Susan Deixler: Her Life Before and After Barry Manilow

Susan Deixler is best known as the first wife of singer Barry Manilow, but that is only one part of her story. Long before Manilow became a famous music star, the two were young students in Brooklyn. They fell in love, married at a young age, and then went their separate ways.

Susan had an active life before that marriage. She was a popular student, joined many school groups, enjoyed music, and had plans to study nursing. After her marriage ended, she chose a much quieter path. She became a mother and was later reported to have worked in health and holistic healing.

Over the years, Susan Deixler has shared very little about her private life. Even when Barry’s later relationship became public, she did not use the moment to seek attention. In this article, we will look at her early years, school life, relationship with Barry Manilow, unusual wedding story, and what happened to their short marriage.

Susan Deixler’s Quick Bio

Susan Deixler’s Early Life

Susan Deixler grew up in Brooklyn, New York. Her parents were reported to be Al Deixler and Nettie Deixler. There is not much trusted public information about her early childhood, which is not surprising. Susan was never a celebrity herself, and most public interest in her life came much later because of Barry Manilow.

Brooklyn played an important part in both of their early lives. Susan attended Eastern District High School, where she would meet the young man later known around the world as Barry Manilow. At that time, however, they were simply two New York students thinking about school, friends, music, and their futures.

Some websites give an August 1944 birth date for Susan Deixler. However, clear and trusted proof for an exact date is hard to find. For that reason, it is safer not to present an exact birthday as a confirmed fact. What is much better recorded is Susan’s busy and social life during high school.

Susan Deixler’s High School Years

Susan attended Eastern District High School in Brooklyn. Barry Manilow also went there, though Susan was reportedly one year behind him. Accounts from those years describe the two quite differently. Barry was said to be quieter and to keep a smaller group of close friends, while Susan was outgoing and involved in school life.

Susan was especially active during her senior year. She served as student government president and took part in the school chorus. She was also involved with the Chemistry Squad and Bowling Club. On top of that, she enjoyed swimming, showing that her interests included school work, music, social activities, and sports.

Her list of school activities did not end there. Susan was also part of the Orientation Committee and the City and Boro. Council. These details give a much clearer picture of her teenage years. She was not simply the girl who happened to date a future singer. She had her own interests and took on important roles at school.

People who knew Susan also remembered her warm personality. One former classmate described her as “bubbly” and said that people liked her. While memories from old classmates should always be understood as personal views, they match the wider picture of Susan as a friendly and well-known student at Eastern District High School.

Susan Deixler’s Plans for the Future

Susan was already thinking about life after school. Her senior yearbook reportedly said that she planned to attend Miami University and study nursing. This is an important detail because it shows that an interest in health and caring for people was present before her name became connected with Barry Manilow’s growing music career.

However, there is an important difference between planning to study nursing and later becoming a nurse. Some online biographies call Susan Deixler a nurse, but strong public proof of her training and nursing career is limited. Her yearbook plans are useful evidence of what she wanted to do, but they should not be used to prove a later job.

Susan also had a connection with music. She had taken piano lessons and reportedly supported Barry’s musical goals. Music would eventually become the center of his life, but Susan had her own interests and plans. At this stage, neither could have known just how famous Barry would later become.

How Susan Deixler Met Barry Manilow

Susan Deixler and Barry Manilow met as students at Eastern District High School. Their relationship began long before songs such as “Mandy” and “Could It Be Magic” made Barry a household name. Susan was reportedly in her junior year when the two began dating, and their teenage romance soon became serious.

They also seemed to have different personalities. Susan was active in school and had a wide social circle. Barry was described as more reserved. Yet music gave them something they could share. Susan’s piano background helped her understand his interest in music, and reports say she encouraged his early musical goals.

Their relationship continued beyond the first days of high school romance. They were young, but they became serious enough to think about marriage. By 1964, Susan Deixler and Barry Manilow were ready to take that step. What followed was far from a simple wedding, mainly because their families had very different ideas about how it should happen.

