Fitness legend Richard Simmons dies at 76

Legendary fitness expert Richard Simmons died on Saturday, July 13th. He was 76 years old.

Representatives confirmed Simmons’ death to ABC News on Saturday. According to the source, Los Angeles police responded to a call from Simmons’ housekeeper on Saturday morning. When officers arrived at his Los Angeles home, he was pronounced dead at the scene.

No foul play is suspected and authorities believe Simmons died of natural causes, ABC News confirmed. We weekly has reached out to Simmons’ representative for comment.

Simmons had just celebrated his birthday on Friday, July 12, and in recent posts on his Facebook page, he thanked his fans for their birthday wishes.

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“Thank you,” he wrote on Facebook on Friday. “I have never had so many messages on my birthday in my life! I’m sitting here writing emails. Have a wonderful rest of your Friday.” Another post, apparently written early Saturday morning, was captioned, “Hi beautiful! Please don’t spoil my mood.”

Simmons shocked his fans earlier this year when he announced his dying status in a series of cryptic posts on Facebook. He later clarified his life status on March 18, clearing up any confusion.

“I’m sorry that many of you were upset about my message today,” Simmons posted about X at the time. “Even the press reached out to me. I’m not dying. It was a message about enjoying every day we have. Sorry for the confusion.” Days later, Simmons confirmed that he had been diagnosed with skin cancer.

Born in New Orleans in 1948, Simmons was best known for his flamboyant, eccentric personality, which helped him promote his weight-loss programs and aerobics videos. Sweating to the oldies. He opened his popular fitness studio Slimmons in Beverly Hills and became better known through various television appearances. He was often parodied by comedians and was a frequent guest on talk shows such as The Late Show with David Letterman And The Howard Stern Show.

I am absolutely devastated by the loss of @theweightsaint,” said the former failure Talk show host Sally Jessy Raphael wrote about Simmons’ death via X on Saturday. “We did so many shows together, laughed and hugged so much, and I considered him a dear friend who changed so many lives over the years.”

In February 2014, Simmons stopped appearing in public and teaching at his gym. Before his death, a biopic about Simmons’ life was in preparation with Pauly Shore to play the lead role. Simmons first responded to these allegations in January, writing on Facebook: “I never gave my permission for this film.”

He added: “So don’t believe everything you read. I don’t have a manager anymore, I don’t have a publicist anymore. I’m just trying to live a quiet life and be peaceful.”

In April, Simmons spoke again about the biopic. “I just read that a man I don’t know is writing my biopic starring Pauly Shore. I do not approve of this film,” the fitness guru wrote on April 24 via X. “I am in talks with major studios to create my own biopic with some help. Wait for that film.”