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100 Notable alumni of Wayne State University

Updated: June 23, 2026 EliteDegrees

Wayne State University is ranked #211 in the world and #91 in United States by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 100 notable alumni from Wayne State University sorted by their wiki pages popularity. The directory includes famous graduates and former students along with research and academic staff. Many individuals affiliated with Wayne State University won Nobel Prizes for Peace, in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, and Economics.

Rick Margitza

1. Rick Margitza

1961-. (aged 65)
saxophonist composer jazz musician
Rick Margitza is an American jazz tenor saxophonist.
Dunya Mikhail

2. Dunya Mikhail

1965-. (aged 61)
poet writer
Dunya Mikhail is an Iraqi-American poet based in the United States.
Bruce Nazarian

3. Bruce Nazarian

1949-2015 (aged 66)
record producer composer musician
Bruce Nazarian was an American funk and rock musician, recording artist and music producer from Detroit, Michigan.
Ben Blackwell

4. Ben Blackwell

1982-. (aged 44)
drummer
Benjamin Jesse Blackwell is an American musician, writer, and record company executive. He is the creator and director of Cass Records, one of two drummers in the Detroit-based rock band The Dirtbombs, a co-founder and minority owner at Third Man Records, and the official archivist of The White Stripes.
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Joe Schwarz

5. Joe Schwarz

1937-. (aged 89)
university teacher politician mayor council member physician
John Joseph Henry Schwarz, is an American physician and independent politician from Michigan, who was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 2004 as a moderate Republican. He represented Michigan's 7th congressional district from January 2005 to January 2007.
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George Shirley

6. George Shirley

1934-. (aged 92)
opera singer
George Irving Shirley is an American operatic tenor, and was the first African-American tenor to perform a leading role at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City.
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Bettye Washington Greene

7. Bettye Washington Greene

1935-1995 (aged 60)
engineer chemist
Bettye Washington Greene was an American industrial research chemist. She was one of the first few African American women to earn her Ph.D. in chemistry and she was the first African American female Ph.D. chemist to work in a professional position at the Dow Chemical Company. At Dow, she researched latex and polymers. Greene is considered an early African American...
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Maurice Meisner

8. Maurice Meisner

1931-2012 (aged 81)
historian
Maurice Jerome Meisner was an American sinologist and professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He studied the Chinese Communist Revolution and the People's Republic and held a strong interest in socialist ideology, Marxism, and Maoism in particular. He authored a number of books including Mao's China: A History of the People's Republic which became a standard academic text for scholars...
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David Small

9. David Small

1945-. (aged 81)
writer children's writer illustrator composer
David Small is an American writer and illustrator who is best known for children's picture books. He was awarded the Caldecott Medal in 2001 for So You Want to Be President?, as well as two Caldecott Honors, for The Gardener in 1997 and One Cool Friend in 2013.
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Barbara-Rose Collins

10. Barbara-Rose Collins

1939-2021 (aged 82)
politician
Barbara-Rose Collins was an American politician from the U.S. state of Michigan and the first black woman from Michigan to be elected to Congress.
Thoraya Obaid

11. Thoraya Obaid

1945-. (aged 81)
diplomat politician
Thoraya Ahmed Obaid is a Saudi politician and diplomat who served as executive director of the United Nations Population Fund from 2000 to 2010. From 2013 to 2016 she was a member of the Consultative Assembly of Saudi Arabia.
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Garth Fagan

12. Garth Fagan

1940-. (aged 86)
university teacher ballet dancer dancer music educator choreographer
Gawain Garth Fagan, CD is a Jamaican modern dance choreographer. He is the founder and artistic director of Garth Fagan Dance, a modern dance company based in Rochester, New York.
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Daniel J. Elazar

13. Daniel J. Elazar

1934-1999 (aged 65)
political scientist
Daniel Judah Elazar was a political scientist known for his seminal studies of political culture of the US states. He was professor of political science at Bar-Ilan University in Israel and Temple University in Pennsylvania, and director of the Center for the Study of Federalism at Temple University and the founder and president of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs.
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Michael Netzer

14. Michael Netzer

1955-. (aged 71)
comics artist illustrator philosopher
Michael Netzer is an American-Israeli artist best known for his comic book work for DC Comics and Marvel Comics in the 1970s, as well as for his online presence.
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Leonard Woodcock

