Theatre & dance · 1874–1926Harry Houdiniillusionist, escape artist, stage and film performerBudapest-born escape artist who played Detroit's vaudeville houses for decades, leapt handcuffed off the Belle Isle Bridge in 1906 and died in the city on Halloween 1926.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.
- 1,940 famous people
- 366 Detroit places
- 22 fields
Hungarian ties 22 Detroiters with Hungarian ties →
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19 people
Clear filtersTheatre & dance · 1874–1926Harry Houdiniillusionist, escape artist, stage and film performerBudapest-born escape artist who played Detroit's vaudeville houses for decades, leapt handcuffed off the Belle Isle Bridge in 1906 and died in the city on Halloween 1926.
Literature · 1925–2013Elmore Leonardnovelist, screenwriterCrime novelist nicknamed 'the Dickens of Detroit', raised and educated in the city, who set many of his hard-boiled stories on its streets.
Music · 1923–1976Mukeshplayback singerBeloved Hindi film playback singer, the singing voice of Raj Kapoor, who died of a heart attack in Detroit in 1976 while on a North American concert tour.
Theatre & dance · 1925–2014Elaine Stritchactress, singer, comedianBroadway's tough, funny star of Company and At Liberty was born in Detroit, and after six decades in New York came home to Birmingham, Michigan, to spend her last year.
Music · 1948–2020Ivan Králguitarist, bassist, songwriter, producer, filmmakerPrague-born guitarist of the Patti Smith Group and Iggy Pop, co-writer of “Dancing Barefoot,” who spent his final years recording in Ann Arbor and Detroit.
Film & TV · 1913–1984Bob Clampettanimator, director, puppeteerLooney Tunes director and creator of Beany and Cecil, who died in Detroit in 1984 while touring to promote his cartoons on home video.
Music · 1936–2008Levi Stubbssinger, voice actorLifelong Detroiter and lead voice of the Four Tops, formed with Pershing High School friends, who sang “Reach Out I'll Be There” and is buried at Woodlawn Cemetery.
Film & TV · 1903–1954Tom Tylerfilm actor, weightlifterHamtramck-raised B-Western star and screen Captain Marvel, who came home to Hamtramck to die and is buried in Detroit's Mount Olivet Cemetery.
Sports · 1886–1983Jam HandyOlympic swimmer and water polo player, industrial filmmakerTwo-time Olympic bronze medalist who built the Jam Handy Organization in Detroit into one of America's largest producers of industrial and training films.
Film & TV · 1896–1975Cullen Landissilent-film actor, director of industrial filmsSilent-film leading man who starred in the first all-talking feature (1928), then moved to Detroit in 1930 to direct industrial films, joining the Jam Handy studio in 1937.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 ↗