Richard Simmons, Fitness Personality and TV Host Dead, At 76 – WBLS

Eccentric fitness guru Richard Simmons, known for his unrelenting positivity, has died, according to his longtime publicist Tom Estey

Simmons just celebrated his 76th birthday on Friday, July 12.

The Los Angeles Police Department responded to his home after a 911 call from his housekeeper and found Simmons dead, according to police sources. He appears to have died of natural causes, and no foul play is suspected, the sources said.

“Embrace every day that we have”

Simmons had spooked fans just three months ago when he posted that he was dying on Facebook, writing in March, “I have some news to tell you. Please don’t be sad. I am …. dying. Oh I can see your faces now. The truth is we all are dying. Every day we live we are getting closer to our death.”

He later clarified that he was not actually dying, but that the message was intended to encourage everyone to “embrace every day that we have.”

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.”

His first foray into weight loss came with the opening of his gym, Slimmons, in Beverly Hills, California.

He released his first book, “Never Say Diet,” in 1980. The book was the first of 12 he would release in his career.