Comedy · born 1964David Spadestand-up comedian, actor, podcasterSarcastic Saturday Night Live alumnus and Tommy Boy star, born in the Detroit suburb of Birmingham before his family moved west.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
- 13 fields
Hungarian ties 21 Detroiters with Hungarian ties →
Field
Connection
Born in
A–Z (family name)
17 people
Clear filtersComedy · born 1964David Spadestand-up comedian, actor, podcasterSarcastic Saturday Night Live alumnus and Tommy Boy star, born in the Detroit suburb of Birmingham before his family moved west.
Film & TV · 1961–2023Tom SizemoreactorDetroit-born, Wayne State-trained character actor of Heat, True Romance and Saving Private Ryan.
Sports · born 1969Steve Smithbasketball player, broadcasterMichigan-born NBA All-Star and Olympic gold medalist, Michigan State's all-time leading scorer, now a national basketball broadcaster.
Film & TV · born 1962Grant ShowactorDetroit-born actor who played brooding mechanic Jake Hanson on Melrose Place and tycoon Blake Carrington in the Dynasty reboot.
Sports · born 1964John Salleybasketball player, forward-centerBad Boys-era Pistons forward who won back-to-back NBA titles in Detroit in 1989 and 1990 and later became the first player to win championships with three franchises.
Sports · born 1969Brendan Shanahanice hockey forward, executiveHall of Fame power forward who won three Stanley Cups with the Detroit Red Wings and remains one of only two players with over 600 goals and 2,000 penalty minutes.
Literature · born 1967Ruta Sepetyshistorical novelistCarnegie Medal–winning author of Between Shades of Gray, born in Detroit to a Lithuanian refugee family and raised in the city's northwestern suburbs.
Sports · born 1968Barry Sandersfootball running backHeisman Trophy winner who spent all ten NFL seasons with the Detroit Lions, widely regarded as one of the most elusive running backs in football history.
Sports · born 1964Otmar Szafnauerengineer, Formula One team principalRomanian-born, Detroit-raised engineer who went from Ford program manager to running Force India, Racing Point, Aston Martin and Alpine in Formula One.
Comedy · born 1963Mary Scheeractress, comedian, writer, producerDetroit-born comedian, an original MADtv cast member and Freddie's overprotective mother Marissa Benson on Nickelodeon's iCarly.
Music · 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.
Science & invention · born 1963Ulana 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).
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.
Music · born 1960Karen Clark Sheardsinger, songwriterYoungest of the Clark Sisters, a Detroit gospel singer whose solo debut Finally Karen (1997) made her one of the genre's leading voices; Grammy winner for "Blessed & Highly Favored".The lexicon keeps growing. Every entry lists its sources at the bottom. Dates were checked against Wikidata and Wikipedia. The texts are our own.