Sports · born 1979
Carlos Arroyobasketball playerPuerto Rican point guard who ran the Pistons' offense off the bench in the 2005 NBA Finals, reaching Game 7 before Detroit lost to San Antonio.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
- 16 fields
Hungarian ties 31 Detroiters with Hungarian ties →
Origin and citizenship
Field
Connection
Born in
A–Z (family name)
184 people · 2/4 page
Clear filtersSports · born 1979Carlos Arroyobasketball playerPuerto Rican point guard who ran the Pistons' offense off the bench in the 2005 NBA Finals, reaching Game 7 before Detroit lost to San Antonio.
Music · born 1970
Richie HawtinDJ, electronic musician, label founderWindsor-raised techno producer who crossed the river into Detroit's clubs, co-founded Plus 8 and became a leading figure of minimal techno as Plastikman.
Sports · born 1978Michael Russelltennis player, coachDetroit-born professional tennis player who reached a career-high world No. 60 and set the all-time record for USTA Pro Circuit singles titles.Quincy Wattssprinter, track coachDetroit-born sprinter who won two gold medals at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, in the 400 meters and the 4 × 400 meters relay.
Music · born 1970John 5guitarist, songwriterGrosse Pointe-raised guitarist of Marilyn Manson, Rob Zombie and Mötley Crüe, who learned blues and rock 'n' roll from a Detroit guitar teacher.
Literature · born 1971Megan Abbottcrime novelist, screenwriterEdgar Award–winning crime novelist born in Detroit and raised in Grosse Pointe, whose suburban noirs about girls and women draw on her Michigan youth.
Film & TV · born 1973Colin EgglesfieldactorAll My Children and Melrose Place actor and romantic lead of Something Borrowed, born in Farmington Hills.
Sports · born 1970Lindsey Hunterbasketball player and coachTenacious defensive guard across two Pistons stints who won the 2004 NBA championship guarding some of the league's best scorers.
Sports · born 1970
Robert Langice hockey centerCzech center who, while leading the NHL in scoring, was traded to the Stanley Cup-contending Red Wings in 2004 and played three seasons in Detroit.
Sports · born 1977Nazr Mohammedbasketball player, centerJourneyman center who signed with Detroit in 2006 and became the Pistons' starting center for a season and a half.
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.
Sports · born 1973Jalen Rosebasketball player, sports analyst, authorDetroit-born guard who starred at Southwestern High School and with Michigan's 'Fab Five' before a long NBA career and a second career as a national broadcaster and Detroit philanthropist.
Sports · born 1976
Mikael Samuelssonice hockey player, right wingerSwedish winger who found his best NHL form with the Red Wings, winning the 2008 Stanley Cup and joining hockey's Triple Gold Club, and later returned to Detroit for two more seasons.
Sports · born 1971Jiří Šlégrice hockey defenceman, later politicianCzech defenceman picked up by the Red Wings in a late-season trade in March 2002, just in time to win the Stanley Cup with Detroit that spring.
Sports · born 1974Chucky Atkinsbasketball player, point guardJourneyman point guard who arrived in Detroit in the same 2000 trade that brought Ben Wallace, then returned for a brief encore nine years later.
Music · born 1976BizarrerapperDetroit rapper and founding member of D12, recruited by Proof in 1995, who still lives and makes music in his hometown.
Sports · born 1979Swin Cashbasketball player, broadcaster, executiveWNBA Hall of Famer who was the second overall pick of the Detroit Shock in 2002 and led the team to championships in 2003 and 2006.
Sports · born 1971Allan Houstonbasketball player, shooting guard, executiveSharpshooting guard who began his NBA career with three seasons in Detroit before becoming a two-time All-Star with the Knicks.
Music · born 1974Mark Tremontiguitarist, singer, songwriterDetroit-born guitarist of Creed and Alter Bridge who spent most of his childhood in suburban Grosse Pointe.
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.David Hahnamateur experimenterThe 'Radioactive Boy Scout' who, as a teenager in suburban Detroit, tried to build a breeder reactor in a backyard shed in Commerce Township, prompting an EPA cleanup in 1995.
Film & TV · born 1970Matt Letscheractor, playwright, directorGrosse Pointe-born actor (The Mask of Zorro, The Flash's Reverse-Flash) and playwright, discovered at Jeff Daniels' Purple Rose Theatre in Chelsea.
