Music · born 1964
Kevin SaundersonDJ, record producer, label ownerOne of the Belleville Three who invented Detroit techno; his Inner City hits carried the city's sound onto pop charts worldwide.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)
180 people · 3/4 page
Clear filtersMusic · born 1964Kevin SaundersonDJ, record producer, label ownerOne of the Belleville Three who invented Detroit techno; his Inner City hits carried the city's sound onto pop charts worldwide.
Sports · born 1969Mathieu Schneiderice hockey player, defensemanOffensive defenseman and 1993 Stanley Cup champion with Montreal who spent parts of four seasons with the Red Wings, including a career-best 2005–06 campaign.
Science & invention · born 1963
Ulana Suprunphysician, activist, health minister of UkraineDetroit-born radiologist from the city's Ukrainian community who trained at Wayne State and Henry Ford Hospital and later served as Ukraine's acting health minister (2016–2019).Sheila Taorminaswimmer, triathlete, modern pentathleteLivonia-born athlete who is the only woman ever to qualify for the Olympics in three different sports, beginning with an Olympic swimming gold medal in 1996.
Sports · born 1962Otis Thorpebasketball playerNBA champion power forward who spent two seasons anchoring the Pistons' front court after coming to Detroit in a trade from Portland.Cindy Brownbasketball playerOlympic gold medalist forward who was part of the Detroit Shock's inaugural WNBA roster in 1998.
Sports · born 1963
Gerard Gallantice hockey player and coachPhysical left winger who spent nine of his eleven NHL seasons with the Red Wings, skating on Detroit's top line alongside Steve Yzerman before a long career as an NHL coach.
Film & TV · born 1962John Marshall JonesactorDetroit-born actor best known as Floyd Henderson, the widowed father on the sitcom Smart Guy.
Thorsten KayeactorDaytime Emmy-winning soap star (The Bold and the Beautiful's Ridge Forrester) who played classical repertory with Wayne State's Hilberry company and blogs for the Red Wings.Thomas Knollsoftware engineerCreator of Adobe Photoshop, which he began writing in 1987 as a University of Michigan doctoral student in Ann Arbor, where he was born and raised.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 · born 1961Larry Murphyice hockey defenceman, broadcasterHall of Fame defenceman whose late-career trade to Detroit added the experience that helped the Red Wings win back-to-back Stanley Cups in 1997 and 1998; he later stayed in Detroit as a broadcaster.
Sports · born 1960Mike Ramseyice hockey defenseman1980 "Miracle on Ice" Olympic champion who closed out his long NHL career with a few seasons on the Red Wings' blue line.
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 1962Doug Chiangfilm designer, concept artistDearborn-raised College for Creative Studies alumnus who became Lucasfilm's executive creative director and chief designer of the Star Wars prequels.
Visual art · born 1960James O'Barrcomics artist, writerDetroit comics artist who created The Crow, a dark revenge story shaped by personal loss and by a Detroit murder case, later a cult film.Connie Paraskevintrack cyclist, speed skaterDetroit-born athlete who competed in both the Winter and Summer Olympics, won four world sprint cycling titles and an Olympic bronze medal in 1988.
Sports · born 1967John Smoltzbaseball pitcher, broadcasterWarren-born Hall of Fame pitcher, drafted by his boyhood Tigers, whose 1987 trade for Doyle Alexander is one of the most debated deals in Detroit history.
Sports · born 1964Frank Tateboxer, Olympic champion, IBF middleweight championDetroit-born Kronk boxer who won Olympic gold in 1984 and later held the IBF middleweight title.Daedra Charlesbasketball player and coachDetroit-born center who won two NCAA titles at Tennessee and an Olympic bronze medal in 1992, and later coached at the University of Detroit Mercy.
Vladimir Konstantinovice hockey defensemanFearsome Soviet-born defenseman of the Red Wings' "Russian Five" whose career ended in a limousine crash in Birmingham six days after the 1997 Stanley Cup.
Politics · born 1960Andy Levinunion organizer, lawyer, congressmanSon of Sander Levin and nephew of Carl Levin, raised in suburban Berkley, a labor organizer who ran Michigan's 'No Worker Left Behind' retraining program and served in Congress (2019–2023).
