Famous people's places / Detroit – Midtown

Maccabees Building

A 1927 Albert Kahn tower on Woodward Avenue that housed WXYZ-TV's studios into the 1950s, where Soupy Sales launched his Detroit television career; now Wayne State University offices.

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01 / The story of this place

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Architect Albert Kahn designed this fifteen-story Art Deco and Romanesque tower on Woodward Avenue in Midtown Detroit in 1927 as the headquarters of the Maccabees fraternal insurance organization, which had relocated from Port Huron. From the early 1950s until 1959, the building's upper floors housed the studios of WXYZ-TV, and it was here that a young comedian named Soupy Sales, who had joined the station in 1953, built his loose, gag-heavy local television show into a launching pad for what would become a decades-long national career built on pie-in-the-face slapstick. WXYZ eventually moved its studios elsewhere, and the tower went on to other office uses; radio station WDET also kept studios in the building for a long stretch, from the early 1960s to 1987. Wayne State University bought the Maccabees Building in 2002 and still uses it for administrative offices today, so the building itself never stopped working, even as the broadcasters who made it famous moved on.

Designed by architect Albert Kahn, opened in 1927
Headquarters of the Maccabees fraternal insurance organization
WXYZ-TV studios here from the early 1950s to 1959
Soupy Sales began his Detroit TV career in this building
Owned by Wayne State University since 2002

Famous Detroiters

Famous people tied to this place 11

Lexicon entries for the people who lived, worked, performed or liked to spend time here.

Mike Wallace 1918–2012 · broadcast journalist, 60 Minutes correspondent
Worked here
WXYZ's home until 1959, where he worked as an announcer; now owned by Wayne State University.
Soupy Sales 1926–2009 · comedian, television host
Worked here
Albert Kahn's 1927 tower where WXYZ-TV had its studios until 1959 and where Soupy's Detroit show began; owned by Wayne State University since 2002 and used for offices.
Al Hodge 1912–1979 · radio and television actor
Performed here
WXYZ's studios, where Hodge performed The Green Hornet live.
George W. Trendle 1884–1972 · radio and TV producer, broadcaster, theater owner, lawyer
Worked here
The Albert Kahn tower that housed WXYZ radio and later television until 1959; The Lone Ranger went on the air from here. Wayne State University has owned it since 2002.
Brace Beemer 1902–1965 · radio actor and announcer
Performed here
WXYZ's studios, where Beemer announced and performed The Lone Ranger live, three times a night for different time zones.
Fred Foy 1921–2010 · radio and television announcer, narrator
Worked here
WXYZ's studios, where Foy announced and narrated The Lone Ranger.
Fran Striker 1903–1962 · radio and comics writer
Worked here
WXYZ's home, where Striker headed the script department that fed The Lone Ranger, The Green Hornet and Challenge of the Yukon.
James Jewell 1906–1975 · radio director, producer, actor
Worked here
WXYZ's studios, where Jewell directed The Lone Ranger and The Green Hornet with his stock company.
John Todd 1876–1957 · radio and stage actor
Performed here
WXYZ's studios, where Todd performed Tonto live for more than twenty years.
Johnny Ginger 1934–2026 · television host, comedian
Performed here
WXYZ-TV's studios when Curtain Time Theater began in 1957; the station moved to Southfield in 1959.
Earle Graser 1909–1941 · radio actor
Performed here
WXYZ's studios, where Graser performed The Lone Ranger live; he was driving home from here on the night he died.