15. Leonard Woodcock

1911-2001 (aged 90)
diplomat trade unionist
Leonard Freel Woodcock was President of the United Auto Workers (UAW) and the first US ambassador to the People's Republic of China after being the last Chief of the US Liaison Office in Beijing.
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Dan Benishek

16. Dan Benishek

1952-2021 (aged 69)
surgeon politician
Daniel Joseph Benishek was an American physician and politician who served three terms as the U.S. representative for Michigan's 1st congressional district from 2011 to 2017. He was a member of the Republican Party.
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Ann Claire Williams

17. Ann Claire Williams

1949-. (aged 77)
lawyer judge journalist
Ann Claire Williams is a retired United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and a former United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. She is currently of counsel at Jones Day.
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Art James

18. Art James

1929-2004 (aged 75)
actor
Art James was an American game-show host, best known for shows such as The Who, What, or Where Game; It's Academic; and Pay Cards! He was also the announcer and substitute host on the game show Concentration.
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Kenneth Cockrel, Jr

19. Kenneth Cockrel, Jr

1965-. (aged 61)
politician
Kenneth Vern Cockrel Jr. is an American journalist, nonprofit executive, businessman, and former politician who served as the 73rd mayor of Detroit, Michigan, from September 2008 to May 2009. A member of the Democratic Party, Cockrel served as a member of the Detroit City Council from 1997 to 2008, and again from 2009 to 2013, and as the council's president...
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Lazarus

20. Lazarus

1982-. (aged 44)
songwriter
Kamran Rashid Khan, known professionally as Lazarus, is a Detroit-based American rapper, songwriter and physician of Pakistani descent. He is known for his singles "GODFLOW", "Break The Walls" and "Man On A Mission" along with his songs "Drug of Choice", "Open Heart Surgery", "Underdog", "MTBK" and "Decapitation Chamber" featuring Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Bizarre, Royce da 5'9", Bohemia and Ghostface...
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Philip Levine

21. Philip Levine

1900-1987 (aged 87)
hematologist scientist pathologist
Philip Levine was an American poet best known for his poems about working-class Detroit. He taught for more than thirty years in the English department of California State University, Fresno and held teaching positions at other universities as well. He served on the Board of Chancellors of the Academy of American Poets from 2000 to 2006, and was appointed Poet...
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William L. Rowe

22. William L. Rowe

1931-2015 (aged 84)
university teacher theologian philosopher
William Leonard Rowe was a professor of philosophy at Purdue University who specialized in the philosophy of religion. His work played a leading role in the "remarkable revival of analytic philosophy of religion since the 1970s". He was noted for his formulation of the evidential argument from evil.
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Tony Brown

23. Tony Brown

1960-. (aged 66)
basketball player basketball coach
William Anthony Brown is an American journalist, academic and businessman. He is best known as the commentator of the long-running syndicated television show Tony Brown's Journal.
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Elvis Mitchell

24. Elvis Mitchell

1958-. (aged 68)
television actor journalist film critic film screenwriter film producer
Elvis Mitchell is an American film critic, host of the public radio show The Treatment, and visiting lecturer at Harvard University. He has served as a film critic for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the LA Weekly, The Detroit Free Press, and The New York Times. He had also been an interviewer for Interview Magazine. In the summer of 2011, he...
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Jerry M. Linenger

25. Jerry M. Linenger

1955-. (aged 71)
physician military officer astronaut
Jerry Michael Linenger is a retired Captain in the United States Navy Medical Corps, and a former NASA astronaut who flew on the Space Shuttle and Space Station Mir.
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Alexander Jefferson

26. Alexander Jefferson

1921-2022 (aged 101)
aircraft pilot military personnel
Alexander Jefferson was an American Air Force officer, famous as one of the Tuskegee Airmen, the 332nd Fighter Group. He served in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II.
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Robert Ettinger

27. Robert Ettinger

1918-2011 (aged 93)
naturalist physicist university teacher writer
Robert Chester Wilson Ettinger was an American academic, known as "the father of cryonics" because of the impact of his 1962 book The Prospect of Immortality.
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Coleman Young II

28. Coleman Young II

1984-. (aged 42)
politician
Coleman Alexander Young II is an American Democratic politician who is a current member of the Detroit City Council and a former member of the Michigan Senate.
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Michael Tolan

29. Michael Tolan

1925-2011 (aged 86)
television actor stage actor film producer film actor
Michael Tolan was an American actor.
Dave Marsh

