Comedy · 1951–2014
Robin Williamscomedian, actorOscar-winning comic genius who spent his early teens in Bloomfield Hills, where his father was a Ford executive, and attended Detroit Country Day School.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)
72 people · 1/2 page
Clear filtersComedy · 1951–2014Robin Williamscomedian, actorOscar-winning comic genius who spent his early teens in Bloomfield Hills, where his father was a Ford executive, and attended Detroit Country Day School.
Music · born 1950
Stevie Wondersinger, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producerBlind child prodigy raised in Detroit who signed with Motown at 11 and grew into one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century.
Music · born 1975Jack Whiteguitarist, singer, songwriter, producerSouthwest Detroit native who co-founded the White Stripes at the Gold Dollar bar in 1997 and later opened Third Man Records' Cass Corridor store and pressing plant.
Film & TV · born 1930Robert WagneractorHart to Hart and It Takes a Thief star, born in Detroit to a Ford Motor Company salesman, who lived in the city until his family moved to Bel Air in 1937.
Science & invention · 1915–2008Thomas Huckle Wellervirologist, physicianVirologist who shared the 1954 Nobel Prize for growing poliovirus in tissue culture, the step that made polio vaccines possible; born and raised in Ann Arbor.
Notorious figures · 1956–2002
Aileen Wuornosserial killerSerial killer executed in Florida in 2002, born in Rochester and raised in Troy, two Oakland County suburbs of Detroit.
Music · 1934–1984Jackie Wilsonsinger“Mr. Excitement” grew up in Highland Park, boxed and sang in Detroit clubs, and his early hits, written by Berry Gordy, helped bankroll the founding of Motown.
Science & invention · 1924–2013Kenneth Waltzpolitical scientistFounder of neorealism, the most influential theory of international politics of the late 20th century; born and raised in Ann Arbor.
Music · born 1974Meg Whitedrummer, singerGrosse Pointe-born drummer of the White Stripes, whose minimalist beat helped launch Detroit's late-1990s garage-rock revival.
Sports · born 1973Chris Webberbasketball player, broadcasterDetroit-born Hall of Fame forward, the most recruited Michigan high schooler since Magic Johnson, who led the University of Michigan's "Fab Five" and later played for the Pistons.
Film & TV · born 1968Cynthia WatrosactressDaytime Emmy-winning soap star and Lost's Libby, born in Lake Orion and a former Macomb Community College student.
Music · 1944–2021Mary Wilsonsinger, authorFounding member of the Supremes who grew up in Detroit's Brewster-Douglass projects and stayed with the group longer than any other original member.
Film & TV · 1943–2019Max WrightactorALF's harried father Willie Tanner, born in Detroit and raised in Southfield, where he starred in high school musicals; he returned to act at the Jewish Ensemble Theatre in 2007.
Sports · born 1987Charlie Whiteice dancer, Olympic champion, coachDearborn-born ice dancer, 2014 Olympic champion with Meryl Davis, who now coaches at the Michigan Ice Dance Academy he co-founded in Canton.
Film & TV · 1930–2015Grace Lee Whitneyactress, singerStar Trek's Yeoman Janice Rand, who grew up in Detroit and began her career at 14 as a girl singer on WJR radio.
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.
Sports · born 1971Doug Weightice hockey player, coach and executiveMetro Detroit-born center who played 19 NHL seasons and won the 2006 Stanley Cup with Carolina, after growing up playing youth hockey in the Detroit area and graduating a local high school.
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 · born 1962Kevin Willisbasketball forward and centerLong-serving NBA big man who came up through Detroit's Pershing High School before a 21-season career that made him one of the oldest players ever to play in the league.
Music · 1918–2014Gerald Wilsonjazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, arranger, educatorBig-band leader and arranger for Ellington, Ella and Billie Holiday, who came to Detroit at 16, graduated from Cass Tech, and returned in 2009 with a suite named “Detroit.”
Film & TV · born 1985James WolkactorFarmington Hills native known as Bob Benson on Mad Men, who grew up in Oakland County and trained at the University of Michigan.
Music · born 1979Andrew W.K.singer, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, motivational speakerAnn Arbor–raised rocker who cut his teeth in Detroit punk, metal and noise bands before his anthem “Party Hard” made him a star in 2001.
Music · born 1964CeCe Winansgospel singer, songwriterDetroit-born member of the Winans gospel family who became the most awarded female gospel singer, with 18 Grammy Awards.
Sports · 1926–1972Lorenzo Wrighttrack and field athlete, coach, administratorDetroit-born long jumper and sprinter, a 1948 Olympian and two-time NCAA All-American at Wayne State, who later ran the city's public-school athletic league.
Music · 1940–2017Leon Waresongwriter, producer, singerDetroit-born Motown songwriter and producer behind Marvin Gaye's I Want You, Michael Jackson's “I Wanna Be Where You Are” and Minnie Riperton's “Inside My Love.”
