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Most of the people listed below where born in Michigan and may have moved elsewhere. There are some people listed who where born elsewhere, but grew up or spent time in Michigan. If there is someone you know of that lived in Michigan and would like to see added or if you have more information regarding these famous people, please contact us.
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| Dick Enberg sports announcer, Mount Clemens - born January 9, 1935. Enberg is one of the most prominent and respected play-by-play announcers in television history, with a career spanning more than forty years. He is recognizable by his trademark exclamation, "Oh, my!" In 1965, Enberg began a full-time sportscasting career, calling radio broadcasts for the California Angels, the Los Angeles Rams and UCLA Bruins. After every Angels victory, he would wrap up his broadcast with, "And the halo shines tonight." Four times Enberg was named California Sportscaster of the Year. In 1975, Enberg joined NBC. For the next 25 years, he broadcast a plethora of sports and events for NBC, including the NFL, MLB, NBA, U.S. Open golf championship, college football, college basketball, the Wimbledon and French Open tennis tournaments, heavyweight boxing, Breeders' Cup horse racing, and the Olympic Games. Since 2004, Enberg has served as side commentator for ESPN2's coverage of the Wimbledon, French Open, and Australian Open tennis tournaments. In 2006, he began calling Thursday-night NFL games for radio. Also in 2006, Enberg began narrating a documentary style television series for Fox Sports Net called In Focus on FSN. |
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| Eminem also known as Marshall Mathers rapper, St. Joseph, Missouri, Born October 17, 1972. He moved to Detroit at an early age. Discovered by rapper/producer Dr. Dre, Eminem is known as one of the most skillful and controversial rappers in the industry, becoming a crossover sensation with his debut single "My Name Is" while simultaneously earning respect from the hip-hop community for his lyrical talent. He is noted for his ability to change his own pace and style multiple times within one song without losing the beat. Mathers has achieved six UK #1 singles, more than any other rapper, and has also had the most #1 singles in the UK in the 21st century by an American artist. |
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| Bob Eubanks game show host, Flint - Born January 8, 1938. He is best known for the long time running game show The Newlywed Game. He has also hosted the game show Card Sharks in the 80's. More recently, you can find him hosting Most Outrageous Game Show Moments on NBC. |
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| Edward "Ed" George Farhat, wrestler, Born June 9, 1926 died January 18, 2003. He is best known as The Sheik (often referred to as "The Original Sheik" to distinguish him from The Iron Sheik). He was the owner and operator of Big Time Wrestling, during the 1960s. Edward Farhat was born to a family of Lebanese immigrants in Lansing. He was a star football player in high school and college for the University of Michigan and served in the army during World War II before he became "The Sheik of Araby" or later, just "The Sheik." He started out wrestling in the Midwest and later in Texas. He also trained other popular wrestlers from Michigan such as Sabu, Rob Van Dam, Scott Steiner, Raven, and Greg Valentine. |
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| Mark Farner singer, Flint - Born September 29, 1948. He is best known as the lead guitarist/singer for Grand Funk Railroad, but later became a Contemporary Christian musician. Hit songs from Grand Funk Railroad include We're an American Band and I'm your Captain. In 1977 Grand Funk called it quits and Farner went solo releasing 2 albums before reuniting with Grand Funk. They released 2 albums prior to Farner releasing 4 Contemporary Christian albums. He is currently on tour. |
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| Dann Florek actor, Flat Rock - Born May 1, 1950.
After a brief stint as the boring husband of Susan Ruttan on NBC 's hit drama L.A. Law,
Florek co-starred in the NBC crime drama Law & Order as Capt. Donald Cragen.
In 1999 he returned to the Cragen role, only this time on Law & Order spin-off series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit . On December 13, 2008 Dann received a honorary Bachelor of Arts from Eastern Michigan University |
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| Gerald R. Ford former president, Omaha Nebraska, Born July 14, 1913, died December 26, 2006.
Ford obtained his bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan, where he was a football star.
Ford defeated the incumbent in the party primary and was elected to the United States House of Representatives representing the Grand Rapids, Michigan area. He was elected House Minority Leader in 1963 and served in the House until 1973. When Spiro Agnew resigned, Ford was appointed Vice President of the United States at the height of the Watergate scandal. Following the resignation of Richard Nixon , Ford ascended to the presidency on August 9, 1974.He was the longest-lived president in U.S. history, dying at the age of 93. |
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Henry Ford industrialist, Dearborn - Born July 30, 1863. Created Ford Motor Company in 1903. Introduced the model T in 1908. As owner of the Ford Company he became one of the richest and best-known people in the world. Died in 1947 at age 83 in his Dearborn home and he is buried in the Ford Cemetery in Detroit.