30. Dave Marsh

1950-. (aged 76)
music critic writer journalist
Dave Marsh is an American music critic and radio talk show host. He was an early editor of Creem magazine, has written for various publications such as Newsday, The Village Voice, and Rolling Stone, and has published numerous books about music and musicians, mostly focused on rock music. He is also a committee member of the Rock and Roll Hall...
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Mark T. Bertolini

31. Mark T. Bertolini

1956-. (aged 70)
entrepreneur chief executive officer
Mark T. Bertolini is an American business executive who has been the CEO of Oscar Health, a tech-driven health insurance company located in New York, since 2023. He was the co-CEO of Bridgewater Associates, one of the world's largest hedge funds, and was previously the CEO of Aetna, a Fortune 50 diversified health care benefits company with over $60 billion...
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Pepper Adams

32. Pepper Adams

1930-1986 (aged 56)
composer recording artist saxophonist jazz musician
Park Frederick "Pepper" Adams III was an American jazz baritone saxophonist and composer. He composed 42 pieces, was the leader on eighteen albums spanning 28 years, and participated in 600 sessions as a sideman. He worked with an array of musicians, and had especially fruitful collaborations with trumpeter Donald Byrd and as a member of the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Big...
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Brenda Jones

33. Brenda Jones

1959-. (aged 67)
politician
Brenda B. Jones is an American politician who served as a member of the Detroit City Council from 2006 to 2022, and as the president of the City Council from 2014 to 2022. A member of the Democratic Party, Jones also briefly served as the U.S. representative for Michigan's 13th congressional district from November 29, 2018, to January 3, 2019....
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Bob Birch

34. Bob Birch

1956-2012 (aged 56)
composer
Robert Wayne Birch was an American musician, best known as the bass player for Elton John.
Curtis Fuller

35. Curtis Fuller

1934-2021 (aged 87)
composer recording artist jazz musician
Curtis DuBois Fuller was an American jazz trombonist. He was a member of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers and contributed to many classic jazz recordings.
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Barbara Tarbuck

36. Barbara Tarbuck

1942-2016 (aged 74)
film actor television actor stage actor
Barbara Tarbuck was an American film, television, and stage actress from Detroit, Michigan, best known for her recurring role as Lady Jane Jacks on General Hospital.
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David Levy Yulee

37. David Levy Yulee

1810-1886 (aged 76)
lawyer politician
David Levy Yulee was an American politician and attorney who served as the senator from Florida immediately before the American Civil War. He also founded the Florida Railroad Company and served as president of several other rail companies, earning him the nickname of "Father of Florida Railroads."
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Raymond Kethledge

38. Raymond Kethledge

1966-. (aged 60)
judge politician
Raymond Michael Kethledge is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. He was appointed by President George W. Bush in 2008. Kethledge appeared on Donald Trump's list of potential Supreme Court of the United States nominees in 2016, and was described by press reports as a finalist in President Trump's nomination...
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Brian VanGorder

39. Brian VanGorder

1959-. (aged 67)
head coach American football coach
Brian VanGorder is an American football coach and former player. He was the defensive coordinator at Bowling Green State University, a position he assumed in 2019. Prior to that, he was defensive coordinator at the University of Louisville. He served as the head football coach at Wayne State University from 1992 to 1994, and Georgia Southern University in 2006, compiling...
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Larry Brilliant

40. Larry Brilliant

1944-. (aged 82)
physician academic businessperson epidemiologist
Lawrence Brilliant is an American epidemiologist, technologist, philanthropist, and author, who worked with the World Health Organization from 1973–1976 helping to successfully eradicate smallpox.
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Susie Orbach

41. Susie Orbach

1946-. (aged 80)
psychiatrist writer journalist psychologist psychotherapist
Susie Orbach is a British psychotherapist, psychoanalyst, writer and social critic. Her first book, Fat is a Feminist Issue, analysed the psychology of dieting and over-eating in women, and she has campaigned against media pressure on girls to feel dissatisfied with their physical appearance. She was married to the author Jeanette Winterson. She is honoured in BBC'S 100 Women in...
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Richard LeParmentier

42. Richard LeParmentier

1946-2013 (aged 67)
screenwriter television actor voice actor actor film actor
Richard LeParmentier was an American actor who lived and worked primarily in the United Kingdom, best known for his role as Admiral Motti in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (1977) and the acerbic police officer Lt. Santino in Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988). He is credited under several variations of his name, including Richard Parmentier, Rick Le Parmentier...
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Laura Devon

