Beloved fitness guru Richard Simmons dead at 76

Barely a day after thanking fans for their birthday messages, fitness guru and beloved entertainment personality Richard Simmons has died at age 76, per multiple reports.

A representative confirmed Simmons’ passing to ABC News Saturday . TMZ reported earlier that police and fire responded to a call from his housekeeper at around 10 a.m. He was pronounced dead at the scene, per law enforcement sources cited by the outlet.

“We’re told no foul play is suspected at this time, and cops are looking into it as a natural death,” TMZ said.

Simmons was a Louisiana native who graduated from Florida State University and then moved to Los Angeles, Calif. He started out as a waiter in Beverly Hills but eventually opened gyms and released popular workout videos such as “Sweatin’ to the Oldies” and more.

By the 2010s, Simmons had become such a star that he inspired the podcast “Missing Richard Simmons” and a TMZ documentary. In recent years, he’s been active on social media. This year, he shared a new song with his fans. He also shared a post that revealed he was dying that scared fans, per NBC News , and later posted an update that he was diagnosed with skin cancer.

“Thank you… I never got so many messages about my birthday in my life! I am sitting here writing emails. Have a most beautiful rest of your Friday,” said a July 12 Facebook post . Another post, shared early Saturday , said: “Hello gorgeous! Please don’t rain on my parade.”