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| Aretha Franklin singer, Memphis Tennessee - Born March 25, 1942.
She has been dubbed for years " The Queen Of Soul " but many also call her "Lady Soul," as well as the even more affectionate "Sister Re." As a child, Aretha moved from Tennessee to New York and then to Detroit. At age 14, she made her first recordings in a local Detroit church. She ten had her first two sons around this time. Clarence, Jr. was born when she was 15 and Edward "Eddie" was born when she was 16. She dropped out of high school soon after the birth of her second son. Her grandmother took in her sons to help Aretha move on in her career. Among her most successful hit singles from the 60's and 70's were "Chain of Fools", "You Make Me Feel (Like a Natural Woman)", "Think", "Baby, I Love You", "The House That Jack Built", and "Respect", which became her signature song. She currently lives in Detroit when she is not on tour. |
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Glenn Frey singer/actor, Detroit - Born November 6, 1948. Best known as one of the founding members of rock and roll band, The Eagles. Growing up in Royal Oak, Michigan, Frey became part of the mid-1960s Detroit rock scene. His first professional recording experience was performing acoustic guitar and background vocals on Bob Seger's Ramblin' Gamblin' Man in 1968. Frey and Seger would remain friends and occasional songwriting partners in later years. Frey then moved to Los Angeles. The Eagles were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998. |
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| Max Gail actor, Detroit - Born April 5, 1943. Max is best known as his
role as Det. Stan "Wojo" Wojeciehowicz from the TV sitcom Barney Miller. He was raised in Grosse Ille and has a twin sister. Max runs his own production company, Full Circle, which has done documentaries on such things as Agent Orange, Native Americans, and nuclear issues. |
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| Steve Garvey, first baseman, Tampa, FL - Born December 22, 1948, he played football and baseball at Michigan State University. He started his professional career playing baseball for the Los Angeles Dogers and then played for the San Diego Padres. Garvey set a National League record with 1207 consecutive games played, from September 3, 1975, to July 29, 1983. The streak ended when he broke his thumb in a collision at home plate against the Atlanta Braves. |
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| Kirk Gibson, athlete, Pontiac - Born May 28, 1957. Kirk grew up in Waterford, and attended Waterford Kettering High School He also attended Michigan State University where he was an All-American wide receiver/flanker in football. He played only one year of college baseball. He was drafted by both the Detroit Tigers baseball team and the St. Louis Cardinals football team, but chose baseball. He played as right fielder for the Tigers from 1983 to 1987 and again from 1993 to 1995. He currently is the bench coach for the Arizona Diamondbacks. |
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Berry Gordy, Jr., producer, Detroit - Born November 28, 1929. Berry is the founder of the Motown record label and its many subsidiaries. The record label relocated to Detroit from Milledgeville, Georgia in 1922. In 1968 Gordy moved to Los Angeles, California and expanded Motown's offices there, following the riots in Detroit. In June 1972 he relocated the entire Motown Records company to LA, and the following year he reorganized the company into Motown Industries, an entertainment conglomerate that would include record, movie, television and publishing divisions. Gordy sold his interests in Motown Records to MCA and Boston Ventures in June 1988 for $61 million. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990. |
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| David Allen Grier comedian, Detroit. Born June 30, 1955.
He received a BA from The University Of Michigan, and an MFA from the Yale School Of Drama. He is most famous for In Living Color and movie roles such as I'm Gonna Git You Sucka and
Jumanji. He is number 94 on Comedy Central's list of the 100 greatest standup's of all time and currently hosts Chocolate News. |
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Charlton Heston actor, Evanston Illinois, raised in the north woods of Michigan - Born October 4, 1923, died April 5, 2008. Heston starred in various science fiction films and disaster films, some of which, like Planet of the Apes, and The Omega Man. He is an honorary life member of the National Rifle Association (NRA), and was its president and spokesman from 1998 until his resignation in 2003. As NRA president he is perhaps best known, while raising an antique Sharps Rifle over his head at the 2000 NRA convention, for saying that presidential candidate Al Gore would take away his Second Amendment rights "from my cold, dead hands". Heston has been harshly criticized by opponents of gun rights. |
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| William Hewlett co-founder Hewlett Packard, Ann Arbor - Born May 20, 1913 – January 12, 2001. He moved to San Francisco at the age of 3. He was President of HP from 1964 to 1977, and served as CEO from 1968 to 1978, when he was succeeded by John A. Young. He remained chairman of the executive committee until 1983, and then served as vice chairman of the board until 1987. |
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Jimmy Hoffa, Trade Union Leader, tied to Mafia Queens, New York - Born February 14, 1913, died approximately July 30, 1975. Hoffa moved to Lake Orion in his early years to work in a warehouse. In 1967, Hoffa was convicted of attempted bribery of a grand juror and sentenced to fifteen years in prison. In 1971, however, he was released when Republican President Richard Nixon commuted his sentence to time served on the condition he not participate in union activities for ten years. Hoffa was planning to sue to invalidate that restriction in order to reassert his power over the Teamsters when he disappeared at around 2:30pm on July 30, 1975 from the parking lot of the Mach us Red Fox Restaurant in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan , a suburb of Detroit . He had been due to meet two Mafia leaders, Anthony "Tony Jack" Giacalone from Detroit and Anthony "Tony Pro" Provenzano from Union City, New Jersey .