43. Laura Devon

1931-2007 (aged 76)
singer model television actor actor film actor
Laura Devon was an American actress and singer.
Joseph Weizenbaum

44. Joseph Weizenbaum

1923-2008 (aged 85)
non-fiction writer teacher creator university teacher artificial intelligence researcher
Joseph Weizenbaum was a German-American computer scientist and a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is the namesake of the Weizenbaum Award and the Weizenbaum Institute.
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John Kluge

45. John Kluge

1914-2010 (aged 96)
entrepreneur businessperson
John Werner Kluge was a German-American entrepreneur who became a television industry mogul in the United States. He was the founder and chairman of Metromedia. At one time he was the richest person in the U.S.
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Arthur Coleman Danto

46. Arthur Coleman Danto

1924-2013 (aged 89)
university teacher painter art critic journalist philosopher
Arthur Coleman Danto was an American art critic, philosopher, and professor at Columbia University. He was best known for having been a long-time art critic for The Nation and for his work in philosophical aesthetics and philosophy of history, though he contributed significantly to a number of fields, including the philosophy of action. His interests included thought, feeling, philosophy of...
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Hayden White

47. Hayden White

1928-2018 (aged 90)
historian philosopher university teacher writer
Hayden V. White was an American historian in the tradition of literary criticism. He wrote Metahistory: The Historical Imagination in Nineteenth-Century Europe in 1973.
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Anthony Bass

48. Anthony Bass

1987-. (aged 39)
baseball player
Anthony Edward Bass is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Diego Padres, Houston Astros, Texas Rangers, Chicago Cubs, Seattle Mariners, Miami Marlins, and Toronto Blue Jays. Bass has also played for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). He played college baseball at Wayne State University.
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Lucky Yates

49. Lucky Yates

1967-. (aged 59)
voice actor actor
Matt "Lucky" Yates is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his voice roles as Dr. Krieger on Archer and the Xtacles on Frisky Dingo. He was also a recurring actor on the Food Network series Good Eats. He studied theater at Wayne State University and regularly performs at Dad's Garage in Atlanta, Georgia.
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Deva Katta

50. Deva Katta

film producer screenwriter film director
Deva Katta is an Indian American film director and screenwriter who works in Telugu cinema. He directed movies such as Vennela, Prasthanam (2010), Autonagar Surya (2014), and Republic (2021). In 2010, Prasthanam was showcased in the Indian Panorama section at the International Film Festival of India. The film also won two Filmfare awards including Filmfare South Critics Award for Best...
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Lauren Lake

51. Lauren Lake

1969-. (aged 57)
writer lawyer television presenter singer
Lauren Laniece Lake is an American family lawyer, television judge, and talk show presenter.
Yusef Lateef

52. Yusef Lateef

1920-2013 (aged 93)
jazz saxophonist oboist composer non-fiction writer university teacher
Yusef Abdul Lateef was an American jazz multi-instrumentalist, composer, and prominent figure among the Ahmadiyya Community in the United States.
Joe Henderson

53. Joe Henderson

1937-2001 (aged 64)
bandleader saxophonist composer jazz musician recording artist
Joe Henderson was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and very occasional flute player. In a career spanning more than four decades, Henderson played with many of the leading American players of his day and recorded for several prominent labels, including Blue Note, Milestone, Contemporary Records and Verve.
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Donald Byrd

54. Donald Byrd

1932-2013 (aged 81)
jazz musician composer recording artist music educator jazz trumpeter
Donaldson Toussaint L'Ouverture Byrd II was an American jazz and rhythm & blues trumpeter, composer and vocalist. A sideman for many other jazz musicians of his generation, Byrd was one of the few hard bop musicians who successfully explored funk and soul while remaining a jazz artist. As a bandleader, Byrd was an influence on the early career of Herbie...
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Helen Thomas

55. Helen Thomas

1920-2013 (aged 93)
journalist writer
Helen Amelia Thomas was an American reporter and author, and a long-serving member of the White House press corps. She covered the White House during the administrations of ten U.S. presidents—from the beginning of the Kennedy administration to the second year of the Obama administration.
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Kenny Burrell

