Get the latest gossip

Fitness Guru Richard Simmons, Who Had a Platinum Album in 1982, Dies at 76

Richard Simmons, the fitness guru with a flamboyant, relentlessly positive persona, died July 13 at his home in the Hollywood Hills. He was 76.

Richard Simmons, the fitness guru with a flamboyant, relentlessly positive persona, died Saturday (July 13) at his home in the Hollywood Hills. It consisted mostly of such upbeat jams as The Jacksons’ “Can You Feel It” and Brothers Johnson’s “Stomp!” Both albums were part of the get-fit craze of the era, which was also immortalized in Olivia Newton-John ’s “Physical” video, which was released in 1981. He grew up in the French Quarter, where, he noted in his biography, “lard was a food group and dessert mandatory.” Simmons struggled with his weight from an early age.

Get the Android app