On May 17 , 2006 , acting on a tip, the FBI began digging for Hoffa's remains outside of a barn on what is now the Hidden Dreams Farm in Milford Township, Michigan where they surveyed the land and began to dig up parts of the 85-acre parcel, according to federal officials. Over 40 agents have sectioned off a piece of the property where they believe the bones of the Teamster leader might be. Federal agents would not release the name of the person or persons who gave them the tip, but they did say that the tip included information on a group of people that used to meet on the same piece of land 30 years ago. Nothing was found. |
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| Mike Ilitch owner of Detroit Red Wings and Detroit Tigers and co-founder of Little Caesars Pizza Detroit - July 20, 1929. He is a graduate of Cooley High School, and entered the U.S. Marine Corps for four years. After his return home to Detroit, the Detroit Tigers offered him a $3,000 bonus if he would sign to play baseball, and Ilitch would have a three year minor league career before he was forced out of his playing career due to a knee injury. Instead, he would go into the pizza business. With the help of his wife, Marian, the Ilitches opened Little Caesars Pizza Treat in Garden City. In 1982, Mike Ilitch bought the Red Wings. He purchased the Detroit Tigers in 1992 from fellow pizza magnate Tom Monaghan who founded Domino's Pizza. |
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| Derek Jeter - captain New York Yankees, Pequannock Township, New Jersey. Born June 26, 1974. He moved to Kalamazoo when he was 4. In high school, Jeter was a star baseball player at Kalamazoo Central High School, earning an All-State honorable mention. Jeter collected many awards at season's end, including the Kalamazoo Area B'nai B'rith Award for Scholar Athlete, the 1992 High School Player of the Year by the American Baseball Coaches Association, the 1992 Gatorade High School Player of the year award, and USA Today's High School Player of the Year. In December 2007, Jeter was inducted into the Kalamazoo Central High School Athletic Hall of Fame. Although Jeter received a baseball scholarship to attend the University of Michigan, he was drafted by the New York Yankees with the 6th overall pick of the 1992 amateur draft and chose to go pro. |
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Earvin Magic Johnson basketball player, Lansing - Born August 14, 1959 He went to High School at Everett in Lansing and then attended Michigan State University. Johnson averaged 17.0 points, 7.9 rebounds and 7.4 assists as a freshman, leading the Spartans to a 25-5 record, the Big Ten Conference title, and a berth in the NCAA tournament. He finished his career at Michigan State with 1059 points, 471 rebounds, and made 348 field goals out of 752 attempts. Magic led the Los Angeles Lakers to five NBA titles in the 1980s; retired in 1991 after announcing he had the AIDS virus and now works to educate people about the disease.
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| Ashley Johnson, actress, CA - Born August 9, 1983, Camarillo and moved to MI when she was 9. She was best known as Chrissy Seaver on the hit show Growing Pains. She formerly held the title Miss Jr. Michigan. |
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| Haylie Johnson actress, CA - Born January 29 1980, California Thousand Oaks and moved to Michigan when she was six. She got her start modeling for Loretta Lorion, a local children's clothing store. She soon moved back to CA where Haylie did commercials, and was an extra in Ashley's (her sister) show "Growing Pains" in the episode "Daddy Mike". Her big break came in 1991, when she joined the cast of "Kids Incorporated". The show was canceled in 1993. |
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| James Earl Jones actor,
Arkabutla, Mississippi - Born January 17, 1931.
He was raised in Dublin (Michigan), by his maternal grandparents, Jones is of Irish, Cherokee and African-American descent. He moved to Michigan around the age of 5, when he developed a stutter so severe he refused to speak aloud. He remained functionally mute for 8 years until he reached high school. He credits a high school teacher who discovered he had a gift for writing poetry with helping him out of his silence. He was a graduate of the University of Michigan. He has been in several movies such as the voice of Darth Vadar in Star Wars and Mufasa in the Lion King, Field of Dreams and The Hunt for Red October. |
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