Susan Deixler: The Untold Story of Barry Manilow’s First Wife, Their Marriage, and Her Life Beyond Fame

Susan Deixler is best known as the first wife of legendary American singer and songwriter Barry Manilow. Their relationship began when they were young students in Brooklyn, New York, long before Manilow became an internationally recognized music star. They married in 1964, but their relationship ended after approximately one year.

Unlike many people connected to celebrities, Susan Deixler never developed a public entertainment career or regularly appeared in the media. She has consistently maintained a private life, making reliable information about her personal history relatively limited.

Her name continues to attract attention because of her connection to Manilow, particularly following his public discussion of his sexuality and his marriage to longtime partner Garry Kief. However, her story deserves to be understood independently of those headlines.

This article examines what is genuinely known about Susan Deixler, her early relationship with Barry Manilow, the circumstances surrounding their separation, her reported professional life, and the distinction between verified information and online speculation.

1. Who Is Susan Deixler? Early Life and Background

Susan Deixler entered public awareness through her relationship with Barry Manilow, but her early life was largely separate from the entertainment industry. She and Manilow attended Eastern District High School in Brooklyn, New York, where their teenage relationship developed.

Their connection began before Manilow had achieved professional recognition. At that stage, he was a young student with a growing interest in music rather than an established recording artist.

Susan Deixler’s Education and Teenage Years

The most consistently reported detail about her early life is her connection to Eastern District High School. Manilow also attended the school and was recognized for his musical abilities.

According to an interview published by Parade, Manilow was voted the most musical student in his senior class. His interest in music was already influencing his ambitions, although he had not yet entered the world of international entertainment.

There is considerably less independently documented information about Susan’s childhood, parents, siblings, and academic achievements. Some online biographies provide specific family details and birth information, but these claims are not consistently supported by reliable primary sources.

For an accurate biography, it is important not to turn unverified internet claims into established facts.

When Was Susan Deixler Born?

An exact, independently verified birth date for Susan has not been established in the strongest publicly available sources.

Some entertainment websites estimate her birth year from comments made in interviews during 2015. However, an estimated age should not be presented as an official birth record.

This distinction matters because celebrity biographies frequently repeat the same unsourced information until it appears authoritative. Readers deserve a clear separation between confirmed details and estimates.

2. Susan Deixler and Barry Manilow: How Their Relationship Began

The relationship between Susan Deixler and Barry Manilow started during their teenage years in Brooklyn.

Before becoming famous for songs such as Mandy, Copacabana, and Can’t Smile Without You, Manilow was a young musician exploring his interests and ambitions. His relationship with Susan belonged to this earlier period of his life.

Their connection eventually developed into a serious romantic relationship. They became high-school sweethearts and decided to marry after completing their school years.

Their Relationship Before Fame

Their relationship developed when neither person was living a celebrity lifestyle. Manilow was still discovering the professional opportunities that would eventually transform his career.

Music was already an important part of his identity. He was interested in arranging, performing, and developing his musical knowledge, while his relationship with Susan represented a different kind of future.

In his 2026 interview with The Guardian, Manilow reflected on the marriage and explained how his growing involvement with musical theatre influenced his priorities. He recalled spending his evenings immersed in music while Susan expected him to return home for dinner.

His comments offer an unusually direct explanation of the tension between his personal relationship and professional ambitions.

3. When Did Susan Deixler Marry Barry Manilow?

Susan Deixler and Barry Manilow married in 1964, when Manilow was approximately 21 years old.

Their marriage took place before his breakthrough as a recording artist. At the time, Manilow was still building his musical foundation and had not yet achieved the commercial success that would eventually make him internationally recognizable.

The marriage is an important part of his personal history because it represents his first attempt at building a conventional married life.

Details About Their 1964 Wedding

Their wedding has been described in entertainment reporting as a relatively small and personal event.

According to reports, the couple initially married in a civil ceremony. Susan’s parents subsequently wanted them to have a traditional Jewish wedding ceremony, involving a rabbi.

Although details of the wedding are not extensively documented through official records, multiple entertainment reports identify 1964 as the year of their marriage.

The marriage attracted little public attention at the time because Manilow was not yet a major celebrity.

That changed considerably during the following decades, when his music career became increasingly successful and audiences began exploring his personal history.

How Long Were Susan Deixler and Barry Manilow Married?

Their marriage lasted approximately one year before they separated in 1965.

The legal ending of the marriage is often described as an annulment rather than simply a conventional divorce. Reports indicate that the annulment followed in 1966.

