Music · 1950–2022Maria Ewingopera singer (mezzo-soprano and soprano)Detroit-born opera star, celebrated as Carmen and Salome, who was discovered at Oakland University's Meadow Brook festival and made her debut with a Detroit company in 1970.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.
- 1,743 famous people
- 96 Detroit places
- 5 fields
Hungarian ties 21 Detroiters with Hungarian ties →
Field
Connection
Born in
A–Z (family name)
5 people
Clear filtersMusic · 1950–2022Maria Ewingopera singer (mezzo-soprano and soprano)Detroit-born opera star, celebrated as Carmen and Salome, who was discovered at Oakland University's Meadow Brook festival and made her debut with a Detroit company in 1970.
Sports · born 1955James Edwardsbasketball playerReliable low-post scorer nicknamed "Buddha" who came off the bench and started for the Pistons' back-to-back championship teams of 1989 and 1990.
Comedy · 1950–2023Jango Edwardsclown, cabaret performerDetroit-born clown who became a cult star of European alternative comedy, co-organizing Amsterdam's International Festival of Fools and founding a clown school near Barcelona.
Literature · born 1952Loren D. Estlemancrime and Western novelistMichigan crime writer whose Amos Walker private-eye novels and multi-volume Detroit series retell the city's 20th-century history through its underworld.
Music · 1956–2021Deon Estusbassist, singerDetroit-born bassist, taught by Motown's James Jamerson, who played with Wham! and George Michael and had a 1989 top-five hit with “Heaven Help Me.”The lexicon keeps growing. Every entry lists its sources at the bottom. Dates were checked against Wikidata and Wikipedia. The texts are our own.