports · 1928–2002Dick "Night Train" LaneAmerican football cornerback, youth-sports directorHall of Fame cornerback, one of the fiercest tacklers in NFL history, who played for the Lions and then ran Detroit's Police Athletic League for 17 years.
Religion · 1804–1869Peter Paul LefevereCatholic bishopBelgian-born bishop who led the Catholic Diocese of Detroit for 28 years, built Saints Peter and Paul Church as its cathedral and brought teaching and nursing orders to the city.
Sports · 1940–2026Mickey Lolichbaseball pitcherLeft-hander who won three complete games, including Game 7, to be MVP of the 1968 World Series; he holds the Tigers' career strikeout record and stayed in metro Detroit for life.Shorty Longsinger, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producerMotown singer of "Here Comes the Judge" and co-writer of "Devil with a Blue Dress", who drowned in a boating accident on the Detroit River in 1969.
Politics · 1812–1880Henry Ledyarddiplomat, businessman, mayor of DetroitLewis Cass's son-in-law and diplomatic aide who managed Cass's Detroit property, promoted Elmwood Cemetery and Michigan's first plank road, and was mayor in 1855.Hughie Lee-Smithpainter, teacherAfrican American painter of haunting, surreal cityscapes who built his career in Detroit in the 1940s and 1950s and won top prizes at the DIA.
Politics · 1804–1854John Ladueleather manufacturer, mayor of DetroitLeather merchant who, as mayor in 1850, defused a crisis over a jailed fugitive slave by raising money to buy the man's freedom.
Business & brands · 1822–1908Alexander Lewisgrain merchant, mayor of DetroitWindsor-born grain and flour merchant who ran one of Detroit's largest businesses, served as police commissioner and was Democratic mayor in 1876–1877.Peter LicavoliDetroit Mafia leader, Prohibition-era bootleggerSt. Louis-born gangster who ran rum-running and gambling rackets in Detroit and Toledo during Prohibition and was a founding leader of the Detroit Partnership.Budd Lynchhockey broadcaster, public-address announcerOne-armed World War II veteran who spent 63 years with the Red Wings, first as play-by-play voice from 1949 and later as the beloved PA announcer at Joe Louis Arena.
Civil rights & activism · 1817–1890William Lambertabolitionist, Underground Railroad leaderFree-born tailor and abolitionist who for half a century helped lead Detroit's Underground Railroad and its Black community.
Business & brands · 1833–1909George C. Langdonbrewer, maltster, mayor of DetroitBookkeeper turned brewer and maltster who was Detroit's 38th mayor (1878–1879) and later, after losing his fortune, worked as a clerk at City Hall.William Lavintenor, voice teacherTenor raised in Detroit who returned after an international career to teach at the Michigan Conservatory and sing as soloist at Fort Street Presbyterian Church for two decades.Josephine Harreld Loveconcert pianist, musicologist, museum founderConcert pianist and musicologist who moved to Detroit in 1941 and in 1969 co-founded Your Heritage House, a fine arts museum and studio for the city's children.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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