Music · born 1958
Madonnasinger, songwriter, producer, actressThe “Queen of Pop,” raised in the Detroit suburbs of Pontiac and Rochester Hills, a Rochester Adams High School graduate who left Michigan for New York in 1978.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)
41 people
Clear filtersMusic · born 1958Madonnasinger, songwriter, producer, actressThe “Queen of Pop,” raised in the Detroit suburbs of Pontiac and Rochester Hills, a Rochester Adams High School graduate who left Michigan for New York in 1978.
Architecture & design · 1928–2024
Fumihiko MakiarchitectJapanese Pritzker Prize–winning architect who earned his first master's degree at the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills.Douglas McGregormanagement theorist, psychologistManagement theorist of Theory X and Theory Y, born in Detroit into the family that ran the McGregor Institute, a mission for homeless men, and a graduate of today's Wayne State.
Film & TV · born 1952S. Epatha MerkersonactressLaw & Order's Lt. Anita Van Buren grew up in Detroit, graduated from Cooley High School and earned her theatre degree at Wayne State University.
Comedy · born 1961Tim Meadowscomedian, actorTen-season Saturday Night Live veteran from Highland Park and Detroit's Conant Gardens, who learned improv at the Soup Kitchen Saloon and later moved back to the city.
Michael Moriartyactor, jazz pianist, composerDetroit-born, Emmy- and Tony-winning actor, the original prosecutor Ben Stone of Law & Order, who is also a jazz pianist and composer.
Film & TV · born 1941Robert McKeescreenwriting teacher, author, story consultantDetroit-born story guru whose Story Seminar and book Story have trained generations of screenwriters; he started as a young actor on Detroit stages.
Press & broadcasting · born 1971Kenya Moorebeauty queen, actress, television personality, entrepreneurMiss USA 1993 and Real Housewives of Atlanta star, raised in Detroit by her grandmother, a Cass Tech graduate who studied at Wayne State.
Film & TV · born 1982Simone MissickactressMarvel's Misty Knight and All Rise's Judge Lola Carmichael, a Detroit native and graduate of Renaissance High School.
Film & TV · born 1974David Robert Mitchellfilm director, screenwriterClawson-born director of It Follows, who has set three of his four features in metro Detroit and shot It Follows around the city.
Politics · born 1965Thaddeus McCotterpolitician, radio hostDetroit-born Republican congressman for the northwestern suburbs (2003–2012) and 2012 presidential hopeful who later hosted talk radio in Detroit.
Fashion · born 1984Naima Morafashion modelWinner of America's Next Top Model Cycle 4, raised on Detroit's northwest side and a graduate of Cass Technical High School.
Sports · born 1976Kate Markgrafsoccer player and executiveBloomfield Hills-born defender who starred at Detroit Country Day School before a decorated international career that included three Olympic medals and a World Cup title.
Business & brands · born 1954Scott McNealytechnology executive, co-founder of Sun MicrosystemsSon of an American Motors executive who grew up in Bloomfield Hills, graduated from Cranbrook and co-founded Sun Microsystems.
Sports · born 1982Jeremiah Masseybasketball playerDetroit-born power forward who attended Mackenzie High School before a college and professional career that took him through Kansas State and more than a decade of European and international basketball.
Sports · born 1991Ray McCallum Jr.basketball playerDetroit-born guard who won a state title at Detroit Country Day School and played college basketball for his father at the University of Detroit Mercy.
Sports · born 1997Kyle MacksnowboarderRoyal Oak-born snowboarder from West Bloomfield who won Olympic silver in Big Air at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games, an unusual winter-sports success story out of flat, suburban Detroit.
Music · born 1987Teairra Marísinger, songwriter, actressDetroit-born R&B singer who signed with Roc-A-Fella Records at 16 while a student at the city's performing-arts high school; her debut album reached the Billboard top five.
Sports · 1938–2020Wilbert McClureboxer and psychologist1960 Olympic boxing gold medalist, teammate of Cassius Clay, who later earned his doctorate in psychology at Wayne State University in Detroit.Steve McCroryboxerKronk Gym-trained flyweight, younger brother of world champion Milton McCrory, who won Olympic gold in 1984 before a career and life cut short.
