# Jean Nidetch Weight Watchers founder and Spokesman has died at age 91. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 29, 2015, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jean-nidetch-weight-watchers-founder-and-spokesman-has-died-at-age-91/718823 "2015-04-29T16:34:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jean-nidetch-weight-watchers-founder-and-spokesman-has-died-at-age-91/718823/1 "2015-04-29T16:34:00Z")
She’s been the face in Weight Watchers commercials for decades. The original founder of the company that she sold in 1978. It seems like every housewife tried the Weight Watchers diet at least once. I remember the books at all my relative’s homes. The men used the diet too. 😉 I can’t recall when her commercials for Weight Watchers ended? Early 1990’s maybe? She coined the phrase ‘drop the damn fork!’ as part of Weight Watchers. Quite a lady. R.I.P. Quite a success story. > **[Jean Nidetch, a Founder of Weight Watchers, Dies at 91 (Published 2015)](https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/30/business/jean-nidetch-dies-at-91-co-founder-of-weight-watchers-and-dynamic-speaker.html)** > > A 214-pound Queens housewife struggled with a lifelong addiction to food until she shed 72 pounds and became the public face of the worldwide weight-control empire. > **[Son: Weight Watchers founder Jean Nidetch dies at age 91](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3060960/Son-Weight-Watchers-founder-Jean-Nidetch-dies-age-91.html)** > > Jean Nidetch (pictured) who shared weight loss principles with others in meetings that became known as Weight Watchers dies at 91 in Florida on Wednesday morning. > [@](#): > > When she finally shed her extra weight, though, she said she felt like she’d found the Fountain of Youth. > > For years after, when she’d wake up in the morning, she’d reach down and feel her hipbone to make sure she was still thin. > > She dyed her hair blonde and styled herself as a weight-loss champion. > > Nidetch traveled the world preaching Weight Watchers’ simple gospel and became a millionaire along the way. > > Along with the Lipperts, she sold the company to H.J. Heinz Co. for about $71 million in 1978, but remained its most recognizable face for years afterward. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jean-nidetch-weight-watchers-founder-and-spokesman-has-died-at-age-91/718823/2 "2015-04-29T18:25:15Z")
After all these years, I’m still rather ambivalent about WW’s methods. But still, R.I.P. I hope she didn’t die of anything weight-related. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jean-nidetch-weight-watchers-founder-and-spokesman-has-died-at-age-91/718823/3 "2015-04-29T22:13:43Z")
Nidetch lived to age 91 on the Weight Watchers diet. What more needs to be said? ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2015, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jean-nidetch-weight-watchers-founder-and-spokesman-has-died-at-age-91/718823/4 "2015-04-30T14:23:04Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > After all these years, I’m still rather ambivalent about WW’s methods. But still, R.I.P. I hope she didn’t die of anything weight-related. They work. But they only work if you put the effort into making them work. Every time I’ve gone on WW, I’ve lost weight. And every time I go off, the weight comes back.