John Robert Powers

Who was John Robert Powers?

John Robert Powers was an American actor and founder of a prominent New York City modeling agency.

In 1923, John Robert Powers founded a modeling school. The John Robert Powers Agency represented many models who went on to success in the Hollywood film industry, and even Betty Bloomer who became the First Lady of the United States. While Powers' clientele was overwhelmingly female, and to be a "Powers Girl" was a much sought-after position, the school also represented several men.

At its height, the school was so significant within the industry that Hollywood made a 1943 musical comedy film titled The Powers Girl in which Alan Mowbray portrays John Robert Powers and features Anne Shirley and Carole Landis as aspiring models.

John Robert Powers married Alice Burton and they are interred together in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.