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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
21 fields

Hungarian ties 22 Detroiters with Hungarian ties →

5 people

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Film & TV · born 1975Elizabeth ReaseractressTwilight and Grey's Anatomy actress who was born in Bloomfield Hills and finished high school in Auburn Hills before training at Juilliard.Born hereGrew up here

Film & TV · 1924–2024Joyce Randolphstage and television actressDetroit-born Trixie Norton of The Honeymooners, a Finnish-American store clerk who joined a touring play in Detroit and became the show's last surviving star.Born hereGrew up here

Theatre & dance · 1919–2006Lloyd Richardstheatre director, actor, educatorDetroit-raised director of A Raisin in the Sun, the first Black director of a Broadway play, later dean of the Yale School of Drama and August Wilson's longtime collaborator.Grew up hereStudied here

Theatre & dance · born 1951Roz Ryanactress, singer, comedianDetroit nightclub singer who jumped to Broadway in Ain't Misbehavin' (1978) and became the longest-serving Matron 'Mama' Morton in Chicago.Born hereGrew up here

Music · born 1948Dennis Rowlandjazz singer, actorDetroit-born jazz singer who worked as a singer and actor in the city before Count Basie hired him in 1977 as his band vocalist for seven years.Born hereGrew up here

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 ↗

Famous Detroiters

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