Susan Deixler and Barry Manilow’s Wedding

Susan Deixler and Barry Manilow married in 1964, when both were still very young. Reports commonly place Barry at about 21 and Susan at about 20. Before the marriage, their families reportedly disagreed over the wedding. Susan’s parents wanted a large celebration, while Barry’s mother, Edna Manilow, and stepfather, Willie Murphy, had concerns about the cost.

Instead of waiting for the families to agree, Susan and Barry decided to elope. According to accounts of the marriage, they went to City Hall during a lunch break and were married in a judge’s chambers. It sounds like a simple ending to the disagreement, but it actually became the start of a much more unusual wedding story.

Susan’s parents reportedly did not accept the civil ceremony as enough. They did not want the newlyweds to live together until a rabbi had taken part in a religious ceremony. Susan and Barry therefore went through another ceremony in a rabbi’s office, this time with both sets of parents there.

The family disagreement continued into the wedding celebrations. The Deixlers reportedly held a large reception the following week but invited almost none of Barry’s relatives apart from his mother and stepfather. His parents chose not to attend. Barry’s side later held its own reception and did not invite Susan’s family.

At that later event, Susan and Barry reportedly went through another wedding ceremony with a rabbi present. Accounts of the period describe them as exchanging their vows several times because of the separate civil and religious events. It was an unusual beginning for two people who were still at a very young stage of adult life.

Why Susan Deixler and Barry Manilow Split

Despite all the ceremonies and family celebrations, the marriage did not last. Susan Deixler and Barry Manilow separated after a relatively short time, with reports often saying their marriage fell apart within about 18 months. Susan later sought an annulment, bringing their relationship as husband and wife to an end.

One published account says Susan cited fraud when seeking the annulment. That claim needs to be handled carefully. It would be wrong to guess what the legal wording meant or connect it to Barry’s later personal life without clear proof. Much of what happened privately between Susan and Barry has never been explained in detail.

Barry has offered his own view of the marriage over the years. He has described himself as very young at the time and has spoken about not being ready for married life. His strong desire to follow music was also shaping his future. His career would eventually take him far beyond the life he had known as a Brooklyn student.

For Susan, the end of the marriage marked the start of a very different chapter. While Barry went on to build an international music career, she largely moved away from public attention. Her later life would center much more on family, private work, and a path far removed from the celebrity world surrounding her former husband.

Susan Deixler’s Life After Barry Manilow

After her marriage to Barry Manilow ended, Susan Deixler chose a much quieter life. She did not try to stay in the public eye, and she did not build a public image around being the singer’s former wife. Instead, she appears to have focused on her own work, family, and private life.

Several reports say Susan later worked in health and wellness. Some sources call her a nurse, while others describe her as a holistic healer. The strongest detail from her younger years is that she had planned to study nursing, so her later interest in health fits that early goal, even though not every career claim is fully confirmed.

Susan was also reported to have lived in Point Reyes Station, California. This small community is very different from the busy music world that Barry later entered. Her later life seems to have been built around privacy and simple daily routines rather than public events, interviews, or celebrity attention.

Some websites also say she first worked as a secretary before moving into health-related work. That detail is harder to confirm, so it is best treated with care. What is clear is that Susan Deixler did not follow Barry into entertainment and instead built a life that stayed mostly outside the spotlight.

Susan Deixler’s Children and Family Life

Susan Deixler later became a mother of two children. Reports say she has one son and one daughter. Very little public information is available about them, which suggests that Susan made a real effort to keep her family away from media attention.

The names of her children, their father, and most details about their lives are not widely confirmed by strong public sources. Because of that, it would be wrong to guess or repeat claims that cannot be checked. Her children are an important part of her life, but they have mostly remained private.

Some reports also say Susan never remarried after her marriage to Barry Manilow. This is often repeated online, but there is limited public proof about her later relationships. It is safer to say that no later marriage has been widely documented in reliable public sources.

Her family life is one of the clearest examples of how different her path became from Barry’s. While he built a long career in music, Susan appears to have focused more on motherhood, work, and keeping her personal life away from public view.

Susan Deixler’s Work as a Holistic Healer

Susan Deixler has often been described as a holistic healer. Holistic healing is a broad term that focuses on the whole person, including physical health, daily habits, stress, and general well-being. It can include natural methods and other forms of care outside standard medical treatment.

