Literature · 1940–2015Wayne Dyerself-help author, motivational speaker, psychologistBest-selling self-help author of Your Erroneous Zones who spent part of his childhood in an east-side Detroit orphanage and earned three degrees at Wayne State.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.
- 1,912 famous people
- 135 Detroit places
- 5 fields
Hungarian ties 22 Detroiters with Hungarian ties →
Field
Connection
Born in
A–Z (family name)
10 people
Clear filtersLiterature · 1940–2015Wayne Dyerself-help author, motivational speaker, psychologistBest-selling self-help author of Your Erroneous Zones who spent part of his childhood in an east-side Detroit orphanage and earned three degrees at Wayne State.
Sports · 1940–2003Dave DeBusscherebasketball player and coach, baseball playerDetroit-born Hall of Famer who starred for the Pistons, became the youngest head coach in NBA history at 24, and later won two championships with the New York Knicks.
Sports · 1940–2023Terry Dischingerbasketball player, forward1963 Rookie of the Year and three-time All-Star who played six seasons for the Pistons across two stints, sharing the frontcourt with Hall of Famers Dave Bing and Bob Lanier.
Music · 1941–2022Lamont Doziersongwriter, record producer, singerThe Dozier of Holland–Dozier–Holland, the Detroit songwriting team that wrote and produced dozens of Motown hits for the Supremes, Four Tops and Martha and the Vandellas.
Music · 1943–2012Michael DavisbassistBassist of the MC5, a Wayne State art student who joined the band in 1964 and played on Kick Out the Jams, recorded live at Detroit's Grande Ballroom.
Music · 1945–1982Rusty DaysingerDetroit rock singer who fronted the Amboy Dukes and the hard-driving blues-rock band Cactus, and later tried to revive the band Detroit.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 ↗