CNN
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Richard Simmons, the legendary ’80s fitness personality who was defined by his uplifting nature, has died, according to his publicist Tom Estey.
Estey said Simmons died early Saturday morning. He had celebrated his 76th birthday the day before. “We lost an angel today — a true angel,” Estey added.
Simmons’ brother, Lenny, paid tribute in a statement shared with CNN.
“I don’t want people to be sad for my brother. I want them to remember him for the genuine joy and love he brought into people’s lives,” Lenny Simmons wrote. “He truly cared about people. He called, wrote and emailed thousands of people throughout his career offering support. So don’t be sad. Celebrate his life.”
He added that his brother was “very excited about all the upcoming ventures he was working on.”
CNN has reached out to the Los Angeles Police Department, Fire Department and the Los Angeles County coroner for additional information.
From 1980 to 1984, Simmons hosted the “Richard Simmons Show,” which focused on personal health and fitness. The program won four Daytime Emmys.
Simmons was also known for his aerobics exercise videos, including 1988’s “Sweatin’ to the Oldies” and subsequent episodes in 1990 and 1991.
From there, and thanks to his imperturbable smile and playful personality, Simmons was able to parlay his early stardom into regular appearances on everything from “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson” to several game shows, including “Match Game” and “The New Hollywood Squares.” He was a regular on late-night shows in the ’90s and ’00s on shows hosted by Jay Leno and David Letterman.
In 2003, Simmons told CNN that his experiences as an obese child ultimately set him on the path to fitness.
“When I was 8 years old, I weighed 200 pounds,” he said at the time. “Uniforms didn’t fit. My father sewed gussets under my arms and in my legs.”
As he grew older, he began using dangerous methods to control his weight.
“I learned how to throw up. Then I started taking 30 or 40 laxatives a day, and then I started starving myself for two and a half months, drinking only water, and I almost died.”
At the age of 16, a stranger changed Simmons’ life.
“Someone left a note on my car,” he recalled. “It said, ‘Dear Richard, you’re very funny, but fat people die young. Please don’t die.'”
“I got some elementary school books (about) the six food groups. Now we see it as the pyramid. I started reading about walking and sports. Slowly but surely I went (in the right direction).”
Eventually, that path led the slim and healthy Simmons to Beverly Hills, where in 1974 he opened one of the first aerobics studios and named it “Slimmons.”
He seamlessly transitioned his role as a motivational fitness instructor into his famous TV persona and prided himself on connecting with other overweight people and inspiring them to take steps to improve their health.
“I call 50 to 80 people a day. I answer 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 time. They’re going to have to love themselves. They’re going to have to be patient.”
He has stayed out of the public eye in recent years, but the circumstances surrounding his whereabouts and well-being have caused quite a stir on the Internet.
Simmons occasionally shared personal updates on his social media pages, writing in a Facebook post in January, “I’m just trying to live a quiet life and be peaceful.”
In March, his social media activity led to a moment of unrest, when he Posted an ominous message to X and Facebook: “I have news for you. Please don’t be sad. I am… dying. The truth is, we are all dying. Every day we live, we are closer to our death.”
He added: “Why am I telling you this? Because I want you to live your life to the fullest every day. Get up in the morning and look at the sky… count your blessings and enjoy.”
Another moment that caught Simmons’ attention earlier this year was when he commented on a proposed biopic about him that would star actor Pauly Shore.
“You may have heard that they might be making a movie about me with Pauly Shore. I never gave permission for this movie. So don’t believe everything you read,” Simmons wrote in a statement on his Facebook at the time.
Shore will play Simmons in the upcoming biopic produced by the Wolper Organization, a subsidiary of Warner Bros., according to a press release sent to CNN on Wednesday. (CNN’s parent company is Warner Bros. Discovery, which also owns Warner Bros.)
Shore also starred as Simmons in an unrelated short film titled “The Court Jester,” which premiered earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival and is available to stream on YouTube.
For his birthday, Simmons wrote on X on Friday: “Thank you… I’ve never had so many birthday messages in my life! I’m sitting here writing emails. Wishing you a wonderful rest of your Friday. Love, Richard.”
He also spoke to People on the occasion of his 76th birthday, joking that he would celebrate by blowing out a birthday candle “on a zucchini,” in a nod to his history as an advocate for good health and self-care.
“I feel good! I’m grateful to be here, to be alive another day,” Simmons said at the time. “I’m going to spend my birthday doing what I do every day, which is helping people.”
CNN’s Elizabeth Wagmeister contributed to this report.
This story has been updated with additional information.