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TONY LITTLE
Tony Little (born September 1956) is an American TV fitness personality and businessman, best known for his fitness infomercial products. His most famous product is the Tony Little's Gazelle by Fitness Quest. Tony is a certified personal trainer and identifies himself as "America's Personal Trainer™", and most of the products he sells on his infomercials are targeted to the personal fitness market. He is infamous for his over-the-top, hyper-enthusiastic personality and long flowing blond hair. Two of Tony's favorite catchphrases are, "You can do it," and, "Always believe in yourself."
Personal life
As a child, Little was abandoned by his father, and raised by his mother in Idaho. As an adult, he moved to Florida to advance his personal fitness career. He is married to Tacy Little, and has two children, Trent and Tara, with her.
Tony is a former Junior National Bodybuilding champion. In 1983, while training for The Mr. America Bodybuilding Championship, he was in a near-fatal car accident in which he suffered numerous physical injuries. He suffered lacerations to his face and body and two herniated discs, a cracked vertebra, and a dislocated knee. He recovered enough to compete in the event and finished in fifth place. Tony has stated publicly that afterward he suffered from depression and became addicted to pain medication and gained weight. After realizing that his life was slipping into a downward spiral, Tony developed his exercise programs and went on to become a successful businessman in the fitness industry. His book One on One with Tony Little: The Complete 28-Day Body Sculpting And Weight Loss Program has sold thousands of copies. His fitness videos have won him 11 Platinum Awards and he has formed partnerships with fitness clubs, HSN and QVC to sell his products.
Tony revealed on a July 9 HSN broadcast of One on One with Tony Little that he will be turning 50 in September, 2006. He is in remarkable physical condition for his age considering his history.
Parodies
Tony has frequently been the target and source of parodies. In his own infomercials, he's dressed up, and made fun of other TV personalities, such as Fabio, Richard Simmons, and Susan Powter. Some of these were light hearted, but others were part of attacks and counter-attacks between competitors, each portraying others as having silly gimmicks, while they themselves had "legitimate" products.
In 1998 he appeared as himself, making fun of his own image, on the Fox show Mad TV. He also did a cameo appearance in the movie Frezno Smooth in 1999. In 2005, he appeared in a GEICO commercial, that at first pretends to be another of his personal training videos, but then becomes a commercial for car insurance. Most recently, Tony appeared in the 2006 film The Pumpkin Karver.
Controversy
The FTC found in 1999 that the infomercials for several Fitness Quest products, including Tony Little's Gazelle Glider, made several unsubstantiated claims, including the claim that "users could burn up to 1000 calories per hour." [1]
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