These dates are important because some online biographies incorrectly combine the separation and annulment into a single event.

The distinction is straightforward:

• 1964: Susan and Barry married.

• 1965: Their relationship ended and they separated.

• 1966: Reports place the annulment of their marriage.

The marriage was brief, but it remained part of Manilow’s publicly discussed personal history.

4. Why Did Susan Deixler and Barry Manilow Separate?

The separation between Susan Deixler and Barry Manilow has attracted considerable interest, particularly because Manilow later became open about his sexuality.

However, his own explanation of the marriage provides important context.

He has repeatedly described himself as being in love with Susan while acknowledging that he was not prepared for the responsibilities of married life.

In his 2017 interview with People, Manilow explained that he was young, spending his evenings making music, and not ready to settle down. He specifically distinguished those circumstances from a struggle with his sexuality during the marriage.

Barry Manilow’s Own Explanation

One of the most valuable sources for understanding the separation is Manilow himself.

In his 2026 Guardian interview, he described becoming increasingly absorbed in the musical theatre community after finishing his daytime work in a CBS mailroom.

He explained that he found himself surrounded by musicians and people who introduced him to new musical ideas. He enjoyed that environment so much that he did not want to leave it.

Susan, meanwhile, was expecting the ordinary routines and commitments of married life.

Looking back, Manilow accepted responsibility for the relationship’s failure, explaining that he would have been a poor husband under those circumstances.

This is a more reliable explanation than speculative theories circulating online.

Was Barry Manilow’s Sexuality the Reason for Their Separation?

This is one of the most frequently discussed questions about the couple.

Barry Manilow publicly discussed being gay in 2017, after decades of keeping his relationship with television executive Garry Kief private.

That announcement naturally encouraged people to revisit his earlier marriage. However, Manilow specifically stated that he was not struggling with his sexuality during his relationship with Susan.

He described the marriage as a relationship in which he was in love but too young and unprepared to settle down.

His later understanding of his sexuality should not automatically be treated as the explanation for every earlier relationship. Doing so would replace his own account with an assumption.

5. Susan Deixler’s Response to Barry Manilow’s Marriage to Garry Kief

In 2015, public interest in Susan increased when news emerged that Barry Manilow had married his longtime partner, Garry Kief.

The couple had reportedly held a private wedding ceremony in April 2014. The news became widely discussed the following year, bringing renewed attention to Manilow’s earlier marriage.

Susan was contacted by reporters and offered a rare public comment about her former husband.

What Did Susan Deixler Say About Barry’s Wedding?

According to a report published by Music-News.com on April 12, 2015, Susan described their former relationship as ancient history.

She also emphasized that she was not a celebrity and had her own children and life.

Most importantly, she expressed genuine happiness for Barry and wished him well.

Her response was significant because it provided a rare first-person perspective rather than another account based on speculation.

She did not attempt to turn the situation into a public controversy or use the renewed attention to discuss intimate details of their marriage.

Did Susan Deixler Have Negative Feelings Toward Barry Manilow?

There is no reliable evidence establishing an ongoing public dispute between them.

Her 2015 comments suggest that she regarded the marriage as a distant chapter of her past and preferred not to revisit it.

That does not reveal every aspect of her private feelings, of course. It simply establishes what she was willing to communicate publicly.

The distinction is important when writing about someone who has never pursued a celebrity lifestyle.

6. Susan Deixler’s Life and Career After Her Marriage

One of the biggest gaps in online biographies is the period following the end of Susan’s marriage.

Many articles focus almost entirely on Barry Manilow. They provide extensive information about his music, performances, awards, and later relationships, while offering little reliable information about Susan’s independent life.

However, local reporting provides an interesting example of why her story should not be reduced to her former marriage.

A 2024 article in The Point Reyes Light documents the professional achievements of a woman named Susan Deixler who worked with West Marin Senior Services in California. It describes an impressive career in community support and senior care.

An important identity qualification: The local reporting and Marin County recognition establish the achievements of a Susan Deixler in West Marin. The available records do not independently establish that this is the same individual as Barry Manilow’s former wife. Therefore, these professional achievements should not be attributed to the celebrity’s former spouse without additional identity verification.

Reported Work in Senior Care

According to The Point Reyes Light, the Susan Deixler featured in its March 2024 coverage spent approximately 30 years connected with West Marin Senior Services.

Her work included:

• Supporting older adults living in rural communities.

• Connecting seniors with medical services.

• Arranging transportation for grocery shopping and appointments.

• Helping families navigate difficult care situations.

• Advocating for elderly residents dealing with healthcare and insurance challenges.

