Richard Simmons, fitness personality and TV host, dead at 76

CNN

By Dan Heching and Zoe Sottile, CNN

(CNN) — Richard Simmons, the perennial 1980s workout personality who was defined by his uplifting spirit, has died, according to his longtime publicist Tom Estey.

Estey said Simmons died early on Saturday morning. He had celebrated his 76th birthday the day before. “We lost an Angel today – a true Angel,” Estey added.

Simmons’ brother, Lenny, paid tribute in a statement shared with CNN.

“I don’t want people to be sad about my brother. I want them to remember him for the genuine joy and love he brought to people’s lives,” Lenny Simmons wrote. “He truly cared about people. He called, wrote, and emailed thousands of people throughout his career to offer help. So don’t be sad. Celebrate his life.”

He added that his brother was “very excited about all of his upcoming ventures he was working on.”

CNN has reached out to the Los Angeles Police Department, Fire Department and LA County Medical Examiner for additional details.

From 1980 to 1984, Simmons hosted the “Richard Simmons Show,” which had a focus on personal health and fitness. The program won four Daytime Emmys.

Simmons was also well known for his aerobic exercise videos, including 1988’s “Sweatin’ to the Oldies” and its subsequent installments in 1990 and 1991.

From there, and thanks to his unflappable smile and playful personality, Simmons was able to leverage his early stardom into regular appearances on all manner of TV shows, from “The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson” to several game shows including “Match Game” and “The New Hollywood Squares.” He was a late night fixture throughout the ’90s and aughts on shows hosted by Jay Leno and David Letterman.

In 2003, Simmons told CNN that his experience as an overweight child eventually put him on a path toward fitness.

“By the time I was 8 years old, I was 200 pounds,” he said at the time. “Uniforms couldn’t fit. My father would sew inserts under my arms and in my legs.”

As he got older, he turned to dangerous methods in an effort to keep his weight down.

“I learned how to throw up. Then I began taking 30 or 40 laxatives a day, and then I began starving for two and a half months, just drinking water, and almost died.”

At the age of 16, a stranger helped turn Simmons’ life around.

“Someone left a note on my car,” he recalled. “It said, ‘Dear Richard, you’re very funny, but fat people die young. Please don’t die.’”

Fitness transformation

“I got some elementary school books (on) the six food groups. Now, we think about it as the pyramid. I started reading about walking and exercising. Slowly but surely, I went (down) the right path.”

Eventually, that path led a trim and healthy Simmons to Beverly Hills, where he opened one of the first aerobic studios in 1974 and named it “Slimmons.”

He went on to seamlessly parlay his role of motivational fitness instructor into his famed TV persona, and prided himself on connecting with other overweight people to inspire them to take steps to improve their health.

“I call anywhere from 50 to 80 people a day. I do about 200 e-mails a day. … I don’t offer false hope for anybody,” he said in 2003. “I tell them that it’s going to take some time. They’re going to have to love themselves. They’re going to have to be patient.”

He has remained out of the public eye in recent years, but the circumstances surrounding his whereabouts and wellbeing have provided a fair share of internet fodder.

On occasion, Simmons shared personal updates on his social media pages, writing in a January Facebook post, “I just try to live a quiet life and be peaceful.”

In March, his social media activity led to a decidedly un-peaceful moment, when he posted an ominous message to X and Facebook: “I have some news to tell you. Please don’t be sad. I am …. dying. The truth is we all are dying. Every day we live we are getting closer to our death.”

He added: “Why am I telling you this? Because I want you to enjoy your life to the fullest every single day. Get up in the morning and look at the sky… count your blessings and enjoy.”

Another moment that brought Simmons attention earlier this year came when he commented on a proposed biopic about him that is slated to star actor Pauly Shore.

“You may have heard they may be doing a movie about me with Pauly Shore. I have never given my permission for this movie. So don’t believe everything you read,” Simmons wrote in a statement to his Facebook at the time.

Shore is set to star as Simmons in the upcoming biopic that’s being produced by the Wolper Organization, a subsidiary of Warner Bros., according to a news release sent to CNN on Wednesday. (CNN’s parent company is Warner Bros. Discovery, which also owns Warner Bros.)

Shore also portrayed Simmons in an unrelated short film titled “The Court Jester,” which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year and is available to stream on YouTube.

Recent celebration

For his birthday, Simmons wrote on X on Friday, “Thank you…I never got so many messages about my birthday in my life! I am sitting here writing emails. Have a most beautiful rest of your Friday. Love, Richard.”

He also spoke to People on the occasion of his 76th birthday. He joked that he was going to celebrate by blowing out a birthday candle “on a zucchini” in a nod to his history as a proponent of good health and self care.

“I feel good! I am grateful that I’m here, that I am alive for another day,” Simmons said at the time. “I’ll spend my birthday doing what I do every day, which is to help people.”

CNN’s Elizabeth Wagmeister contributed to this report.

This story has been updated with additional information.

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