Fitness guru Richard Simmons dies at 76

Richard Simmons, a fitness guru who urged the overweight to exercise and eat better, died Saturday, July 13, 2024, at the age of 76. Photo: AP

Fitness guru Richard Simmons has died at age 76, multiple media outlets reported, including ABC News and TMZ.

The reports said his housekeeper found him unresponsive on Saturday morning and Los Angeles police were called. TMZ reported that police were treating it as a natural death.

Los Angeles police said it could not confirm Simmons' death.

Born Milton Teagle "Richard" Simmons, the flamboyant fitness instructor became a household name and pioneered gyms as safe places for people who weren't already in perfect shape. He revealed in a series of social media posts this year that he had been diagnosed with skin cancer.

In a post on X in March he declared, "I have some news to tell you. Please don’t be sad. I am ...dying. Oh I can see your faces now." There was no other context for the statement and he later apologised for the media stir his comments made. Through his representative he said that the sole purpose of the post was meant to be inspirational.

Simmons, who grew up in the French quarter of New Orleans before settling in California, weighed 268lbs (121.56 kg) when he graduated from high school, his website said.

His own story of struggling with weight loss, where he tried everything from fad diets to laxatives before settling on exercise and better lifestyle choices, inspired millions to do the same

Over the years he produced a series of aerobics dancing fitness videos and had a chain of fitness studios, and hosted the Richard Simmons Show from 1980-1984, and the program won four Daytime Emmys.

In recent years, the once ubiquitous fitness instructor seemed to have stepped out of the public spotlight, where he frequently made appearances on daytime talk shows, but he maintained a large following on the internet.

Simmons posted on Facebook Friday to thank fans for their birthday wishes, as he turned 76.

"So many of you have sent me birthday wishes on my Facebook and other platforms,” he wrote. "I really appreciate that. I don’t know when your birthday is but I wish you a happy and healthy birthday!” – Reuters