• Providing practical and emotional support to people experiencing isolation.

The article describes her progression from volunteering to serving as a senior case manager for approximately 20 years.

This reporting offers a more substantial picture of community service than the unsupported career descriptions repeated by celebrity biography websites.

The Senior Swim Program

One particularly interesting achievement mentioned in the local newspaper is the establishment of a senior swimming program at Heart’s Desire Beach in Tomales Bay State Park.

The idea developed after a client expressed a wish to swim again but faced mobility and transportation difficulties.

Rather than treating the request as unrealistic, the senior care manager worked to create an opportunity for the client to return to the water.

The program subsequently continued with volunteer support. The story illustrates how practical community initiatives can improve quality of life for older adults.

Again, this achievement belongs to the Susan Deixler identified in the local records; the connection to Barry Manilow’s former wife remains unverified.

7. Did Susan Deixler Have Children?

Susan’s family life is another subject that frequently appears in online searches.

In her 2015 comments to reporters, she explicitly mentioned having children and a life of her own. This confirms that she spoke about motherhood, but it does not establish the number, names, or identities of her children.

It is equally important to distinguish her family life from her former marriage to Manilow.

Did Susan and Barry Manilow Have Children Together?

There is no reliable public evidence establishing that Susan and Barry had children together during their brief marriage.

Reports about Susan having children refer to her later family life, not necessarily to children from her relationship with Manilow.

Some online biographies publish specific names and birth years for her children. However, these details are not sufficiently established by authoritative sources to present as confirmed facts.

Why Is Her Family Life So Private?

Susan has never established herself as a public celebrity personality.

Her comments in 2015 suggest that she considers her family and personal experiences separate from the entertainment industry’s interest in her former husband.

This approach also explains why information about her children and later relationships remains limited.

Privacy should not be mistaken for a lack of personal achievements or an absence of an interesting life.

8. Where Is Susan Deixler Now?

People searching for Susan Deixler today generally want to know whether she is still alive, where she lives, what she does, and whether she remains connected to Barry Manilow.

The honest answer is that publicly verified information about her present circumstances is limited.

The 2015 interview provides a rare personal update, while the 2024 West Marin reporting documents the retirement of a woman with the same name. However, the identity connection between those records has not been independently established.

Consequently, it would be inaccurate to state that Susan currently lives in a particular California town or that the senior-care professional is definitively Manilow’s former wife.

Is Susan Deixler Still Living a Private Life?

Her limited public presence suggests that she has not pursued an entertainment career or regular media appearances.

Unlike Barry Manilow, whose professional life continues to attract extensive coverage, Susan has not maintained a comparable public profile.

There are also no sufficiently reliable public updates establishing her current relationship status, daily routine, or exact residence.

For readers, the most useful takeaway is that her present circumstances should not be filled in with assumptions simply because people remain curious about her past.

9. Barry Manilow’s Life After Susan Deixler

Understanding Barry Manilow’s later life provides additional context for why interest in Susan has continued.

After their separation, Manilow devoted increasing attention to music. His career eventually developed into one of the most recognizable success stories in American popular entertainment.

His achievements include Grammy, Emmy, and Tony recognition, along with a large collection of commercially successful recordings.

Barry Manilow and Garry Kief

Manilow met television executive Garry Kief in 1978.

Their relationship developed into a long-term partnership, and they eventually married in April 2014 in a private ceremony in Palm Springs, California.

Manilow publicly discussed his sexuality in 2017 during an interview with People. He explained that he had kept his relationship private because he worried about disappointing his fans.

He also spoke positively about the support he received after the relationship became public.

How His Career Changed After the 1960s

Manilow’s musical career grew substantially after his early marriage ended.

Some of his best-known songs include:

• Mandy

• Copacabana (At the Copa)

• I Write the Songs

• Can’t Smile Without You

• Looks Like We Made It

• Could It Be Magic

His rise to fame helps explain why an otherwise private former relationship continues to generate searches decades later.

In a May 2026 interview with The Guardian, Manilow reflected on his early marriage, his musical ambitions, his later relationship with Kief, and his continuing commitment to creating music.

10. Susan Deixler’s Net Worth and Financial Background

Another common search query concerns Susan Deixler’s net worth.

Several biography websites publish estimated financial figures, sometimes presenting them as if they were established facts. However, there are no sufficiently reliable public financial disclosures establishing her personal wealth.

Her former marriage to a successful musician does not provide evidence of her current financial position.

It would therefore be misleading to assign Susan a specific net worth without documented information.

