Susan Powter

{{short description|Australian-American motivational speaker, nutritionist, personal trainer, and author}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Susan Powter

| image =

| caption = Powter in the 1990s

| birth_name = Susan Jane Powter

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1957|12|22}}

| birth_place = Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

| occupation = {{flatlist|

Nutritionist
motivational speaker
writer
television personality}}

| years_active = 1988–present

| spouse = {{ubl|{{marriage|Nic Villarreal|1982|1988|end=div}}
{{marriage|Lincoln Apeland|1989|1995|end=div}}}}

| children = 3

| website =

}}

Susan Jane Powter (born December 22, 1957){{cite web |url=http://www.infoplease.com/biography/var/susanpowter.html |title=Susan Powter |website=Infoplease |accessdate=December 14, 2008}} is an Australian-born American motivational speaker, nutritionist, personal trainer, and author, who rose to fame in the 1990s with her catchphrase "Stop the Insanity!", the centerpiece of her weight-loss infomercial. Powter has been described as a cross between Richard Simmons and Betty Friedan{{cite web |work=Mental Floss |title=When Susan Powter Tried to Stop the Diet Insanity |date=7 June 2018 |access-date=20 November 2024 |url=https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/546862/susan-powter-stop-the-insanity}} and "the Lenny Bruce of Wellness".{{cite web |work=Simon & Schuster |title=Susan Powter |access-date=20 November 2024 |url=https://www.simonandschuster.com/authors/Susan-Powter/698331}}

She hosted her own talk show The Susan Powter Show in the 1990s.{{cite web |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/1995-01-22/susan-powters-wallet-gets-a-nasty-workout |title=Susan Powter's Wallet Gets A Nasty Workout |publisher=Bloomberg L.P. |author=Anderson, Stephanie |date=22 January 1995}}

Early life

Powter, who was born in Sydney, Australia, on December 22, 1957, immigrated to the United States at the age of 10.Wichel, Alex, "The Powter Principle; Eat More and Lose Weight" The Sun Herald (Sydney, Australia), January 30, 1994. LexisNexis Academic, February 17, 2011 She left school in 9th grade, eventually obtaining a GED. In 1980, her family relocated to Dallas, Texas. A year later, she met her first husband, Nic Villarreal; they married in 1982 and had two sons. A month after giving birth to their second son, Powter discovered that Villareal had been having an affair. The couple separated in 1986 and Powter turned to food to alleviate her stress. She went from 130 pounds to 260. Powter turned to diet books and workout tapes and found neither to be helpful. She eventually managed to slim down to 114 pounds by walking and cutting out sugar and processed foods.

In Dallas, prior to her fitness career taking off, Powter worked as a topless dancer to pay her bills.{{cite web|newspaper=The Seattle Times|title=Susan Powter: Stop The Insanity And Let Her Knit\ The Feminist Fitness Guru Lives With Her Three Sons In Seattle, Far From The Celebrityhood Of L.A.|author=Ramirez, Marc|date=June 5, 1999|url=https://greensboro.com/susan-powter-stop-the-insanity-and-let-her-knit-the-feminist-fitness-guru-lives-with/article_5fa687cb-220e-5d24-af6f-7431eb7c5302.html|publisher=News & Record}}

With the money she inherited after the death of her mother in 1988, Powter opened her own fitness studio.{{cite news |first=Jeannine |last=Stein |title=Powter Keg: She's no longer satisfied with merely stopping the insanity. The, uh, passionate health maven blasts into your home next week on her own TV talk show. |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-09-14-ls-38442-story.html |date=September 14, 1994 |access-date=November 13, 2024 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times}}{{cite news |first=Alex |last=Witchel |title=Susan Powter |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/10/31/magazine/susan-powter.html |date=October 31, 1993 |access-date=November 13, 2024 |page=58 |newspaper=The New York Times}} In 1990, Powter approached Dallas publicity representative Rusty Robertson with hopes of promoting her business. Robertson was struck by Powter's charismatic personality and began booking her on radio talk shows, eventually securing her a book deal. The pair put together an infomercial for Powter's Stop the Insanity (based off of a catch phrase that would become her trademark) health and wellness kit, which reached an audience well beyond the Dallas area. The kit included audio cassettes, an exercise video, and recipes.{{cite news |title=Susan Powter Delivers Message Loud and Clear |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1994/09/01/susan-powter-delivers-message-loud-and-clear/ |date=August 9, 2021 |access-date=November 13, 2024 |newspaper=Chicago Tribune}}