56. Kenny Burrell

1931-. (aged 95)
composer guitarist university teacher jazz musician banjoist
Kenneth Earl Burrell is an American jazz guitarist, singer and composer known for his work on numerous top jazz labels: Prestige, Blue Note, Verve, CTI, Muse, and Concord. His collaborations with Jimmy Smith were notable, and produced the 1965 Billboard Top Twenty hit Verve album Organ Grinder Swing. Burrell has cited jazz guitarists Charlie Christian, Oscar Moore, and Django Reinhardt...
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Deborah Joy Winans

57. Deborah Joy Winans

1983-. (aged 43)
actor television actor stage actor
Deborah Joy Winans is an American actress and singer, and member of the musical Winans family. She starred as Charity Greenleaf-Satterlee in the Oprah Winfrey Network drama series, Greenleaf.
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Ulana Suprun

58. Ulana Suprun

1963-. (aged 63)
statesperson physician
Ulana Nadia Suprun is a Ukrainian-American physician, activist, and philanthropist who served as the acting Minister of Healthcare from 2016 to 2019. Prior to her government career, Suprun served as Director of Humanitarian Initiatives for the Ukrainian World Congress.
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John Conyers

59. John Conyers

1929-2019 (aged 90)
general counsel congressional staff lawyer politician
John James Conyers Jr. was an American politician of the Democratic Party who served as a U.S. representative from Michigan from 1965 to 2017. Conyers was the sixth-longest serving member of Congress and the longest-serving African American member of Congress in history.
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Haaz Sleiman

60. Haaz Sleiman

1976-. (aged 50)
film actor actor television actor
Haaz Sleiman is a Lebanese actor. He most notably played the role of Tarek in the 2007 film The Visitor for which he was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male and the role of Jesus in the American TV mini-series Killing Jesus, in addition to a number of American TV series.
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Otmar Szafnauer

61. Otmar Szafnauer

1964-. (aged 62)
engineer entrepreneur racing automobile driver team manager
Otmar Marin Szafnauer is a Romanian and American engineer. He served as Team Principal of Alpine F1 Team from February 2022 to July 2023.
Stephen M. Ross

62. Stephen M. Ross

1940-. (aged 86)
lawyer
Stephen Michael Ross is an American real estate developer, philanthropist, and sports team owner. Ross is the chairman of Related Companies, a global real estate development firm he founded in 1972. Related is best known for developing Deutsche Bank Center, as well as the Hudson Yards Redevelopment Project. Ross has a net worth of $10.1 billion in 2020, ranking him...
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James Lipton

63. James Lipton

1926-2020 (aged 94)
poet writer film producer screenwriter librettist
Louis James Lipton was an American writer, actor, talk show host, and dean emeritus of the Actors Studio Drama School at Pace University in New York City. He was the executive producer, writer, and host of the Bravo cable television series Inside the Actors Studio, which debuted in 1994. He retired from the show in 2018.
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Kenya Moore

64. Kenya Moore

1971-. (aged 55)
film producer television actor beauty pageant contestant model film actor
Kenya Summer Moore is an American actress, author, entrepreneur, television personality and beauty pageant titleholder who won Miss USA 1993. From 2012–2025, she starred on the reality TV series, The Real Housewives of Atlanta.
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Chad Everett

65. Chad Everett

1937-2012 (aged 75)
voice actor television actor actor film actor
Raymon Lee Cramton, known professionally as Chad Everett, was an American actor who appeared in more than 40 films and television series. He played Dr. Joe Gannon in the television drama Medical Center, which aired from 1969 to 1976.
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David Ramsey

66. David Ramsey

1971-. (aged 55)
television actor television director actor film actor
David Paul Ramsey is an American actor. He is best known for his roles in The CW Arrowverse series Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, and Batwoman as John Diggle / Spartan, portraying Diggle and Bass Reeves in Legends of Tomorrow, recurring as an alternate universe version of Diggle in Superman & Lois, recurring as Anton Briggs on the Showtime TV series...
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Della Reese

67. Della Reese

1931-2017 (aged 86)
film actor jazz musician stage actor television actor actor
Della Reese was an American singer, actress, television personality, author and ordained minister. As a singer, she recorded blues, gospel, jazz and pop. Several of her singles made the US Hot 100, including the number two charting song, "Don't You Know?" (1959). As a television personality and actress, she was the first black woman to host her own talk show...
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Wayne Dyer

