Tony_Horton_(exercise_instructor)

Tony Horton (personal trainer)

Tony Horton (personal trainer)

American personal trainer, author, and former actor


Anthony Sawyer Horton Jr. (born July 2, 1958),[1] known professionally as Tony Horton, is an American personal trainer, author, and former actor. He is best known as the creator of the commercial home exercise regimen P90X.

Quick Facts Born, Occupation(s) ...

Early life

Tony Horton was one of 3 children born in Westerly, Rhode Island to Anthony Sawyer Horton (Sr.) and Jean (née Gencarelli) Horton, and was raised in Trumbull, Connecticut. He has two sisters. His family is Roman Catholic.[2][3] He was a self-described "98-pound weakling" with a speech impediment.[4]

By the time he was 10-years old, his family had moved more than five times. His father served three years in the Army as a 1st Lieutenant, and the family was stationed at various bases around the U.S. His father was a minor league baseball player, golfer, and yachtsman. Tony Horton became interested in fitness when he took a weightlifting class while attending the University of Rhode Island and was a member of Phi Kappa Psi. After graduation, he moved to Southern California and worked various jobs, including as a stand-up comedian and gofer for 20th Century Fox.[4]

Career

After moving to California in 1980, Horton became a personal trainer to an executive at 20th Century Fox, working out of his garage and charging $20 per lesson. His clientele grew, eventually including Bruce Springsteen, Usher, Tom Petty, Billy Idol and Annie Lennox.[4][5]

He did some improv and worked as an actor.[6] He appeared in a ThighMaster infomercial[7] and a Shakeology commercial and as a spokesperson for NordicTrack.[6] He starred in a number of exercise videos including Power 90, which was marketed by BeachBody.[8] He later created several sequels: P90X (Power 90 Extreme), which was his breakout hit; P90X2, and P90X3.[8]

In 2017 Horton revealed that he was diagnosed with Ramsay Hunt syndrome type 2.[9]


References

  1. Profile, imdb.com; accessed July 7, 2015.
  2. Jean (née Gencarelli) Horton obituary, legacy.com; accessed July 9, 2015.
  3. Anthony Sawyer Horton (Sr.) obituary, legacy.com; accessed July 7, 2015.
  4. Profile, nytimes.com; accessed July 7, 2015.
  5. Pfeifer, Stuart (1 January 2012). "Tony Horton: Personal trainer to the masses". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 13 January 2016.
  6. "P90X The All-Star Workout Video - ABC News2.mp4". YouTube. December 4, 2011. Retrieved July 7, 2015.
  7. Haupt, Angela (12 September 2013). "Tony Horton, P90X Creator, On What He Eats For Breakfast And How Yoga Saved His Life". HuffPost. Retrieved 13 January 2016.

Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Tony_Horton_(exercise_instructor), and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.