Susan Powter

Susan Jane Powter (born December 22, 1957)<ref name="Infoplease">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and "the Lenny Bruce of Wellness".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

She hosted her own talk show The Susan Powter Show in the 1990s.<ref name="B">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Early life

Powter, who was born in Sydney, Australia, on December 22, 1957, immigrated to the United States at the age of 10.<ref name="The Powter Principle">Wichel, Alex, "The Powter Principle; Eat More and Lose Weight" The Sun Herald (Sydney, Australia), January 30, 1994. LexisNexis Academic, February 17, 2011</ref> She left school in 9th grade, eventually obtaining a GED.<ref name="The Powter Principle" /> 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.<ref name=TST>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

With the money she inherited after the death of her mother in 1988, Powter opened her own fitness studio.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=NYT>Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> She was also a special guest on the first episode of Space Ghost Coast to Coast, titled "Spanish Translation".<ref name=L>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Her platinum-white close-cropped haircut, aggressive speaking manner, and habit of being barefoot while speaking in public, became trademarks of her celebrity.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

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, Nevada .<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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.<ref name="people">Template:Cite news</ref>

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.<ref name=E/> "My manager was livid," Powter said. She reportedly told Coster she didn't see herself in the character she was being asked to portray.<ref name=E>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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.<ref name="Curve">Template:Cite magazine</ref>

In 1993, The New York Times said Powter's then current 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.<ref name=NYT/>

Powter later came out as a lesbian, and in a 2004 interview with Curve magazine, she described herself as a "radical feminist housewife".<ref name="Curve"/> She dated comedian Jessica Kirson in 2008.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 1995, Powter filed for personal bankruptcy.<ref name="B"/> 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.<ref name="people"/> An upcoming documentary about her life, Stop the Insanity: Finding Susan Powter, co-produced by actress Jamie Lee Curtis, has been filmed.<ref name="people2">Template:Cite news</ref>

Written works

• Stop the Insanity! (1993) Template:ISBN
• The Pocket Powter (1994) Template:ISBN
• Food (1995) Template:ISBN
• 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

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Template:Tooltip
1993	Shopping with Susan	Self	Video
1994	Space Ghost Coast to Coast	Self	Episode: "Spanish Translation"
	The Susan Powter Show	Self	Television series
	The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air	Self	Episode: "Will Steps Out"
1995	Women of the House	Representative Kirby Seizmore	Episode: "Dear Diary"
1996	Diagnosis: Murder	Janet Block	Episode: "Murder by the Book"
2004	I Love the 90s	Self
2007	The Simple Life	Self	2 episodes
2008	RuPaul's Drag Race	Self	Episode: "Totally Leotarded"; Guest judge
2025	Stop the Insanity: Finding Susan Powter	Self	Documentary	<ref name="people2"/>

External links

• [https://www.imdb.com/{{#if: 0694693

 | name/{{#if:{{#invoke:ustring|match|1=0694693|2=^nm}}
   | Template:Trim/
   | nm0694693/
   }}
 | {{#if: {{#property:P345}}
   | name/Template:First word/
   | find?q=%7B%7B%23if%3A+%0A++++++%7C+%7B%7B%7Bname%7D%7D%7D%0A++++++%7C+%5B%5B%3ATemplate%3APAGENAMEBASE%5D%5D%0A++++++%7D%7D&s=nm
   }}
 }}{{#if: 0694693  {{#property:P345}} | {{#switch: 
 | award | awards = awards Awards for | biography | bio = bio Biography for
 }}}} {{#if: 
 | {{{name}}}
 | Template:PAGENAMEBASE
 }}] at IMDb{{#if: 0694693{{#property:P345}}
 | Template:EditAtWikidata
 | Template:Main other

}}{{#switch:{{#invoke:string2|matchAny|^nm.........|^nm.......|nm|.........|source=0694693|plain=false}}

 | 1 | 3 =  Template:Main otherTemplate:Preview warning
 | 4 = Template:Main otherTemplate:Preview warning

}}{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:IMDb name with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|showblankpositional=1| 1 | 2 | id | name | section }}

• Template:Facebook
• Template:Instagram