Richard Simmons, the international fitness expert, has died at the age of 76

Richard Simmons, an anti-aging television panelist who built a mini-empire on his commercial tanks and shorts by encouraging the overweight to exercise and eat well, died Saturday. He turned 76 on Friday. Simmons died at his home in Los Angeles, his publicist Tom Estey said in an email to The Associated Press. He did not provide further details.

Los Angeles police and fire departments said they responded to a home “where the AP address matches Simmons through public records” where a man was pronounced dead of natural causes. Simmons, who revealed the skin disease in March 2024, had recently gone out of sight, sparking speculation about his health and well-being. His death was first reported by TMZ.

Simmons was a former 268-pound teenager who became a multi-media personality, sharing weight loss tips as host of the “Richard Simmons Show.” ” daytime Emmy “Richard Simmons Show” and author of best-selling books and diet plan. Deal-A-Meal. He also opened fitness studios and starred in fitness videos, including the highly successful “Sweatin’ to the Oldies” line, which became a cult classic.

“My diet and diet are just two words,” common sense. At the speed of good humor,” he told The Associated Press in 1982. “I want to help people and make the world a healthier, happier place.”

Simmons embraced the conversation of many people to convey his message, as in the end it became a joke of his clothes and amazing beauty. He was a sought-after guest on TV shows hosted by Merv Griffin, Mike Douglas, and Phil Donahue. But David Letterman was making fun of him and Howard Stern was making fun of him until he cried. He was mocked in Neil Simon’s “The Goodbye Girl” on Broadway in 1993, and Eddie Murphy put on white makeup and dressed up as him in “The Nutty Professor,” shouting “I’m a pony!”

When asked if he thought he could influence people by being silly, Simmons replied, “I think there’s a time to be serious and a time to be silly. It’s knowing when to be silly.” I try to have a good mix. It catches people off guard and makes them think.

Simmons’ daytime show was seen on 200 stations in America, as well as in Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Japan and South America. His first book, “Never Say Diet,” was a bestseller.

He was known to mentor the obese, including Rosalie Bradford, who held the record for being the world’s heaviest woman, and Michael Hebranko, who said Simmons helped him lose 700 pounds . Simmons puts real, “chubby, balding or non-telegenic” people in his workout videos to make fitness goals seem attainable.

Throughout his career, Simmons was a reliable food critic, always emphasizing healthy eating and exercise plans. “There’s always going to be something weird about eating four grapes before bed, or drinking a special tea, or buying these little beans from El Salvador,” he told the AP in 2005 when the Atkins diet they are sweeping the country. “If you watch your parts and have a positive attitude and work out every day you will live longer, feel better, and look better.”

Simmons was a native of New Orleans, a chubby boy named Milton by his parents. (He called himself “Richard” when he was 10 to improve his personality). He told people that he was eating too much because he believed that his parents loved his elder brother very much. He was teased by his classmates and a balloon weighing about 200 kilograms.

Simmons told the AP that her mother watched Jack LaLanne’s TV show religiously when she was growing up, but she wasn’t crazy about the fitness fanatic. “I hated him,” Simmons said. “I wasn’t prepared for his message because he was fit and he was healthy and he had such a good attitude, and I was none of those things.”

Simmons went to Italy as a foreign exchange student and ended up doing peanut butter commercials and bacchanalian eating scenes for director Federico Fellini in his film “Fellini Satyricon.” He told the AP: “I was fat, I had blond hair. The Italians thought I was crazy. I was the life of the party.”

His life changed after receiving an anonymous letter. “One dark, rainy day I went to my car and found a letter. It said, ‘Dear Richard, you are very funny, but fat people die young. Please don’t die.” He was so surprised that he ate a starvation diet that left him emaciated but very sick.

After the crash diet, he regained 65 pounds. Finally, he was able to devise a sensible plan to lose the pounds and keep them off. “I got into business because I couldn’t find anything I liked,” he said.

When Simmons was not seen in public for several years, some newspapers speculated that he was being held captive in his home. In phone interviews with “Entertainment Tonight” and the “Today” show, Simmons denied the allegations and told her fans that she was enjoying her time alone. Filmmaker Dan Taberski, one of his regular students, started a podcast in 2017 called “Missing Richard Simmons.”

In 2022, Simmons broke his six-year silence, and his spokesperson told the New York Post that the beloved fitness icon was “living the life he chose.”

One of the Internet tributes after Simmons’ passing came from actor-comedian Pauly Shore, who previously created an unauthorized biopic of Simmons, which Simmons opposed at the time. .

“Just heard like everyone else that the wonderful Richard Simmons has passed,” she began in an Instagram post. “I hope you are at peace and shining in the heavens,” adding “You are one of a kind, Richard. Amazing life. Amazing story.”