68. Wayne Dyer

1940-2015 (aged 75)
writer motivational speaker psychologist actor psychotherapist
Wayne Walter Dyer was an American self-help author and a motivational speaker. Dyer earned a Bachelor’s degree in History and Philosophy, a Master’s degree in Psychology and an Ed.D. in Guidance and Counseling at Wayne State University in 1970. Early in his career, he worked as a high school guidance counselor, and went on to run a successful private therapy...
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Paul Feig

69. Paul Feig

1962-. (aged 64)
television actor film director director actor television producer
Paul Feig is an American filmmaker and actor. He is best known for directing films such as Bridesmaids (2011), The Heat (2013), Spy (2015), Ghostbusters: Answer the Call (2016), A Simple Favor (2018), and Last Christmas (2019). He often collaborates with actress Melissa McCarthy.
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Tim Meadows

70. Tim Meadows

1961-. (aged 65)
comedian television actor screenwriter film actor voice actor
Tim Meadows is an American actor and comedian. He was one of the longest-running cast members on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live, where he appeared for 10 seasons from 1991 to 2000. For his work on SNL, he received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series in 1993. He played...
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Sam Richardson

71. Sam Richardson

1984-. (aged 42)
comedian television actor screenwriter writer stage actor
Sam Richardson is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for co-starring in the Comedy Central comedy series Detroiters (2017–2018) alongside Tim Robinson, playing Richard Splett in the HBO political comedy series Veep (2012–2019), and for playing various characters in the Netflix sketch show I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson (2019–2023), Aniq Adjaye in the Apple...
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Casey Kasem

72. Casey Kasem

1932-2014 (aged 82)
film producer radio personality film actor disc jockey journalist
Kemal Amin "Casey" Kasem was an American disc jockey, actor, and radio presenter who created and hosted several radio countdown programs, notably American Top 40, as well as the weekly syndicated television series America's Top 10. He was the first actor to voice Shaggy Rogers in the Scooby-Doo franchise (1969 to 1997 and 2002 to 2009) and Dick Grayson/Robin in...
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Sixto Rodriguez

73. Sixto Rodriguez

1942-2023 (aged 81)
guitarist musician singer-songwriter
Sixto Diaz Rodríguez, mononymously known as Rodríguez, was an American musician from Detroit, Michigan.
Tom Skerritt

74. Tom Skerritt

1933-. (aged 93)
voice actor television director model television actor film actor
Thomas Roy Skerritt is an American actor and director, who has appeared in over 170 film and television productions since 1962. The beginning of his film career coincided with the New Hollywood movement, with a breakthrough role as Duke Forrest in Robert Altman's M*A*S*H (1970). He then starred in notable films like The Turning Point (1977), Up in Smoke, Ice...
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Ernie Hudson

75. Ernie Hudson

1945-. (aged 81)
actor television actor film actor voice actor stage actor
Earnest Lee Hudson is an American actor. He is known for his role as Winston Zeddemore in the Ghostbusters franchise. Hudson has also acted in the films Leviathan (1989), The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (1992), The Crow (1994), Airheads (1994), The Basketball Diaries (1995), Congo (1995), Miss Congeniality (2000), and The Ron Clark Story (2006).
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Crystal Reed

76. Crystal Reed

1985-. (aged 41)
model television actor actor film actor
Crystal Marie Reed is an American actress. She came to prominence playing Allison Argent in the series Teen Wolf (2011–2014). She departed the series after the third season but made a guest appearance in the fifth season as Allison's ancestor Marie-Jeanne Valet. Reed went on to reprise her role as Allison Argent in the reunion film Teen Wolf: The Movie...
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Jeffrey Tambor

77. Jeffrey Tambor

1944-. (aged 82)
actor television actor character actor film actor theatrical director
Jeffrey Michael Tambor is an American actor. He is known for his television roles such as Jeffrey Brookes, the uptight neighbor of Stanley and Helen Roper in the television sitcom The Ropers (1979–1980), as Hank Kingsley on The Larry Sanders Show (1992–1998), George Bluth Sr. and Oscar Bluth on Arrested Development (2003–2006, 2013, 2018–2019) and Maura Pfefferman on Transparent (2014–2017)....
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Lily Tomlin

