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Richard Simmons, the enduring exercise personality of the 1980s who was defined by his uplifting spirit, has died, according to his longtime publicist Tom Estes.
Esty said Simmons died Saturday morning. Some time ago he celebrated his 76th birthday. “We lost an angel today – a true angel,” Estes said.
Simmons’ brother Lenny paid tribute in an observation shared with CNN.
“I don’t want people to feel 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 really 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 said his brother was “very excited about all his upcoming ventures that he was working on.”
CNN has reached out to the Los Angeles Police Department, the Firearms Department and the LA County Scientific Examiner for alternative points of view.
From 1980 to 1984, Simmons hosted the “Richard Simmons Show”, which focused on personal fitness and conditioning. This system received 4 Sunlight Hours Emmys.
Simmons was also widely known for his cardio workout films, including 1988’s “Sweatin’ to the Oldies” and its subsequent installments in 1990 and 1991.
From there, and thanks to his irrepressible smile and playful personality, Simmons was able to leverage his early stardom into all types of TV productions, from “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson” to numerous sports appearances. With “Match Game” and “The New Hollywood Squares”. He used to be a late-night show host in the 90s and also appeared in presentations hosted by Jay Leno and David Letterman.
In 2003, Simmons told CNN that his experience as an obese child ultimately led him down the path of illness.
“When I was 8 years old, I weighed 200 pounds,” he said that year. “The uniform didn’t fit. My father used to sew inserts under my arms and legs.
As he got used to it, he got into bad shape while trying to lose weight.
“I learned to vomit. Then I started taking 30 or 40 laxatives a day, and then I started fasting for two and a half months, drinking just water, and almost died.
At age 16, a stranger helped Simmons turn back time.
“Somebody left a note on my car,” he recalled. “It said, ‘Dear Richard, you are very funny, but fat people die younger. Please don’t die.'”
“I found some elementary school books on the six food groups. Now, we think of it as a pyramid. I started reading about walking and exercising. Slowly but surely, I got on the right path.
Eventually, that path led a younger and healthier Simmons to Beverly Hills, where he opened the first cardio studio in 1974 and named it “Slimmons.”
He went straight to his famous TV character to clearly present his position as a motivational trainer, and prided himself on connecting with alternative obese people to encourage them to take steps to strengthen their fitness. .
“I call 50 to 80 people a day. I do about 200 e-mails a day. …I don’t give anyone false hope,” he said in 2003. “I tell them it’s going to take some time. They have to love themselves. They have to be patient.”
He has been out of the public eye recently, although his whereabouts and health data have provided a fair amount of information on the internet.
Increasingly, Simmons shared personal updates on her 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 work took off at a decidedly turbulent pace, when he Posted An ominous message to X and Facebook: “I have some news to tell you. Please don’t be sad. I am …. Die. The truth is that we are all dying. Every day we live we are getting closer to our death.”
He couple: “Why am I telling you this? Because I want you to enjoy life to the fullest every day. Wake up in the morning and look at the sky…count your blessings and enjoy.”
Another dynamic that caught Simmons’ attention before the incident came when he commented on a proposed biopic about megastar actor Pauly Shore.
“You may have heard they’re making a movie about me with Pauly Shore. I have never given my permission for this film. So don’t believe everything you read,” Simmons wrote in a comment on his Facebook this year.
According to a report sent to CNN on Wednesday, Shore is set to become a megastar as Simmons in the next biopic, which is being produced by Wolper Group, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. (CNN’s parent company is Warner Bros. Discovery, which also owns Warner Bros..)
Shore also played Simmons in an unrelated scaled-down film titled “The Court Jester”, which premiered at the Sundance Movie Festival prior to this event and is available to watch on YouTube.
For her birthday, Simmons wrote on Friday on X, “Thank you…I have never received so many messages about my birthday in my life! I am sitting here writing an email. Have a wonderful Friday! Love, Richard.”
He also told the community on the occasion of his 76th birthday. He joked that he was going to praise by blowing out the birthday candles “on the zucchini”, alluding to his history as a proponent of excellent health and self-help.
“I feel great! I’m grateful that I’m here, that I’m alive for another day,” Simmons said this year. “I’m going to spend my birthday doing the same thing I do every day, which is helping people.”
CNN’s Elizabeth Wagmeister contributed to this record.
This story has been updated with alternative knowledge.