Did Susan Receive Money From Barry Manilow?

There is no sufficiently reliable public documentation establishing the financial arrangements following their separation or annulment.

Claims about settlements, financial support, property ownership, or inheritance should not be treated as facts without supporting records.

The fact that Manilow later became wealthy does not establish that his former wife received a particular amount.

A useful distinction: Celebrity net-worth estimates are not the same as verified financial statements. Readers should be cautious about websites that publish precise figures without explaining their sources.

11. Why Does Susan Deixler Continue to Attract Public Interest?

The continued interest in Susan is closely connected to three aspects of popular culture.

First, Barry Manilow has maintained a loyal international audience for decades. Fans naturally become interested in the personal experiences behind the careers of their favorite musicians.

Second, the couple’s marriage took place before his rise to fame. This makes their relationship an interesting part of his early biography.

Third, Manilow’s 2017 public discussion of his sexuality encouraged renewed interest in his first marriage and the different stages of his personal life.

However, there is another reason her story deserves attention: not every person connected to a celebrity wants to become famous.

Susan’s limited public comments demonstrate a clear preference for keeping her personal experiences separate from entertainment headlines.

A responsible biography should respect that preference while presenting the information that can genuinely be established.

12. What Makes Susan Deixler’s Story Different?

Many celebrity-related biographies follow a predictable structure. They discuss a relationship, describe a separation, introduce another partner, and finish with an estimated net worth.

That approach does not necessarily produce a complete or accurate account.

The story of Susan is different because the available evidence is uneven. Her marriage to Manilow is well documented, and her own comments provide valuable insight into how she viewed their distant relationship.

Other aspects of her life remain private or are supported by records that cannot yet be confidently connected to the same individual.

Three important lessons emerge:

1. A short marriage can remain historically relevant: Her relationship with Manilow continues to be part of the singer’s biography even though it ended before his major success.

2. A person’s identity extends beyond celebrity relationships: Susan should not be defined entirely by her connection to a famous musician.

3. Reliable biography requires restraint: Unsupported claims about age, children, wealth, and current residence do not make an article more informative.

The strongest account is not necessarily the one containing the most personal details. It is the one that helps readers understand what happened while being transparent about what remains unknown.

13. Frequently Asked Questions About Susan Deixler

1. Who is Susan Deixler?

Susan Deixler is best known as the first wife and former high-school sweetheart of American singer Barry Manilow. They married in 1964, before Manilow became internationally famous, and separated approximately one year later. She later made a rare public statement in 2015, wishing him happiness following news of his marriage to Garry Kief.

2. When did Susan Deixler and Barry Manilow get married?

They married in 1964 when Manilow was approximately 21 years old. Their relationship began during their school years in Brooklyn, New York. The marriage ended in separation in 1965, with reports placing the annulment in 1966.

3. Why did Susan Deixler and Barry Manilow divorce?

According to Manilow’s own interviews, he was in love with Susan but was not ready for married life. He became increasingly devoted to music and spent much of his time pursuing professional opportunities. In his 2026 Guardian interview, he again explained that his musical ambitions contributed to their separation.

4. Did Susan Deixler and Barry Manilow have children?

There is no reliable public evidence establishing that they had children together during their marriage. Susan mentioned having children in her 2015 interview, but she did not publicly provide details that establish their identities or family history.

5. Where is Susan Deixler now?

Her current residence and personal circumstances have not been reliably established through recent public reporting. She has generally maintained a private life rather than participating in celebrity interviews or entertainment events. A 2024 California newspaper reported on a senior-care professional named Susan Deixler, but her identity as Manilow’s former wife has not been independently confirmed.

14. Conclusion: The Story of Susan Deixler Beyond Barry Manilow

Susan Deixler remains an interesting figure in Barry Manilow’s personal history because their relationship began before fame, commercial success, and international recognition became part of his life.

Their marriage in 1964 was brief, but it represented an important chapter in Manilow’s early adulthood. His later interviews provide a relatively clear explanation of why the relationship ended: he was young, increasingly devoted to music, and not ready for the responsibilities of marriage.

Susan’s 2015 response also offers an important perspective. Rather than reopening an old relationship, she expressed happiness for her former husband and emphasized that she had her own family and life.

Much of her personal biography remains undocumented, and that should be acknowledged rather than replaced with speculation.

For readers researching Susan Deixler, the best next step is to distinguish firsthand interviews, established newspaper reporting, and official public records from unsupported celebrity biography claims. That approach provides a more trustworthy understanding of her story and the historical relationship that continues to attract attention.