Richard Simmons was a world-renowned fitness guru who dominated the health and wellness industry alongside television with his iconic infomercials at one point in his life.
The fitness expert , who was born Milton Teagle Simmons before he changed his name to Richard Simmon s, turned small screen star is now dead. Richard died in his home on Saturday, July 13, one day after his 76th birthday. Police and fire who reportedly responded to the call that his housekeeper made that morning pronounced him dead at the scene, according to TMZ.
For years, Richard lived out loud in front of the cameras, but in his later years, he left the limelight . In 2014 he disappeared from the public eye.
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Richard has always been of public interest due to his upbeat personality and quirky workout ensembles.
His signature curly red afro made him an unforgettable figure in pop culture, which is why there allegedly was a movie about him being produced. In the months following Richard’s 75th birthday news of a biopic about his life being in the works made headlines. Many became re-interested in Richard upon news of his biopic, wanting to know where the legend was nowadays.
Richard lived the last several years of his life out of the public eye, avoiding public in-person appearances, according to Distractify. Although he wasn’t directly in the spotlight, he remained connected with fans via social media. Richard had many Clubhouse chats, and used his personal Facebook page to share stories about his career and the different celebrities he’s hobnobbed with throughout the years. He’s also used Facebook to reveal his health struggles.
Richard revealed on Facebook in March that he’d been diagnosed with skin cancer.
"Mirror mirror on the wall what’s that blemish which is so small?" he wrote in his post. "There was this strange looking bump under my right eye. I had a tube of neosporin which I would put on I the morning and the evening….it was still there. It was time to call my dermatologist.”
Richard added: "I sat in his chair and he looked at it through a magnifying mirror. He told me he would have to scrape it and put it under the microscope. Now I am getting a little bit nervous. 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. Basal Cell Carcinoma. I told him to stop calling me dirty names. He laughed."
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