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.
Sports · born 1972Chris Osgoodice hockey goaltender, broadcasterGoaltender who spent most of his 17-year NHL career with Detroit and won three Stanley Cups with the Red Wings, in 1997, 1998 and 2008.
Sports · born 1973Theo Ratliffbasketball playerShot-blocking center whom the Pistons drafted in 1995 and briefly brought back in 2008, part of a 16-season NBA career.
Film & TV · born 1977Geoff StultsactorActor of 7th Heaven, The Finder and Enlisted, born in Detroit and raised in the Colorado mountains; brother of actor George Stults.
Film & TV · born 1972James DuvalactorDetroit-born actor of Donnie Darko, Independence Day and Gregg Araki's cult 'Teen Apocalypse' films.Adrienne Frantzactress, singer-songwriterActress and singer-songwriter born in Mount Clemens, north-east of Detroit, best known as Amber Moore on The Bold and the Beautiful and The Young and the Restless.
Sports · born 1973Tomas Holmströmice hockey left wingerSwedish winger who played his entire 15-season NHL career with the Red Wings, screening goaltenders in front of the net to help win four Stanley Cups.Shannon Johnsonbasketball playerVeteran WNBA guard who signed with the Detroit Shock for the 2007 season and helped the team reach the WNBA Finals.
Sports · born 1972
Vyacheslav Kozlovice hockey left winger, coachRussian winger drafted by Detroit in 1990 who played a decade for the Red Wings as part of the famed Russian Five and won two Stanley Cups.
Sports · born 1973Brian Maisonneuvesoccer playerMetro Detroit-born midfielder who played youth soccer around the city before representing the United States at the 1996 Olympics and the 1998 World Cup.
Music · born 1978Denaun Porterrapper, record producerD12 founding member who grew up in Detroit and became one of Eminem's closest production partners and a sought-after hip-hop producer.
Sports · born 1973Brian Rafalskiice hockey defensemanDearborn-born defenseman, an undrafted free agent who signed with his hometown Red Wings in 2007 and won the Stanley Cup with them in 2008.
Sports · born 1979Ruth Rileybasketball player, centerNotre Dame national champion who became the first person to win Most Outstanding Player honors in both the NCAA and WNBA championships, leading the Detroit Shock to its first WNBA title in 2003.Chris Savinoanimator, comic book artistCreator of Nickelodeon's The Loud House, whose fictional Michigan town of Royal Woods is modeled on his hometown of Royal Oak.
Film & TV · born 1976
Haaz SleimanactorLebanese actor of The Visitor and Killing Jesus who, after immigrating at 21, lived in metro Detroit and earned a computer science degree at Wayne State University.
Music · born 1973Trick-Trickrapper, record producerDetroit rapper and producer of the Goon Sqwad, best known for the civic-pride anthem “Welcome 2 Detroit” with Eminem.
Sports · born 1977Marek Zidlickyice hockey defencemanCzech defenceman who scored an overtime winner in his very first game as a Red Wing after a March 2015 trade brought him to Detroit.
Music · born 1970Brendan Bensonsinger-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producerPower-pop songwriter born in Royal Oak whose Detroit attic was where he and Jack White wrote the first song of the Raconteurs in 2005.
Sports · born 1975Todd Bertuzziice hockey wingerPower forward who joined the Red Wings at the 2008 trade deadline and returned for a five-season second stint, reaching the 2009 Western Conference finals.
Press & broadcasting · born 1976
Nargiz Birk-Petersenlawyer, television presenter, modelAzerbaijani-American lawyer who co-hosted the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest in Baku, after studying in Michigan and earning her law degree at Wayne State.Myndy CristactressFilm and television actress with more than 50 screen credits, born in Detroit and raised in Marin County, California.
Sports · born 1973Johnny Damonbaseball player, outfielderTwo-time World Series champion outfielder who spent a single, memorable season with the Tigers in 2010, notching his 2,500th career hit and a walk-off homer in Detroit.
Sports · born 1973Darvin Hambasketball coach, former playerReserve forward on the Pistons' 2004 championship team who went on to a long coaching career, including as Los Angeles Lakers head coach.
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.
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.
Sports · born 1973Corliss Williamsonbasketball player, coach"Big Nasty" was the Pistons' Sixth Man of the Year in 2002 and a key bench scorer on Detroit's 2004 NBA championship team.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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