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.
Sports · born 1963John Vanbiesbrouckice hockey goaltenderDetroit-born goaltender, son of Belgian and Italian immigrants, who won the Vezina Trophy in 1986 and took the Florida Panthers to the 1996 Stanley Cup Final.
Sports · born 1963Mike Vernonice hockey goaltenderGoaltender who won the Conn Smythe Trophy in 1997 as the Red Wings ended a 42-year Stanley Cup drought.Kevin Hatcherice hockey defensemanDetroit-born, Sterling Heights-raised defenseman who played 17 NHL seasons, made five All-Star Games and entered the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame with his brother Derian.Dwayne McDuffiecomics writer, television writer and producerDetroit-born co-founder of Milestone Media and creator of Static, who brought Black superheroes into the mainstream in comics and on TV's Static Shock and Justice League Unlimited.Edward WeisenburgerCatholic Archbishop of Detroit (since 2025)Illinois-born prelate, former bishop of Salina and Tucson, installed as Archbishop of Detroit on March 18, 2025.
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.
Literature · born 1960Kathe Kojanovelist, short-story writer, theatre directorDetroit-born author of the Bram Stoker Award–winning horror novel The Cipher who still lives in metro Detroit and directs the immersive theatre company nerve.Bob Probertice hockey forward, enforcerOne of the most feared and beloved enforcers in NHL history, a Red Wing from 1985 to 1994 whose talent, toughness and public struggles made him a legendary and tragic Detroit sports figure.
Press & broadcasting · born 1964Robin Givhanfashion critic, journalistDetroit native, Renaissance High valedictorian and former Detroit Free Press writer who in 2006 became the first fashion critic to win a Pulitzer Prize.
Film & TV · born 1961Byron Allencomedian, television host, media executiveDetroit-born comedian who debuted on The Tonight Show at 18 and built Allen Media Group, one of the largest Black-owned media companies in the United States.
Sports · born 1963Cecil Fielderbaseball first baseman, designated hitterSlugger who came back from Japan to hit 51 home runs for the 1990 Tigers, the first 50-homer season in the majors in 13 years.
Music · born 1965Robert Hoodtechno producer, DJDetroit-born founding member of Underground Resistance who went on to invent the stripped-down sound of minimal techno.
Music · 1965–2021Mike Howeheavy metal singerDownriver-born heavy metal singer who started in the Detroit band Hellion and became the voice of Metal Church in two eras.Mark Ledfordtrumpeter, singer, guitaristDetroit-raised multi-instrumentalist and singer of the Pat Metheny Group, heard on the Grammy-winning albums Still Life (Talking) and Secret Story.
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.
Music · born 1963
John AcquavivaDJ, producer, label founder, music entrepreneurCanadian DJ who started out in Detroit's clubs, co-founded Plus 8 Records with Richie Hawtin and later helped launch Beatport.Jeff Bassrecord producer, songwriter, musicianDetroit producer and half of the Bass Brothers, who helped launch Eminem and co-wrote the Oscar-winning “Lose Yourself”.Blake BaxterDJ, producer, record-store ownerDetroit-born first-wave techno producer, often called the scene's unsung hero, who bridged Chicago house and Detroit techno.Tom Goresprivate equity investor, owner of the Detroit PistonsNazareth-born, Flint-raised billionaire who bought the Pistons in 2011 and moved them back into Detroit in 2017.
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.
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.Rosalind Brewerbusiness executive, former CEO of Walgreens Boots Alliance and Sam's ClubDetroit-born, Cass Tech–educated chemist who became CEO of Sam's Club, COO of Starbucks and the first woman to lead Walgreens Boots Alliance.
Music · born 1968Kenny Larkintechno producer, DJDetroit-born second-wave techno producer whose soulful, melodic records on Plus 8 and Warp made him a major influence in Europe.
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 1962Roxy PetruccidrummerMetro Detroit drummer who co-founded the glam metal band Madam X in Detroit in 1981 with her sister Maxine and later drove Vixen, one of the most successful all-female hard rock bands.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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