Richard Simmons, the go-to exercise expert for a generation of fitness fans, has died at age 76. According to TMZ, law enforcement sources report that “police and fire responded to a call from his housekeeper just before 10 AM Saturday and pronounced him dead at the scene.”
According to authorities, foul play is not suspected in the death and officials are investigating his passing as a natural death.
Richard Simmons Dead at 76
Simmons, who guest starred on ABC’s General Hospital, posted several times on Facebook recently. Many of his comments were thanking fans for the birthday wishes they sent him; Simmons turned 76 yesterday.
Simmons came on the scene in the 1970s and ’80s, first by starting a series of gyms including The Anatomy Asylum in Los Angeles. He also released dozens of fun fitness tapes and DVDs including titles like “Sweatin’ to the Oldies” and “Party off the Pounds.”
Simmons was a fan favorite for his upbeat, can-do attitude and never-ending stream of positivity. In recent years he had become a bit of a recluse, and occasional stories ran wondering where the social butterfly was and what he was up to.
Richard Simmons Was The Life of the Party
TMZ last spoke with the fitness fanatic in 2014, reportedly the last time he did a media interview. At that time he offered up numerous exercise tips for fans, with his usual earnest exuberance.
The exercise expert was born Milton Teagle “Richard” Simmons on July 12, 1948. His weight-loss regimen stood out from the plethora of fitness programs due to its high energy, aerobic-based features, as well as Simmons’ electric personality.
His first gym, Slimmons, was opened in Beverly Hills, California. Eventually he became a weight loss icon, and was a frequent guest of late-night television and radio talk shows, such as the Late Show with David Letterman and The Howard Stern Show.
Richard Simmons RIP
Simmons’ advocacy extended to political activism, for example in 2008 supporting “a bill mandating noncompetitive physical education in public schools as a part of the No Child Left Behind Act.”
Years after his February 2014 TMZ interview “speculation and expressions of concern about his well-being began to surface in the media. Both Simmons and his publicist said the concerns were unwarranted, as he simply chose to be less publicly visible.”
RIP
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