The recent article by Maria Stuart – revealing the fact that one of the world’s most popular rappers is a guy from Howell that almost nobody here has ever heard of – got me to thinking:
Who’s the most famous all-time resident from every community in Livingston County? Not just current resident – all-time resident. If you were born here, grew up here or spent any significant amount of time here, you count.
I decided to answer my own question! In one man’s humble opinion, here’s the most famous person from every town in Livingston County.
Brighton: Drew Henson
Quite possibly the greatest all-around high school athlete in Michigan history, Henson was already a Sports Illustrated star before he even got out of high school. He played football at the University of Michigan, baseball for the New York Yankees and then went back to football for stints with the Dallas Cowboys and Detroit Lions. He was the last person to have played in both the NFL and Major League Baseball.
Honorable mention: Broadcaster Dave LewAllen, football stars Clint Copenhaver and Dave Pearson, journalist Tim Alberta, politician and businessman Dick Chrysler, Detroit Tigers World Series champ Mickey Stanley.
Fowlerville: Charlie Gehringer
This was the easiest one. Charlie Gehringer was one of the greatest baseball players of all time and he was as Fowlerville as you can get. He was born in Fowlerville, grew up in Fowlerville, went to high school in Fowlerville and then went on to become a Hall of Fame second baseman for the Detroit Tigers.
Honorable mention: Wrestler Adam Coon, gymnast Landen Blixt.
Hartland: Mark Messner
A football star at the University of Michigan, Messner is one of the greatest defensive tackles in college football history. He grew up in Hartland and played one year of high school football at Hartland High before transferring to Detroit Catholic Central. He also had a stint in the NFL playing for the Los Angeles Rams.
Honorable mention: Guitarist Mark Farner of Grand Funk Railroad, bowler Mika Koivuniemi.
Howell: Melissa Gilbert
This was the toughest one because Howell has more famous residents than all the other towns in Livingston County put together. Melissa Gilbert (the TV star from “Little House on the Prairie”) didn’t grow up here, but she quite memorably lived here during much of the 2010s, and even had a disastrously short-lived run for Congress while she lived here. I narrowly gave her the nod over politician Mike Rogers and BONES the Rapper, the guy nobody here has ever heard of.
Honorable mention: Mike Rogers, BONES, comedian Heywood Banks, politician Mark Schauer, hockey stars T.J. Hensick and Andy Hilbert, World War II hero and author Don Burgett, actor Timothy Busfield, Olympic medal-winning archer Debra Ochs.
Pinckney: Glendon Swarthout
This was another tough one, but I gave the honor to Swarthout, the legendary novelist who was born in Pinckney and wrote a ton of books that were turned into movies, including “They Came to Cordura,” “Where the Boys Are,” “Bless the Beasts and the Children,” “The Shootist” and a bunch more. This was tough because if you include Hamburg as part of Pinckney, you’ve got Detroit Tigers legend Denny McLain, the last Major League pitcher to win 31 games. But I’m sticking with Glendon.
Honorable mention: Denny McLain, “Survivor” star Erik Reichenbach, Olympic snowboarder Jake Vedder, Miami Dolphins star Zach Sieler, children’s pop-up book artist Robert Sabuda.
What do you think? Let us know who we missed by leaving a comment.