Sports · 1932–2009Arthur Frank McKinlayrowerDetroit-born Olympic silver medalist rower, a 1950 graduate of Cooley High School with his twin brother, who won his medal in the coxless fours at the 1956 Games.
Music · born 1988Maejorrecord producer, singer, rapperSouthfield-born producer and singer who scored his first gold record while a University of Michigan student and later wrote and produced for Justin Bieber.
Literature · born 1965
Dunya Mikhailpoet, journalist, teacherIraqi-American poet of The War Works Hard who fled Saddam Hussein's regime, settled in metro Detroit, studied at Wayne State and teaches Arabic at Oakland University.
Press & broadcasting · 1950–2026Dave Marshrock critic, editor, author, radio hostPontiac-born rock critic who left Wayne State in 1969 to help build Creem, Detroit's irreverent rock magazine, before becoming a Rolling Stone editor and Springsteen biographer.
Literature · born 1939Thomas McGuanenovelist, short-story writer, screenwriterWyandotte-born novelist of Ninety-Two in the Shade who grew up downriver from Detroit and attended Cranbrook before becoming a chronicler of the American West.Agnes Mary Mansourformer nun, college president, Michigan social services directorDetroit-born Sister of Mercy and biochemist who led Mercy College of Detroit, then left religious life in 1983 in a Vatican dispute over her state social services post.
Music · born 1961
Rick Margitzajazz tenor saxophonist, composerDetroit-born tenor saxophonist of Hungarian Romani descent who played with Miles Davis and recorded three albums for Blue Note before settling in Paris.
Visual art · 1924–2021Charles McGeepainter, sculptor, teacherDetroit painter and sculptor who shaped the city's art scene for seven decades, from Gallery 7 to his giant Unity mural on 28 Grand.
Press & broadcasting · born 1958Elvis Mitchellfilm critic, radio host, filmmakerHighland Park-born film critic, Wayne State graduate and former Detroit Free Press critic who became a New York Times critic and host of public radio's The Treatment.Sylvia Moysongwriter, record producerDetroit-born songwriter, the first woman to write and produce for Motown acts, whose "Uptight" kept Stevie Wonder on the label.
Law · born 1960Greg Mathisjudge, television arbitrator, authorDetroit-raised former gang member who became a 36th District Court judge in the city and then TV's 'Judge Mathis' for 24 seasons (1999–2023).
Music · born 1983Black Milkrapper, record producerDetroit rapper-producer who carried the J Dilla and Slum Village tradition into the 2000s with dense, live-sounding beats and albums such as Tronic and Album of the Year.
Theatre & dance · 1898–1993Edith Meiseractress, playwright, radio writerDetroit-born actress and writer who brought Sherlock Holmes to American radio in 1930 and appeared in more than 20 Broadway shows.Joe MessinaguitaristDetroit-born jazz guitarist who became one of the most prolific Funk Brothers, playing on "Dancing in the Street" and hundreds of other Motown records.
Politics · 1899–1970Thaddeus M. Machrowiczlawyer, judge, congressmanPolish-born lawyer who rose from Hamtramck city attorney and judge to represent the Detroit area in Congress for a decade, then served as a federal judge in Detroit.John Macurdyoperatic bassDetroit-born bass who sang at the Metropolitan Opera 1,001 times between 1962 and 2000 after starting out as a General Motors die and pattern maker.Naomi Long Madgettpoet, publisher, teacherPoet laureate of Detroit from 2001 and founder of Lotus Press (1972), which published generations of Black poets from Detroit.
Politics · 1897–1987Louis Mirianilawyer, city council president, mayor of DetroitLegal aid lawyer and council president who succeeded Albert Cobo in 1957, completed Cobo Hall and the Civic Center, and remains Detroit's most recent Republican mayor.Billy Mitchelljazz tenor saxophonist, bandleaderDetroit-raised tenor saxophonist who led the Blue Bird Inn house band from 1951 to 1954, with Miles Davis as guest, before joining Dizzy Gillespie and Count Basie.J. Mossgospel singer, producer, songwriter, pastorDetroit gospel singer and producer, nephew of Mattie Moss Clark, whose PAJAM production team became gospel's leading hitmakers.Bruce Millantheater founder, artistic directorDetroit-born co-founder of the Detroit Repertory Theatre (1957), whose 61 years as its artistic director and color-blind casting made him a pillar of Detroit theater.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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