Career

= Television =

In 1994, Powter starred in her own television talk show, The Susan Powter Show, which ran for one season. On the show, she discussed nutrition and fitness, as well as other topics, with her guests.{{Cite web |last=Novak |first=Lauren |title=Whatever Happened to '90s Fitness Icon Susan Powter of 'Stop the Insanity!'?|url=https://www.remindmagazine.com/article/21569/susan-powter-stop-the-insanity-fitness-1990s-where-is-she-now/ |access-date=15 November 2024 |newspaper=Remind Magazine|date=November 2024}} She was also a special guest on the first episode of Space Ghost Coast to Coast, titled "Spanish Translation".{{cite web|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|title=George Lowe, voice actor known and beloved for his irreverent Space Ghost, dies at 67|author=D'Zurilla, Christine|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2025-03-04/george-lowe-dead-space-ghost-voice-actor|date=March 4, 2025}}{{cite web |title=Space Ghost: Coast to Coast – Season 1, Episode 1 |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/space_ghost_coast_to_coast/s01/e01 |access-date=15 November 2024 |publisher=Rotten Tomatoes}}

In 1995, the creators of the television sitcom Women of the House planned to include Powter as a cast member. The series was cancelled after just one season, with Powter appearing in one episode.{{cite web |title=Women of the House – Season 1, Episode 13 |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/women_of_the_house/s01/e13 |access-date=15 November 2024 |publisher=Rotten Tomatoes}}

= Motivational speaker and nutritionist =

Advocate of a whole-foods, organic, low-fat diet, and regular cardiovascular and strength-training exercise, Powter also condemned the diet industry.{{cite web |work=The New York Times |title=Susan Powter |first=Alex |last=Witchel |date=31 October 1993 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/10/31/magazine/susan-powter.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm}}

Her platinum-white close cropped haircut, aggressive speaking manner, and habit of being barefoot while speaking in public, became trademarks of her celebrity.{{cite news |title=A Fitness Guru for the '90s: Punk Hair, Heartfelt Message |url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/1993/10/19/a-fitness-guru-for-the-90s-punk-hair-heartfelt-message/ |work=Orlando Sentinel |date=15 September 2013 |access-date=15 November 2024}}

Powter was originally based in Dallas, Texas, at the height of her fame. In 2012, she moved into an earthship-style home in Taos, New Mexico. More recently, she lived in Las Vegas, New Mexico.{{cite web |first=Eve Sherrill |last=York |title=Stop the Insanity! |url=http://www.bubblews.com/news/1132775-stop-the-insanity |work=Bubblews |date=14 September 2013 |access-date=21 January 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150122060838/http://www.bubblews.com/news/1132775-stop-the-insanity |archive-date=22 January 2015}}

= Author and blogger =

Powter is an author of several books, three of which became New York Times bestsellers in the 1990s. In 2002, she returned to writing with The Politics of Stupid, a stream-of-consciousness, self-published manifesto encouraging women to take control of their brains and bodies from food manufacturers, corrupt governments, and fitness/diet industries. She put out The Monthly Flow, a subscription-based multimedia e-zine. Powter released her memoir, And Then Em Died... Stop the Insanity! A Memoir, in October 2024.{{cite news |url=https://people.com/nineties-fitness-guru-susan-powter-lost-millions-survived-delivering-grubhub-making-comeback-8732139 |title='Stop the Insanity!' '90s Fitness Guru Susan Powter Lost Empire Worth Millions and Survived by Delivering Grubhub: 'Scary as S---' (Exclusive) |work=People |author=Finan, Eileen |author2=Sheeler, Jason |date=October 23, 2024}}

= ''Waterworld'' =

Powter said in 2025 that she had declined an offer to star in Kevin Costner's 1995 film Waterworld after receiving a personal phone call from Costner. "My manager was livid," Powter said. She reportedly told Coster she didn't see herself in the character she was being asked to portray.{{cite web|title=Susan Powter reveals why she turned down Kevin Costner's offer to star in Waterworld: 'My manager was livid' (exclusive)|author=Nolfi, Joey|date=February 7, 2025|url=https://ew.com/kevin-costner-susan-powter-waterworld-exclusive-8785814|magazine=Entertainment Weekly}}

Personal life

Powter has been married twice. She has two sons from her first marriage, Damien and Kiel. She adopted a third son, Gabriel, after her second marriage.{{cite magazine |last=Gemelli |first=Zoë |title=Infomercial Queen Susan Powter Comes Out to Play |url=https://archive.curvemag.com/s/curve-archive/item/331 |magazine=Curve |access-date=February 21, 2025 |page=46 |volume=14 |number=8 |date=December 2004}}

In 1993, The New York Times said Powter's then curent living situation could be the basis of a sitcom. She rented a Dallas duplex where she lived with her second husband at the time, Lincoln Apeland, her two sons, and her first husband, Nic Villarreal, who she divorced in 1988.