78. Lily Tomlin

1939-. (aged 87)
television actor screenwriter writer film actor voice actor
Mary Jean "Lily" Tomlin is an American actress, comedian, writer, singer, and producer. Tomlin started her career in stand-up comedy and sketch comedy before transitioning her career to acting across stage and screen. In a career spanning more than fifty years, Tomlin has received numerous accolades, including seven Emmy Awards, a Grammy Award, two Tony Awards, and a nomination for...
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Jack White

79. Jack White

1975-. (aged 51)
mandolinist recording artist pianist voice actor singer-songwriter
John Anthony White is an American musician and record producer who was the guitarist and lead vocalist of the rock duo the White Stripes. He was a key artist of the 2000s indie and garage rock movements, noted for his distinctive musical techniques, eccentricity, and utilization of analog technology. After the White Stripes split up in 2011, he found success...
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Scott Boman

80. Scott Boman

1962-. (aged 64)
peace activist
Scott Avery Boman is an American Libertarian politician from Michigan. He has consistently earned among the top votes of any third-party candidate in every Michigan election from 2000 through 2018. He was chair of the Libertarian Party of Michigan in 2006. Described by MIRS as a Libertarian Party standard-bearer, he has been a candidate in every state-wide partisan election since...
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Mark Hackel

81. Mark Hackel

1962-. (aged 64)
Mark Allen Hackel is an American politician serving as the County Executive of Macomb County, Michigan, since the position was established in 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, Hackel previously served as the Macomb County Sheriff from 2001 to 2010.
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Larry Joe Campbell

82. Larry Joe Campbell

1970-. (aged 56)
actor television actor
Larry Joe Campbell is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his role as Andy on the ABC sitcom According to Jim.
Stan Heath

83. Stan Heath

1964-. (aged 62)
basketball player basketball coach
Stanley Heath III is an American basketball coach currently serving as the head coach for Eastern Michigan. Heath formerly served as head coach at the University of South Florida, the University of Arkansas and Kent State University, the latter of whom he led to the Elite Eight of the 2002 NCAA basketball tournament. He led all three programs to at...
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S. Epatha Merkerson

84. S. Epatha Merkerson

1952-. (aged 74)
stage actor film director television actor actor film actor
S. Epatha Merkerson is an American actress. She has received accolades for her work, including an Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, four NAACP Image Awards, two Obie Awards, and two Tony Award nominations. She is known for her portrayal of NYPD Lieutenant Anita Van Buren on the NBC police procedural drama series Law &...
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Andrew Marshall

85. Andrew Marshall

1984-. (aged 42)
association football player
Andrew W. Marshall was an American foreign policy strategist who served as director of the United States Department of Defense's Office of Net Assessment from 1973 to 2015. Appointed to the position by President Richard Nixon, Marshall remained in office during all successive administrations that followed until his retirement on January 2, 2015. He was succeeded in the role by...
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Janet Jagan

86. Janet Jagan

1920-2009 (aged 89)
writer children's writer nurse politician
Janet Rosenberg Jagan OE was an American-born Guyanese politician who served as the 6th President of Guyana from 1997 to 1999. She was the first female president of Guyana. She previously served as the first female Prime Minister of Guyana from 17 March 1997 to 19 December 1997. The wife of Cheddi Jagan, whom she succeeded as president, she was...
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Gary Peters

87. Gary Peters

1958-. (aged 68)
instructor vice president professor university teacher military officer
Gary Charles Peters is an American politician, lawyer, and former naval officer serving as the senior United States senator from Michigan, a seat he has held since 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the U.S. representative for Michigan's 14th congressional district, which included the eastern half of Detroit, the Grosse Pointes, Hamtramck, Southfield, and Pontiac, from 2009...
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Rashida Tlaib Al-Harbi

88. Rashida Tlaib Al-Harbi

1976-. (aged 50)
lawyer politician
Rashida Harbi Tlaib is an American lawyer and politician serving as a U.S. representative from Michigan since 2019, representing the state's 12th congressional district since 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, she is the first Palestinian American woman to serve in Congress and one of the first two Muslim women (along with Ilhan Omar) elected to Congress.
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Grace Bochenek

89. Grace Bochenek

1961-. (aged 65)
engineer
Grace Marie Bochenek is an American industrial engineer and the current director of the School of Modeling, Simulation and Training, and the Institute for Simulation and Training at the University of Central Florida. She is former Director of the National Energy Technology Laboratory within the United States Department of Energy's Office of Fossil Energy. She also served as the acting...
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Bill Prady

