Famous people's places / Detroit – Northwest

Mumford High School

Northwest Detroit high school, opened in 1952, whose gym shirt Eddie Murphy's Axel Foley wears in Beverly Hills Cop.

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Mumford High School opened in September 1952 on Wyoming Avenue in northwest Detroit, after postwar shortages held up construction. It was named for Samuel C. Mumford, a Detroit school board member and treasurer of Detroit Edison. In its early years the neighborhood was largely Jewish, and graduates from that era include film producer Jerry Bruckheimer and songwriter Allee Willis, who later co-wrote September for Earth, Wind & Fire. That is how Mumford reached Hollywood: in the 1984 hit Beverly Hills Cop, Eddie Murphy's Detroit detective Axel Foley wears a gray Mumford Phys. Ed. Dept. shirt through much of the film. Bruckheimer produced the movie, and a well-known production story adds that the crew noticed the school while watching Detroit police work a real crime scene across the street. As Jewish families moved out to Oakland County, Mumford became a pillar of Black northwest Detroit, drawing students from Palmer Park, Palmer Woods and Sherwood Forest. The original building came down in the summer of 2012, and a new school opened on the same site that August.

Opened in September 1952, named for school board member Samuel C. Mumford
Axel Foley wears a Mumford gym shirt in Beverly Hills Cop (1984)
Producer Jerry Bruckheimer is an alumnus
Songwriter Allee Willis and NFL receiver Derrick Mason also went here
A new building replaced the original on the same site in 2012

Famous Detroiters

Famous people tied to this place 11

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

Eddie Murphy born 1961 · comedian, actor, singer
Related place
Northwest Detroit high school whose gym shirt Axel Foley wears in Beverly Hills Cop; the film crew had noticed it next to a real crime scene, and it was also Jerry Bruckheimer's alma mater.
Jerry Bruckheimer born 1943 · film and television producer
Studied here
Northwest Detroit public high school from which Bruckheimer graduated in 1961; its gym shirt became famous on Eddie Murphy in Beverly Hills Cop.
David Ramsey born 1971 · actor, television director
Studied here
Northwest Detroit public high school, opened in 1952; Ramsey is an alumnus. Its gym shirt was worn by Eddie Murphy in Beverly Hills Cop (1984).
Robert Shaye born 1939 · film executive, producer, director, actor
Studied here
Shaye graduated from this northwest Detroit public high school before going to the University of Michigan.
CeCe Winans born 1964 · gospel singer, songwriter
Studied here
Northwest Detroit public high school she attended; as a child she sang in a talent show here with her brothers. Alumni include the Clark Sisters and Fred Hammond.
Bruce Joel Rubin born 1943 · screenwriter, meditation teacher, photographer
Studied here
Northwest Detroit public high school; Rubin graduated in 1960.
Judith Guest born 1936 · novelist, screenwriter
Studied here
The northwest-side Detroit high school she attended before her family moved to Royal Oak.
Allee Willis 1947–2019 · songwriter, artist, art director
Studied here
Northwest Detroit high school she attended.
Ruth Laredo 1937–2005 · classical pianist
Studied here
The northwest Detroit public high school Laredo attended from 1951 to 1955.
Karen Clark Sheard born 1960 · singer, songwriter
Studied here
She attended Mumford High School; the original building was demolished in 2012 and replaced by a new one on the site.
Harvey Ovshinsky born 1948 · journalist, broadcaster, documentary producer, teacher
Studied here
The northwest-side high school he attended before launching Fifth Estate.