Film & TV · born 1962
Paul Feigdirector, writer, producer, actorBridesmaids director and Freaks and Geeks creator who grew up in Mount Clemens and based his cult series on his years at Chippewa Valley High 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
- 13 fields
Hungarian ties 31 Detroiters with Hungarian ties →
Origin and citizenship
Field
Connection
Born in
A–Z (family name)
20 people
Clear filtersFilm & TV · born 1962Paul Feigdirector, writer, producer, actorBridesmaids director and Freaks and Geeks creator who grew up in Mount Clemens and based his cult series on his years at Chippewa Valley High School.
Press & broadcasting · born 1985Rima Fakihbeauty queen, TV personalityLebanese-born Dearborn resident who became Miss USA 2010, the first Arab American woman to win the title, representing Michigan.
Science & invention · born 1965Andrew J. Feustelastronaut, geophysicistNASA astronaut who grew up in Lake Orion, started at Oakland Community College while fixing classic Jaguars, repaired the Hubble Space Telescope and later commanded the International Space Station.
Music · 1930–2001Tommy Flanaganjazz pianist, composerConant Gardens-born pianist who learned bebop in Detroit's clubs, played on Saxophone Colossus and Giant Steps, and spent years as Ella Fitzgerald's accompanist.
Science & invention · born 1969Tony Fadellengineer, designer, entrepreneurEngineer known as the 'father of the iPod', co-creator of the iPhone and founder of Nest Labs; he grew up in the Detroit area and graduated from Grosse Pointe South High School.
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.
Music · 1942–1995Melvin Franklinbass singerThe deep bass voice of the Temptations, a founding member who grew up in Detroit and sang with the group from 1961 until 1994.
Music · 1952–2010Doug Fiegersinger, guitarist, songwriterDetroit-born, Oak Park-raised frontman of the Knack, who co-wrote and sang “My Sharona,” the biggest U.S. hit of 1979.
Music · 1935–2024Abdul "Duke" FakirsingerDetroit-born co-founder and last original member of the Four Tops, who sang with the group from 1953 until weeks before his death in 2024.Frederick A. Foxcomposer, music educatorDetroit-born composer and former jazz saxophonist, a Wayne State graduate who founded the Indiana University New Music Ensemble.
Theatre & dance · born 1940
Garth Faganchoreographer, dancer, company directorJamaican-born choreographer who spent the 1960s dancing and studying in Detroit before founding Garth Fagan Dance and winning a Tony for The Lion King.
Andy FarkasAmerican football fullbackHungarian-American fullback who came of age at University of Detroit Jesuit and the University of Detroit, starred for Washington and finished his NFL career with the Detroit Lions.
Politics · 1922–1993Zolton Ferencylawyer, political activist, professorDetroit-born son of a Hungarian-American family who chaired the Michigan Democratic Party, ran for governor in 1966 and later founded the left-wing Human Rights Party.
Politics · born 1952Robert Ficanolawyer, Wayne County sheriff, county executiveDetroit-born lawyer who served twenty years as Wayne County sheriff (1983–2003) and twelve as county executive (2003–2015), a tenure ending amid scandals and the unfinished Gratiot jail project.Jorja Fleezanisviolinist, concertmaster, teacherCass Tech-trained violinist from a Greek immigrant family in Detroit who was concertmaster of the Minnesota Orchestra for twenty years and premiered John Adams's Violin Concerto.T. J. Fowlerpianist, organist, bandleaderDetroit-raised pianist whose jump-blues band recorded for Sensation, Savoy and States in the 1940s and 1950s, and who advised Berry Gordy's young Motown in 1959.
Labor · 1907–1977Richard FrankensteenUAW vice president, labor organizerDetroit-born Dodge worker and UAW vice president who was beaten beside Walter Reuther at the 1937 Battle of the Overpass and ran for mayor in 1945.Hoyt W. Fullereditor, critic, journalistEditor of Negro Digest/Black World, the key magazine of the Black Arts Movement, who was raised in Detroit, graduated from Wayne State and began as a Detroit newspaperman.James Frazierconductor, composerDetroit-born conductor, the son of a city sanitation worker, who won Italy's Cantelli Award in 1969 and composed a King Requiem premiered in Detroit.George Fraynepianist, singer, bandleader, painterAs Commander Cody, the University of Michigan art student founded the Lost Planet Airmen in Ann Arbor in 1967, pioneering boogie-woogie country rock and the hit “Hot Rod Lincoln.”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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