90. Bill Prady

1960-. (aged 66)
film producer television producer screenwriter
William Scott Prady is an American television writer and producer known for co-creating and producing The Big Bang Theory (2007–2019) and The Muppets (2015–2016). He also served as an executive producer on Dharma & Greg (1997–2002), Good Morning, Miami (2003), and Gilmore Girls (2004–2005).
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Keith Ellison

91. Keith Ellison

1963-. (aged 63)
lawyer politician
Keith Maurice Ellison is an American politician and lawyer serving as the 30th attorney general of Minnesota since 2019. From 2007 to 2019, Ellison was the U.S. representative for Minnesota's 5th congressional district, representing the Minneapolis region. He also served as Deputy Chair of the Democratic National Committee from 2017 to 2018 and was a member of the Minnesota House...
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Charlayne Hunter-Gault

92. Charlayne Hunter-Gault

1942-. (aged 84)
writer journalist political activist university teacher
Alberta Charlayne Hunter-Gault is an American civil rights activist, journalist and former foreign correspondent for National Public Radio, CNN, and the Public Broadcasting Service. Charlayne Hunter and Hamilton Holmes were the first African-American students to attend the University of Georgia.
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Jenean Hampton

93. Jenean Hampton

1958-. (aged 68)
politician
Jenean Michelle Hampton is an American politician who served as the 57th lieutenant governor of Kentucky from 2015 to 2019. Hampton was the running mate of gubernatorial candidate Matt Bevin in the 2015 election. A Republican, Hampton was the first African American to hold statewide office in Kentucky history and the third African-American woman to have served as lieutenant governor...
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Deborah Tannen

94. Deborah Tannen

1945-. (aged 81)
university teacher author linguist
Deborah Frances Tannen is an American author and professor of linguistics at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. Best known as the author of You Just Don't Understand, she has been a McGraw Distinguished Lecturer at Princeton University and was a fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences following a term in residence at the Institute for...
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Carl Djerassi

95. Carl Djerassi

1923-2015 (aged 92)
scientist chemist science fiction writer university teacher collector
Carl Djerassi was an Austrian-born Bulgarian-American pharmaceutical chemist, novelist, playwright and co-founder of Djerassi Resident Artists Program with Diane Wood Middlebrook. He is best known for his contribution to the development of oral contraceptive pills, nicknamed the "father of the pill".
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Hugh Downs

96. Hugh Downs

1921-2020 (aged 99)
actor composer journalist
Hugh Malcolm Downs was an American television presenter, radio personality, author, and music composer. A regular television presence from the mid 1940s until the late 1990s, he had several successful roles on morning, prime-time, and late-night television. For several years, he held the certified Guinness World Record for the most hours on commercial network television before being surpassed by Regis...
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Tom Sizemore

97. Tom Sizemore

1961-2023 (aged 62)
actor television actor screenwriter film actor voice actor
Thomas Edward Sizemore Jr. was an American actor. Born in Detroit, he started his career with supporting appearances in Born on the Fourth of July (1989), Lock Up (1989), and Blue Steel (1990). The appearances led to more prominent roles in films like Passenger 57 (1992), True Romance (1993), Striking Distance (1993), Natural Born Killers (1994), Strange Days (1995), Heat...
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Darren M. Haynes

98. Darren M. Haynes

1981-. (aged 45)
journalist
Darren Matthew Haynes is an American television sports anchor, and winner of 13 Emmy Awards. Currently he is Sports Anchor at CBS affiliate KCAL in Los Angeles, California. He was previously the Sports Director and a Sports Anchor for WUSA in Washington D.C. Darren also anchored SportsCenter on ESPN.
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Dario Hunter

99. Dario Hunter

1983-. (aged 43)
lawyer rabbi
Dario David Hunter, also known as Yisroel Hunter, is an American rabbi, lawyer and politician. He is the first Muslim-born man to be ordained as a rabbi. A former member of the Youngstown, Ohio, Board of Education, Hunter sought the 2020 Green Party presidential nomination, ultimately coming in second. He ran as the presidential nominee of the Oregon Progressive Party...
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Fuat Oktay

100. Fuat Oktay

1964-. (aged 62)
politician
Fuat Oktay is a Turkish politician, civil servant and academic who served as the first vice president of Turkey from 2018 to 2023. He previously served as undersecretary to the prime minister of Turkey from 2016 until his appointment to the vice presidency, following the creation of the office after the 2017 constitutional referendum.
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