Powter later came out as a lesbian, and in a 2004 interview with Curve magazine, she described herself as a "radical feminist housewife". She dated comedian Jessica Kirson in 2008.{{cite web |url=https://podcasts.apple.com/ng/podcast/episode-1076-jessica-kirson/id329875043?i=1000458404407 |title=Episode 1076 - Jessica Kirson–WTF with Marc Maron |work=WTF with Marc Maron |date=12 January 2019}}

In 1995, Powter filed for personal bankruptcy. In October 2024, Powter revealed that due to a series of lawsuits in the 1990s, and poor financial planning, she had been left virtually destitute, living in an RV and delivering food for Grubhub and Ubereats. After a health scare she filed for Medicaid. An upcoming documentary about her life, Stop the Insanity: Finding Susan Powter, co-produced by actress Jamie Lee Curtis, has been filmed.{{cite news |url=https://people.com/susan-powter-jamie-lee-curtis-saved-her-stop-the-insanity-8732849 |title=Susan Powter's Wallet Gets A Nasty Workout |work=People |author=Finan, Eileen |author2=Sheeler, Jason |date=24 October 2024}}

Written works

Stop the Insanity! (1993) {{ISBN|0-671-79598-8}}
The Pocket Powter (1994) {{ISBN|0-671-89456-0}}
Food (1995) {{ISBN|0-671-89225-8}}
C'mon America, Let's Eat (1996)
Sober…and Staying That Way: The Missing Link in the Cure for Alcoholism (1997)
Hey, Mom! I'm Hungry!: Great-Tasting, Low-Fat, Easy Recipes to Feed Your Family (1997)
The Politics of Stupid (2002)
And Then Em Died... Stop the Insanity! A Memoir (2024)

Home media

= Video cassettes =

Moving With Susan (1992)
Shopping with Susan (1993)
Lean, Strong and Healthy with Susan Powter (1993)
Building Strength with Susan Powter (1994)
Burn Fat & Get Fit with Susan Powter (1994)

= DVDs =

Susan Powter Lifestyle Ex-Change Weight Loss Program - Motivation Volume 1 (2006)
Susan Powter Lifestyle Ex-change Weight Loss Program - Motivation Volume 2 (2006)
Susan Powter Lifestyle Ex-change: Circuit Training Upper Volume 3 (2006)
Susan Powter Lifestyle Exchange - Men's Conditioning Volume 1
Susan Powter Lifestyle Ex-Change Men's Conditioning Volume 2

Filmography

class="wikitable sortable"
Year ! Title ! Role ! class=unsortable \| Notes ! class=unsortable \| {{tooltip\|Refs.\|References}}
1993 \| Shopping with Susan \| Self \| Video \| style="text-align: center;" \|
rowspan=3\| 1994 \| Space Ghost Coast to Coast \| Self \| Episode: "Spanish Translation" \| style="text-align: center;" \|
The Susan Powter Show \| Self \| Television series \| style="text-align: center;" \|
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air \| Self \| Episode: "Will Steps Out" \| style="text-align: center;" \|
1995 \| Women of the House \| Representative Kirby Seizmore \| Episode: "Dear Diary" \| style="text-align: center;" \|
1996 \| Diagnosis: Murder \| Janet Block \| Episode: "Murder by the Book" \| style="text-align: center;" \|
2004 \| I Love the 90s \| Self \| \| style="text-align: center;" \|
2007 \| The Simple Life \| Self \| 2 episodes \| style="text-align: center;" \|
2008 \| RuPaul's Drag Race \| Self \| Episode: "Totally Leotarded"; Guest judge \| style="text-align: center;" \|
{{TBA}} \| Stop the Insanity: Finding Susan Powter \| Self \| Documentary \| style="text-align: center;" \|

class="wikitable sortable"

Year

! Title

! Role

! class=unsortable | Notes

! class=unsortable | {{tooltip|Refs.|References}}

1993

| Shopping with Susan

| Self

| Video

| style="text-align: center;" |

rowspan=3| 1994