This part of her story connects in an interesting way with her school years. Her senior yearbook reportedly said she planned to study nursing. That does not prove she later became a licensed nurse, but it does show that health and caring for others were interests she had from a young age.

Some online profiles call Susan both a nurse and an alternative healer. However, there is not enough strong public proof to confirm every job title. For a careful biography, it is better to describe her as someone reported to have worked in health and holistic healing rather than make stronger claims without proof.

This work also shows that Susan built her own identity after her first marriage. She did not become known for entertainment, business, or public speaking. Instead, her reported career was based around helping people with health and wellness in a much quieter setting.

What Susan Said About Barry Manilow Later

For many years, Susan Deixler said very little in public about Barry Manilow. That changed after news of his marriage to his longtime manager, Garry Kief, became public. Barry and Garry had been together for many years before quietly marrying in 2014.

When Susan was asked about the news, she did not speak badly about Barry. She said she wished him well and was happy that he had found love and happiness. Her words were simple, calm, and respectful.

Susan also made it clear that she did not want to keep talking about their old marriage. She described their relationship as “ancient history” and said she did not want to dig back into the past. That short comment tells us a lot about how she views that part of her life.

Rather than using Barry’s fame to return to the spotlight, Susan chose to close the subject. Her response showed that, for her, the marriage was something from a very distant time. She had already spent many years building a life away from the public story around Barry Manilow.

Where Is Susan Deixler Now?

As of 2026, very little new public information is available about Susan Deixler. She has stayed private for many years, and there are no major recent interviews, public events, or verified social media accounts that clearly show what she is doing today.

Older reports place her in Point Reyes Station, California. However, because those reports are not recent, it is better not to assume that this is still her current home. Susan has never shown much interest in keeping the public updated about her daily life.

Some websites say she is now retired from nursing or holistic healing. That may be possible based on her age, but there is no clear public proof. For that reason, it is better not to present retirement as a confirmed fact.

There are also online claims about her exact birth date, age, and net worth. Many of these details are repeated without strong evidence. The often-used $500,000 net worth figure, for example, does not come with clear financial proof and should not be treated as reliable.

What we can say with confidence is that Susan Deixler has spent most of her adult life away from fame. Even though people still search for her because of Barry Manilow, she has kept her later years private and has rarely spoken publicly.

Bottom Line

Susan Deixler is remembered by many people because she was Barry Manilow’s first wife, but her story is wider than that. Before their marriage, she was a busy and popular student with interests in music, school groups, sports, and nursing.

Her marriage to Barry was short, but it became part of music history because of the person he later became. After the relationship ended, Susan did not chase fame. She moved forward with her own life, became a mother, and was later linked to work in health and holistic healing.

Her later comments about Barry also showed that she had no wish to stay tied to the past. She wished him well and made it clear that their relationship belonged to another time.

In the end, Susan Deixler’s life is best understood through the facts we can support. She was a high school sweetheart, a young wife, a mother, and a private woman who chose a very different life from the famous singer she once married.

(FAQs)

Who is Susan Deixler?

Susan Deixler is best known as Barry Manilow’s first wife and high school sweetheart. She attended Eastern District High School in Brooklyn and later lived a mostly private life after their short marriage ended.

When did Susan Deixler marry Barry Manilow?

Susan and Barry Manilow married in 1964 when they were both very young. Their wedding story included a civil ceremony and later religious ceremonies because their families had different wishes about the marriage.

How long were Susan Deixler and Barry Manilow married?

Their marriage lasted only a short time. Reports often say the relationship ended within about 18 months, and Susan later sought an annulment.

Did Susan Deixler have children?

Yes. Reports say Susan became the mother of two children, one son and one daughter. She has kept their lives private, and little verified information is available about them.

Where is Susan Deixler now?

Susan has remained very private. Older reports say she lived in Point Reyes Station, California, but there is little reliable public information about her current life as of 2026.

More on this topic:

Jessica Rose Lee: Everything to Know About Tom Welling’s Wife

Who Is Timothy Olyphant’s Wife? All About Alexis Knief