Richard Simmons' Brother Lenny on the Legacy He Leaves Behind: 'He Didn't Turn Anything Off' (Exclusive)

Richard Simmons ' brother, Lenny Simmons, is reflecting on the late star's legacyof championing a "better, healthier life" for people everywhere.Richard was found dead at his home on Saturday . The eccentric fitness guru, who celebrated his birthday on Friday, was 76.

"What you see interviews, what you saw on his exercise videos, that's the way he was. He didn't turn anything off," Lenny tellsET's Nischelle Turner of his brother. "This is the way he talked to people. He loved hugging people. I mean he did things for people that I I don't think anybody else would do... He would actually go and visit people who were extremely obese and tried to help them."

Looking back on their personal relationship, Lenny adds, "He was even patient with me even though I'm the older brother. I always looked up to him because I said he's the real deal. He's the person that everybody liked, everybody loved."

Richard's death came just a day after he celebrated his 76th birthday, and the workout guru had taken toFacebook to share a throwback photo of him celebrating his first birthday. He also reflected on birthday cakes, making birthday cards in grade school and what he and Lenny would get as gifts on their special days.

"So many of you have sent me birthday wishes on my Facebook and other platforms. I really appreciate that," Richards wrote in his post in part. "I don’t know when your birthday is but I wish you a happy and healthy birthday!"

Lenny explains that he had "just talked" to Richard for his birthday, which made the phone call from his brother's live-in housekeeper,Teresa Reveles, even more startling the next day.

"The phone rang, and I didn't know why she was calling. I just talked to my brother yesterday for his birthday, which all also happened to be our wedding anniversary and she started crying, and said, 'Your brother, I think he's gone,'" he recalls.

"It was really a shock. He wasn't feeling really well that day, because he said he thought he'd had some food poisoning, but he was getting better and going to bed a little early. So we really didn't think anything about it," Lenny shares. "We all have our bad days sometimes, you know, not feeling the best and when she called me, I was in shock. I called my wife, Kathy, and I said, 'You need to come here. You need to hear what [Teresa's]saying.' And it really... my soul just [felt] sucked [out of my body]."

Richard made his mark as a fitness and lifestyle wellness icon in the 70s. He opened his fitness studio, Slimmons, in Beverly Hills, California, in 1974 and released 65 workout videos -- including Sweatin' to the Oldies, Dance Your Pants Off and Sit Tight (a workout designed for people who cannot stand) -- that have sold over 20 million copies, his website notes.

In addition to his wildly successful workout videos, Richard authored several books, including the 1980 New York Times bestseller, Never Say Diet , his 1999 biography, Still Hungry-After All These Years: My Story , and three cookbooks.

Richard's career also spanned into television. From 1980 to 1984, he hosted the Emmy-winning talk show, The Richard Simmons Show , and was a regular on General Hospital .

Lenny tells ET that the family was "very proud" of Richard when he began making his dreams come true in California. "When he came to California he knew absolutely nobody. He worked as a waiter in a restaurant... We were very proud of him. I think my father, who really didn't make it big [in show business], [lived] vicariously through my brother's life. My mother, who's in show business, felt the same way. They never said to us, 'We want you to be in show business.' It just happened."

"But we were very proud of him. He was very generous to us. My parents didn't make a lot of money but they he took care of them. I've lived with them but he made their their life a lot more special," Lenny adds. "Both of them had been on his TV showone time. And we lost my dad in 1983 and my mother in 1999, and we were able to get copies of the shows that they were on.So every time I really miss my parents, I could put one on and see them and hear them. And now I can do the same thing with for my brother."

Richard continued to teach classes at Slimmons until February 2014, when he retreated from the public eye completely.

In March 2016, Richard addressed fans' concern in regard to his well-being in an exclusive phone interview with ET . "I love all the people who worry about me," he said. "But it was time for me to take some time to be by myself."

"This is how I want to live my life right now," he added. "And to all the people that are worried about me, please don't be. If I was in any trouble, if I was hurting in any way, I would reach out. It is time right now for Richard Simmons to take care of Richard Simmons."

Richard Simmons Offers Rare Life Update Following Pauly Shore Biopic Premiere

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Richard Simmons Offers Rare Life Update Following Pauly Shore Biopic Premiere

While Richard was vocally adamant about his disapprovalinPauly Shore'sunauthorized biopic of him titled The Court Jester , Lenny shares that his brother had been making a documentary of his life produced by ABC.

"I think he wanted to tell his story just like he wanted a Broadway play. He wanted a documentary to tell people that there is hope in the world, that you can do it," Lenny explains. "You can work hard, you can lose weight. And that's why he wanted to tell that story. I guess when you get a little bit older you start thinking about what your legacy is going to be and he wanted his [to be that]. He knew he wasn't going to live forever, [and] unfortunately didn't live as long as we were praying for."

He continues, "But he wanted people to know what people could do to live a better, healthier life... He was really excited about that, he said. He called me up and said, 'Lenny, they're gonna do a documentary about all my life.' He said, 'I'm just doing this because I want people to know that life is important for everybody, and my life may help them to think about how they can have a better life for themselves.'"

"I pray that the documentary is still going to happen. And I told my wife, I said, 'Anything I could do to help with that documentary I would be honored to do,'" Lenny says.

After his death, Simmons was on the receiving end of tributes from other friends and influential figures. Lenny tells ET that he couldn't believe the "thousands" of tributes that came in for his brother via social media.

"I believe he's in heaven, and he's seeing these things, and he's smiling, and he's with Mom and Dad now and they're all smiling together."

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