Sports · born 1997Zach Werenskiice hockey defensemanGrosse Pointe-born defenseman who trained with Detroit's Belle Tire youth club and the University of Michigan before becoming one of the NHL's top blueliners with the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Music · born 1949James Williamsonguitarist, songwriter, engineerThe Stooges' Raw Power guitarist, who came of age in the Detroit area in the 1960s and formed his first band there with future SRC singer Scott Richardson.
Music · 1942–2014Dick Wagnerguitarist, songwriterMichigan-raised guitarist who led the Bossmen and the Frost in the Detroit rock scene, then co-wrote Alice Cooper's “Only Women Bleed” and played on Lou Reed's Rock 'n' Roll Animal.
Fashion · born 1965Veronica Webbmodel, actress, writer, television personalityDetroit-born supermodel who in 1992 became the first Black model with an exclusive cosmetics contract (Revlon), and who acted in Spike Lee's Jungle Fever.
Film & TV · born 1996Chase Sui Wondersactress, director, screenwriterStar of The Studio and Bodies Bodies Bodies, born in Bloomfield Hills and educated at Cranbrook; niece of Detroit-born designer Anna Sui.Mark Wellsice hockey forwardSt. Clair Shores native who won Olympic gold with the 1980 "Miracle on Ice" team; his hometown rink is named after him.
Music · born 1939Kim WestonsingerDetroit-born Motown singer of "Take Me in Your Arms (Rock Me a Little While)" and Marvin Gaye's duet partner on "It Takes Two".Norman Whitfieldsongwriter, record producerMotown producer and songwriter who pushed the Temptations into psychedelic soul and co-wrote "I Heard It Through the Grapevine", "War" and "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone".
Music · born 1941Otis Williamssinger, founder of the TemptationsFounder and last original member of the Temptations, who grew up in Detroit and built the group out of the city's teenage vocal scene.
Sports · born 1948Tim Woodfigure skaterHighland Park native, Detroit Skating Club product and 1968 Olympic silver medalist who won the world championship in 1969 and 1970.Allee Willissongwriter, artist, art directorDetroit-born songwriter of “September” and the Friends theme, who as a teenager stood outside Motown's studio to hear the music through the walls.Sherwin Winerabbi, founder of Humanistic JudaismDetroit-born rabbi who founded the Birmingham Temple in 1963, the first congregation of Humanistic Judaism, and built it into a worldwide movement.Syreeta Wrightsinger, songwriterDetroit-raised singer who went from Motown receptionist to co-writing "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" and "It's a Shame" with Stevie Wonder, and later sang "With You I'm Born Again".
Science & invention · 1915–1994Jerome Wiesnerelectrical engineer, science adviser, university presidentPresident John F. Kennedy's science adviser and later president of MIT, born in Detroit and raised in Dearborn, where he attended Fordson High School.
Music · born 1962BeBe Winanssinger, songwriter, producerDetroit-born gospel and R&B singer, half of the duo BeBe & CeCe Winans, and a close friend of Whitney Houston.
Politics · 1911–1988G. Mennen Williamsgovernor of Michigan, diplomat, chief justiceDetroit-born heir to the Mennen toiletries fortune ('Soapy') who as six-term governor (1949–1961) forged Michigan's Democratic alliance of labor, Black voters and liberals.Doug Watkinsjazz double bassistDetroit-born bassist, an original Jazz Messenger, who played on Sonny Rollins's Saxophone Colossus and dozens of hard-bop sessions before dying in a car crash at 27.
Music · 1921–1977Julius Watkinsjazz French horn playerDetroit-born musician called the father of the jazz French horn, who played with Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis and Gil Evans and co-led Les Jazz Modes.
Press & broadcasting · born 1961Bob Woodrufftelevision journalistABC News correspondent and former World News Tonight co-anchor from Bloomfield Hills, gravely wounded in Iraq in 2006, who co-founded a foundation for injured veterans.
Sports · 1956–2014Bob Welchbaseball pitcherDetroit-born, Hazel Park-raised pitcher who won the 1990 Cy Young Award with 27 wins and wrote a frank memoir about his recovery from alcoholism.
Notorious figures · born 1969Richard Wershe Jr.former teenage FBI informant and drug traffickerEast Side Detroit teenager known as White Boy Rick who became the FBI's youngest known informant, then served decades in prison for a drug conviction at 17.
Music · born 1946Joyce Vincent WilsonsingerDetroit session singer on Motown, Golden World and Invictus records who became one of the two voices of Dawn with Tony Orlando.
Music · 1938–1995Ronnie Whitesinger, songwriterDetroit-born co-founder of the Miracles who co-wrote "My Girl" and brought the young Stevie Wonder to Motown's attention.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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