Fitness icon Richard Simmons, who trumped fate and choices to not become Father Simmons, has passed away at 76, a day after celebrating his birthday.
Born and raised religious household, Simmons studied to be a priest before realizing that it wasn’t his calling. He would soon find out what it was — fitness. After working many odd jobs and trying his hand at various careers, he decided to focus on his passion that wasn’t getting fulfilled by establishing gyms. Thus he decided to open his own exercise studio, The Anatomy Asylum (that would later be renamed to “Simmons”).
Simmons had an illustrious career as a fitness personality who would go on to star in countless advertisements and play himself across multiple major TV shows. But by February 2014, he stopped appearing in public, prompting concern and speculations that he had gone missing or was being held hostage by his housekeeper. He refuted all the theories, but the fact that his rare social media interactions always included images of the man from before 2013 always sparked a fresh wave of unease.
The fitness guru put some of these rumors to rest in early 2024 when he swiftly erased fears that he was dying when his cryptic Facebook post, advising people to “embrace every day,” triggered concern. In January this year, he again made the headlines when he clarified that The Wolper Organization’s biopic on his life starring Pauly Shore didn’t have his permission.
It felt like Simmons was finally ready to end this self-imposed public isolation — because his trademark sense of humor was ever present on his Facebook page — as for his 76th birthday he sat down with People for an exclusive chat.
“I feel good! I am grateful that I’m here, that I am alive for another day. I’ll spend my birthday doing what I do every day, which is to help people.”
But the euphoria this short interview — that confirmed Simmons still retained his infectious humor and again brought forth suspicions with its 2012 image of the celebrity — brought was short-lived as 24 hours later the news of his untimely death (confirmed by his representative) began doing the rounds.
How did Richard Simmons die?
Earlier in March 2024, Simmons opened up about being diagnosed with skin cancer in a heart-touching post on Facebook. While he never confirmed if he was absolutely cancer-free after the painful treatment, the second part of his post did hint at it.
As reported by ABC. the Los Angeles Police Department arrived at Simmons’ house after his housekeeper found him dead and made a 911 call. So far, according to sources, it appears that the fitness legend died of natural causes and no foul play was involved in his death.