John Robert Powers (September 14, 1892 – July 21, 1977)[1] was an American actor and founder of a New York City modeling agency.
In 1923, Powers founded a modeling school. The John Robert Powers Agency represented models who aspired to success in the Hollywood film industry. While Powers' clientele were overwhelmingly female, the school also represented several men. The agency was the subject of a 1943 musical comedy, The Powers Girl, in which Alan Mowbray portrayed Powers; the film featured Anne Shirley and Carole Landis as aspiring models.
John Robert Powers was born to John J. Powers and Margaret Shindan in Easton, Pennsylvania, as reported in the record of his marriage in Manhattan on September 28, 1922, to Alice Virginia Burton (1902–1972). According to this record, she was the daughter of William Burton and Helen Vleit. John Robert Powers and his wife Alice are buried together at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California. Discrepancies exist regarding his date of birth (1892 appears on his gravestone and the U.S. Census record of 1900, but on his World War I draft registration card dated 6/5/17 in New York City, he self-reported his birthday as September 14, 1895).
Almost 100 years later, John Robert Powers Agency has transformed from a modeling school to a school focused on personality development all throughout East Asia and Southeast Asia, specifically countries such as China, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand.[2]