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Richard Simmons, television\u2019s hyperactive court jester of physical fitness who built a mini-empire in his trademark tank tops and short shorts by urging the overweight to exercise and eat better, died Saturday. He turned 76 on Friday.<\/p>\n
Simmons died at his home in Los Angeles, his publicist Tom Estey said in an email to The Associated Press. He gave no further details.<\/p>\n
Los Angeles police and fire departments say they responded to a house \u2014 whose address the AP has matched with Simmons through public records \u2014 where a man was declared dead from natural causes.<\/p>\n
Simmons, who had revealed a skin diagnosis in March 2024, had lately dropped out of sight, sparking speculating about his health and well-being. His death was first reported by TMZ.<\/p>\n
Simmons was a former 268-pound teen who became a master of many media forms, sharing his hard-won weight-loss tips as host of the Emmy-winning daytime \u201cRichard Simmons Show\u201d and author of best-selling books and the diet plan Deal-A-Meal. He also opened exercise studios and starred exercise videos, including the wildly successful \u201cSweatin\u2019 to the Oldies\u201d line, which became a cultural phenomenon.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy food plan and diet are just two words \u2014 common sense. With a dash of good humor,\u201d he told The Associated Press in 1982. \u201cI want to help people and make the world a healthier, happy place.\u201d<\/p>\n
Simmons embraced mass communication to get his message out, even as he eventually became the butt of jokes for his outfits and flamboyant flair. He was a sought-after guest on TV shows led by Merv Griffin, Mike Douglas and Phil Donahue. But David Letterman would prank him and Howard Stern would tease him until he cried. He was mocked in Neil Simon\u2019s \u201cThe Goodbye Girl\u201d on Broadway in 1993, and Eddie Murphy put on white makeup and dressed like him in \u201cThe Nutty Professor,\u201d screaming \u201cI\u2019m a pony!\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked if he thought he could motivate people by being silly, Simmons answered, \u201cI think there\u2019s a time to be serious and a time to be silly. It\u2019s knowing when to do it. I try to have a nice combination. Being silly cures depression. It catches people off guard and makes them think. But in between that silliness is a lot of seriousness that makes sense. It\u2019s a different kind of training.\u201d<\/p>\n
Simmons\u2019 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, \u201cNever Say Diet,\u201d was a smash best-seller.<\/p>\n
He was known to counsel the severely obese, including Rosalie Bradford, who held records for being the world\u2019s heaviest woman, and Michael Hebranko, who credited Simmons for helping him lose 700 pounds. Simmons put real people \u2014 chubby, balding or non-telegenic \u2014 in his exercise videos to make the fitness goals seem reachable.<\/p>\n
Throughout his career, Simmons was a reliable critic of fad diets, always emphasizing healthy eating and exercise plans. \u201cThere\u2019ll always be some weird thing about eating four grapes before you go to bed, or drinking a special tea, or buying this little bean from El Salvador,\u201d he told the AP in 2005 as the Atkins diet craze swept the country. \u201cIf you watch your portions and you have a good attitude and you work out every day you\u2019ll live longer, feel better and look terrific.\u201d<\/p>\n
Simmons was a native of New Orleans, a chubby boy named Milton by his parents. (He renamed himself \u201cRichard\u201d around the age of 10 to improve his self-image). He would tell people he ate to excess because he believed his parents liked his older brother more. He was teased by schoolmates and ballooned to almost 200 pounds.<\/p>\n
Simmons told the AP his mother watched exercise guru Jack LaLanne\u2019s TV show religiously when he was growing up, but he wasn\u2019t crazy about the fitness fanatic. \u201cI hated him,\u201d Simmons said. \u201cI wasn\u2019t ready for his message because he was fit and he was healthy and he had such a positive attitude, and I was none of those things.\u201d<\/p>\n
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 \u201cFellini Satyricon.\u201d He told the AP: \u201cI was fat, had curly hair. The Italians thought I was hysterical. I was the life of the party.\u201d<\/p>\n
His life changed after getting an anonymous letter. \u201cOne dark, rainy day I went to my car and found a note. It said, \u2018Dear Richard, you\u2019re very funny, but fat people die young. Please don\u2019t die.\u201d He was so stunned that he went on the starvation diet that left him thin but very ill.<\/p>\n
After the crash diet he gained back 65 pounds. Eventually, he was able to devise a sensible plan to take off the pounds and keep them off. \u201cI went into the business because I couldn\u2019t find anything I liked,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
When Simmons hadn\u2019t been seen in public for several years, some news outlets speculated that he was being held hostage in his own house. In telephone interviews with \u201cEntertainment Tonight\u201d and the \u201cToday\u201d show, Simmons refuted the claims and told his fans he was enjoying the time by himself. Filmmaker-writer Dan Taberski, one of his regular students, launched a podcast in 2017 called \u201cMissing Richard Simmons.\u201d<\/p>\n
In 2022, Simmons broke his six-year silence, with his spokesperson telling the New York Post that the beloved fitness icon was \u201cliving the life he has chosen.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of the online tributes after Simmons\u2019 passing was from actor-comedian Pauly Shore, who previously developed an unauthorized biopic of Simmons, which Simmons objected to at the time.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just got word like everyone else that the beautiful Richard Simmons has passed,\u201d he began in an Instagram\u00a0post<\/a>. \u201cI hope you\u2019re at peace and twinkling up in the heavens,\u201d adding \u201cYou\u2019re one of a kind, Richard. An amazing life. An amazing story.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\nSubscribe to the Fortune Next to Lead newsletter to get weekly strategies on how to make it to the corner office. Sign up for free<\/a>.<\/div>\n