Sports · born 1948Ron LeFlorebaseball player, center fielderEast-side Detroiter who went from Jackson State Prison to center field at Tiger Stadium in 1974, a story told in the TV film One in a Million.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
- 22 fields
Hungarian ties 21 Detroiters with Hungarian ties →
Field
Connection
Born in
A–Z (family name)
1743 people · 27/37 page
Sports · born 1948Ron LeFlorebaseball player, center fielderEast-side Detroiter who went from Jackson State Prison to center field at Tiger Stadium in 1974, a story told in the TV film One in a Million.
Politics · 1866–1923Oscar Marxoptical manufacturer, mayor of DetroitFarm boy from the edge of Detroit who built the Michigan Optical Company and was mayor through the 1913–1918 auto boom, appointing James Couzens police commissioner.
Architecture & design · 1856–1948George D. MasonarchitectLong-lived Detroit architect of the Masonic Temple and Mackinac's Grand Hotel, and the early employer of Albert Kahn and Wirt Rowland.
Sports · born 1962Milton McCroryboxer, WBC welterweight championDetroit-born Kronk fighter who won the WBC welterweight title in 1983, the first Detroit-born champion from Emanuel Steward's gym.
Law · 1955–2020Benny Napoleonpolice chief, lawyer, Wayne County sheriffDetroit-born minister's son who rose from patrolman to Detroit police chief (1998–2001), served as Wayne County sheriff (2009–2020) and ran for mayor in 2013.
Music · 1938–1997Lawrence Paytontenor, vocal arrangerDetroit-born tenor and vocal arranger of the Four Tops, credited with the group's seamless harmonies.
Music · born 1965James Penningtontechno DJ and producerDetroit techno pioneer known as Suburban Knight, whose dark “The Art of Stalking” became a classic and who mentored Underground Resistance.
Music · born 1991Babyface RayrapperEast-side Detroit rapper whose laid-back, luxurious flow made him a central figure of 2020s Detroit hip-hop, peaking with the album Face in 2022.
Literature · 1849–1898Robert Reitzelwriter, editor, speakerGerman-American freethinker who published the radical literary weekly Der arme Teufel in Detroit from 1884 until his death in 1898.
Religion · 1791–1871Frederick Resefirst Catholic Bishop of DetroitGerman-born priest who became the first Catholic bishop of Detroit in 1833, taking Ste. Anne's as his cathedral and bringing religious orders to the frontier diocese.
Visual art · 1879–1968Loja Saarinentextile artist, sculptorFinnish textile artist who founded Cranbrook's weaving department and designed the rugs and tapestries of its Saarinen buildings.
MusicGuilty Simpsonrapper, songwriterDeep-voiced Detroit rapper, one of J Dilla's favorite MCs, who recorded for Stones Throw and formed Random Axe with Black Milk.
Music · 1936–2013Bobby SmithsingerPrincipal lead singer of the Spinners from their founding at a Ferndale high school in 1954 until 2013.
Politics · 1882–1942John W. Smithpipefitter, postmaster, mayor of DetroitFormer newsboy and pipefitter who rose to postmaster and mayor, defeating a Klan-backed write-in candidate in 1924 and serving twice (1924–1928 and 1933).
Music · born 1932Little Sonnyblues harmonica player, singer, songwriterAlabama-born harmonica player who came to Detroit in 1953, worked the city's clubs for decades and made three albums for a Stax subsidiary in the early 1970s.
Politics · 1890–1963Rudolph G. Tenerowiczphysician, politicianBudapest-born Polish-American physician who served as mayor of Hamtramck and as a US congressman from Detroit, a career marked by a bribery conviction and his role in the 1942 Sojourner Truth Homes conflict.
City history · born 1963Heather Ann Thompsonhistorian, authorPulitzer-winning historian of the Attica uprising who grew up in Detroit's North Rosedale Park, graduated from Cass Tech and wrote Whose Detroit?
Music · born 1985Seth TroxlerDJ, producer, label founderDJ raised on the edge of metro Detroit who learned techno as a teenage record-store buyer and became one of the most popular house and techno DJs in the world.
Fashion · born 1954John Varvatosmenswear designerDetroit-born menswear designer, raised in Allen Park, whose rock-and-roll tailoring grew out of a Downriver youth spent on Detroit music.
Music · born 1968Rodney Whitakerjazz double bassist, educatorDetroit-born bassist, a Marcus Belgrave protégé who played with Terence Blanchard, Roy Hargrove and Wynton Marsalis and now leads jazz studies at Michigan State University.
Politics · 1782–1854John R. Williamsmerchant, first elected mayor of DetroitDetroit-born merchant who wrote the 1824 city charter, served as the first elected mayor and co-founded the paper that became the Detroit Free Press; John R Street is named after him.
Law · 1774–1827Augustus B. Woodwardfirst chief justice of Michigan Territory, city plannerFirst chief justice of Michigan Territory who drew up Detroit's radial street plan after the fire of 1805; Woodward Avenue bears his name.
Literature · 1939–2021Al Youngpoet, novelist, essayistCalifornia poet laureate (2005–2008) who spent his youth in Detroit, graduated from Central High and set his first novel, Snakes, among the city's teenage musicians.
Notorious figures · 1897–1977Joseph Zerilliboss of the Detroit Partnership (Detroit Mafia)Sicilian immigrant who rose from laborer and bootlegger to head the Detroit Mafia, known as the Partnership, from the 1930s until the 1970s.
Sports · 1931–1994Hank Aguirrebaseball pitcher, businessmanTigers left-hander who led the league in ERA in 1962 and later founded Mexican Industries, a Detroit auto-parts company that employed hundreds of Hispanic Detroiters.
Politics · 1889–1962Eugene Van Antwerpcivil engineer, city councilman, mayor of DetroitRailroad civil engineer and World War I veteran who sat on the City Council for nearly three decades and was mayor in 1948–1950.
Music · 1943–2026Rosalind AshfordsingerDetroit-born soprano and original member of Martha and the Vandellas, heard on "Heat Wave", "Dancing in the Street" and "Nowhere to Run".The lexicon keeps growing. Every entry lists its sources at the bottom. Dates were checked against Wikidata and Wikipedia. The texts are our own.