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Fans and friends of Richard Simmons are paying tribute to the legendary TV fitness instructor following his death at the age of 76.
The beloved fitness guru passed away at home on July 13. TMZ reported Saturday that his housekeeper had called police around 10 a.m. Simmons was pronounced dead at the scene. His cause of death was not immediately known and has not been released.
The TV personality – who rose to fame through his popular series of aerobics videos, Sweating on the Oldies – celebrated her 76th birthday on Friday by thanking fans on social media. “Thank you… I’ve never had so many birthday messages in my life! I’m sitting here writing emails. I hope you have a wonderful rest of your Friday,” the post read. “Love, Richard.”
Following the news of his passing, many of Simmons’ fans and friends took to social media to pay tribute to the fitness guru.
“Richard Simmons preached about exercise, diet and, above all, kindness,” said Richard Roeper, film and TV critic for the Chicago Sun-Timesabout X. “He positively impacted thousands and thousands of lives. I am one of hundreds and hundreds of TV people who basked in his energy and gladly accepted those crazy hugs. Rest in peace.”
Hairspray star Ricki Lake posted a photo of herself with Simmons and fellow TV show host Maria Menounos, along with the caption, “My heart is broken for the loss of this super special human being. May he RIP. #richardsimmons. I loved him so much.”
TV and radio personality Sally Jessy Raphael paid tribute to her “dear friend” on X, captioning a photo of them together: “I am absolutely devastated by the loss of @theweightsaint… we did so many shows together, had so many laughs and hugs, and I considered him a dear friend who changed so many lives over the years.”
Actor Emerson Collins posted on X: “It is saddening to hear of the passing of Richard Simmons, a man whose joy in what he did made it accessible to so many.”
“Years ago I asked him for a photo after we performed at a benefit. The green room wall had gotten so hilariously bad that I cut it out and made a bullshit story out of it,” he wrote alongside a humorous series of green-screen photos of himself with Simmons.
Darren Demeterio, who as a former booker for the Late Show with David Lettermanwent to X to share his own experiences with Simmons during his many appearances on the talk show.
“When I was at Letterman “I always looked forward to Richard Simmons coming,” he wrote alongside a throwback photo of himself with Simmons. “Always a great guy, but more importantly what you saw was what you got. A sweet, positive, kind man. This photo will always make me smile. Thank you Richard, rest in peace.”
Simmons became a fitness sensation in the 1980s, shortly after he opened a fitness studio, called The Anatomy Asylum before it was renamed Slimmons, in Los Angeles. He made many memorable appearances on TV and radio talk shows, including the Late Show with David Letterman, The Howard Stern Show, General Hospital, The Larry Sanders Show, Arrested Development And Who actually owns the line?.
However, it was his series of energetic aerobics videos that made Simmons famous.
Simmons had not appeared in public since 2014, prompting him to grant a phone interview to Today in 2016 to debunk rumors that he was being held hostage by his housekeeper.
The news of his death comes months after Simmons revealed he had been diagnosed with skin cancer.
“I was sitting in his chair and he was looking at it through a magnifying mirror. He told me he was going to have to scrape it off and put it under a microscope. Now I’m getting a little nervous,” the fitness personality wrote on Facebook in March. “He comes back about 20 minutes later and says the C word. ‘You have cancer.’ I asked him what kind of cancer and he said, ‘Basel [sic] cell carcinoma.’ I told him to stop calling me dirty names. He laughed.”
Earlier this year, Simmons slammed a new biopic about his life starring comedian Pauly Shore, clarifying that he had not yet approved the project and reiterating his desire to “live a quiet life and be peaceful.”