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.
What about Hartlands Lee Gardner? Pitched in 86 MLB Games, big star at Central Michigan and is still around the area and active in the community.
Tim Alberta definitely should be #1 for Brighton.
I agree with this take. One year at HHS? By all standards Howell Hockey would be #1 if it weren’t for DCC.
What about Bobby Ryan for Pinckney? Has been in nhl for 10 plus years. Went to Pinckney high school.
Charlie was such a nice man and would sign a baseball for anyone. He cared about people. He was my father’s favorite baseball player.
Gilbert pick a Lil lame as she was just passing thru. Generally famous people from should mean “born there”.
Conversely, Cool about Swarthout as i remember the Stanley Kramer Movie from 1971 “Bless the beasts..” and had no idea.
Hieux Knieux?
I new most of them lived in Livingston County and followed most of their careers . CHARLIE GHERINGER WAS MY UNCLE
This is a fine listicle, but I think my friend Buddy was wearing maize and blue glasses when he picked Mark Messner as Hartland’s most famous person. Sure, the former Wolverines All American had a great career at Michigan for three years (he was red-shirted as a freshman), but unfortunately his pro career was cut short by a severe injury his rookie season. After football, Messner worked in business and once he took off his helmet for the last time, was never again a public figure.
On the other hand, for more than 40 years, Mark Farner fronted one of the most famous rock ‘n’ roll bands in American history. Grand Funk Railroad sold more than 25 million records in its career, 13 went gold (sales exceeding 500,000) and ten were platinum (sales exceeding 1 million). Nineteen of their singles charted in Billboard magazine; eight were Top 40 hits and two, “We’re an American Band” and “Locomotion” went Number 1.
As a former Highlander myself, I get why Messner left the Hartland Eagles for Detroit Catholic Central… But for Hartland fans, that itself has gotta be disqualifying.
Pinckney has WWE tag team champion of the world and former heavy weight champion Chris Sabin!
What about Tim Allen? Does he not live in Pinckney?