Susan Powter knows what it is like to be desperate, having gone from fame to pinching cents. She became popular in the ‘90s for her Stop the Insanity! Infomercials that put her on the map as a fitness guru. Her TV run ended in 1995 when Women of the House got canceled before her episode.
Looking back on her shows, Susan feels used, admitting that she cannot even watch them now. She reappeared on one episode of Ru Paul’s Drag Race in 2011 but did not do much to help her back into the industry.
Susan Powter went bankrupt as her career took a hit
After her short-lived show, Susan dealt with lawsuits that rendered her bankrupt. Unknown to her, Susan’s money was also being mismanaged, and it was too late before she figured it out. There was hardly anything left with no assets to her name, and she became a struggling single mother of three.
Susan ran through menial jobs including waitressing, Uber Eats and Grubhub delivery, and elementary school teaching just to make her weekly rent to stay in a dangerous Las Vegas complex. Susan did a good job at keeping her struggles away from her kids, who later got to know from her book.
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Rebuilding at 66
Things began to look up for Susan after a health scare qualified her for a monthly social security check of $1500. She was able to save while keeping her multiple jobs to feed and pay rent. She met filmmaker Zeberiah Newman last November, and they are working on the documentary titled Stop The Insanity: Finding Susan Powter, with Jamie Lee Curtis as executive producer.
Curtis is inspired by Susan’s willingness to bounce back and is excited to prove to American women that it is never too late to rebuild. With Newman and Curtis’ support, Susan is getting ready to re-launch her fitness brand and tour the country in an RV to promote her memoir.